Vrbovka

Vrbovka (Ipolyvarbó) is a village in southern Slovakia by the Ipeľ/Ipoly river very close to the Hungarian border. The nearest urban centre in Slovakia is Veľký Krtíš which also serves as a district seat. On the Hungarian side Szécsény and Balassagyarmat are the nearest towns. With the opening of the cross-border bridge in 2024, Vrbovka has once again become a border crossing point to Hungary, but thanks to the Schengen Union, the border can be crossed freely.

History
The first written reference is from 1327 as Vrbou, the name comes from the Slavic "vrba" meaning willow. The place name clearly refers to the natural environment, as many willow trees still grow on the wide flood plain of Ipoly/Ipeľ river.

There is a cross-border bridge above the Ipoly/Ipeľ river between Slovakia and Hungary. The Szent-Iványi híd/Szent-Iványiho most was built in 2023 replacing a temporary wooden bridge that served pedestrian and bicycle traffic since 2007. Previous bridges connected Ipolyvarbó and Őrhalom from the 19th century until the early 1950s when the border was closed. The Roman Catholic Church of the Holiest Trinity in Vrbovka was built in 1798.