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Poprad (Hungarian: Poprád, German: Deutschendorf) is a town in northern Slovakia at the foot of the High Tatra Mountains.
The town has a historic center, an international airport and is the starting point of the Tatranská elektrická železnica (Tatra Electric Railway) -- a set of special narrow gauge trains (trams) connecting the resorts in the High Tatra with each other and with Poprad. Main line trains link Poprad
to other destinations in Slovakia and beyond; in
particular, through trains run to
Prague in the Czech Republic.
An important note for travellers: The airport is called "Tatry-Poprad" (TAT), but the railway station "Poprad-Tatry".
History
Historically, the territory originally occupied by Slovak settlements was colonized in the 13th century by German settlers and became a largely German village (town). From 1412 to 1770, as one of the Spiš towns, Poprad was pawned by the Kingdom of Hungary (to which Slovakia belonged between the 11th century and 1918) to Poland, meaning that Poland was partially responsible for the developments there.
Poprad itself, the first written reference to which dates from 1256, used to be for 690 years (up to 1946) - just one of several towns, which currently make up the modern town with 55,000 inhabitants. The other parts were the present-day urban parts Matejovce (first reference 1251), Spišská Sobota (1256), Veľká (1268), and Stráže pod Tatrami (1276).
The most significant one out of those towns was Spišská Sobota, which preserved its dominant position till the late 19th century.
Politics
Since 2003 the mayor is Anton Danko (former international ice-hockey referee).
Territorial division
Poprad is the seat of a district (okres).
- 6 "city parts" (for the purpose of municipal administrative division):
- 1 Staré Mesto ["Old Town"]
- 2 Spišská Sobota
- 3 Stráže
- 4 Veľká
- 5 Matejovce
- 6 Kvetnica
Personalities
External links
See also: Slovakia, History of Slovakia
Poprad is also a name of a river in Slovakia and Poland. See Poprad river
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