History of Skalka
The word Skalka refers to a village of the same name – Skalka and Váhom (including Skala, Skalská Nová Ves, and Újazd), rock massif of Skalka with the monastery on Veµká Skalka, and the Virgin Marry Church on Malá Skalka.
Skalka is located in western Slovakia, in the southeastern part of the Ilavská basin, northeast of Trenčín. The Skalka rock massif stretches along the right bank of the Váh River, and is part of the White Carpathian Mountains.
Archaeologists, historians, and architects have studied this site for years. Its value as a church historic place is also noticeable. Based on the archaeological findings, historians place the first settlers of Skalka into the late Stone Age (around 2,800 BC), followed by settlers of the early and late Bronze Age, early and late Iron Age, until the early Roman period. Since Skalka has a good, strategic location, it was an ideal place to populate. The people of the Púchov Basin inhabited the place in the recent periods.
The old Slavs would leave a permanent mark here – their fortress and burial place, dating back to the 9th century AD. Most recently unearthed finding of a small church, during highway construction in 1955, shows that the Great Moravian tradition was still kept alive during the time of the early Hungarian state.
A large cemetery on the upper plateau served as the last resting place of those living in the 11th through 13th centuries.
First accounts of Skalka as an established settlement date back to the year 1224. The village is mentioned to have a land, church, and a priest.
Skala used to be a relatively rich village. Its inhabitants had always been agriculturists and farmers, free of virtually all duties to their ruler and the court.
Accounts of the first wooden school come from the 18th century. Children from Skala, Nová Ves, and Újazd would study here. Every year the village was afflicted with a number of catastrophes. These would include fires and floods.
The great fire of 1877 burned down almost the whole Skalka. 27 houses were turned into ashes, while only 6 manor houses, church, parish building, mill, (built in the first half of the 17th century) and the school remained.
Greatest floods hit the area in 1914, 1919, and 1920, when the furious Váh River together with the Súčanka brook brought about a vast damage on houses and fields.
It was during the First World War when the inhabitants of Skala lived in great uncertainty and general shortage. The year 1917 was the most severe one, as people would have to fight for their bare survival.