Somotor

Somotor

Szomotor
Somotor Szomotor
village
	Protestant church in the village
	Flag
	Somotor Location of Somotor in Slovakia
	Coordinates: 48°24′00″N 21°48′30″E / 48.40000°N 21.80833°E
Country	Slovakia
Region	Kosice
District	Trebišov
First mentioned	1214
Government
• Mayor	Ján Juhász
Area
• Total	16.31 km2 (6.30 sq mi)
Population (2006)
• Total	1,661
• Density	100/km2 (260/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	076 35
Area code	056
Car plate	KS
Website	obecsomotor.tym.sk

Somotor (Hungarian: Szomotor) is a village and municipality in the Trebišov District in the Košice Region of south-eastern Slovakia.

Geography

The village lies at an altitude of 109 metres and covers an area of 16.309 km². It has a population of about 1665 people.

History

In historical records the village was first mentioned in 1214. The town was given a charter as a town in 1263 in a document mentioning "terrum Zomothor." The current Hungarian name of Szomotor was adopted in the late 1800s and even after the partitioning of Hungary, leaving Szomotor now in the new country of Czechoslovakia. The name remained Szomotor until 1927 when the Czech government changed it to Somotor to conform with Czech and Slovak spelling. [Historical records state that] Slavic linguists say that the name of the town comes from the word "cmotr" (to look) however when the town was founded there was no evidence of Slavic inhabitants. Hungarian linguists say it comes from Szomoru Tor, which means sad funeral (wake) which took place after the death of Chief Ond (after the arrival of the Magyars in the 980s.) The area was inhabited by the Magyars after their arrival.

A Jewish community did exist in this town prior to World War II, which was destroyed in 1944 by Nazi Germany. A Jewish cemetery exists in this town (the name of the town is spelled in Hebrew: סאמאטאר

Ethnicity

The village is roughly 70% Hungarian and 28% Slovak and 2% Gypsy.

Facilities

The village has a public library, a gym and a football pitch.^{[citation needed]}

External links

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