The city is located on the shore ofLake Sirava, approximately 360 kilometres (224 miles) east of the capitalBratislava and immediately adjacent to the border withUkraine. Michalovce is mostly recognized for its adjacent lakes andvolcanic mountains, which generatestourism, and foragriculture as well as the passingDruzhba pipeline. According to the latestcensus, the population of the town stood at 40,255, with a metropolitan population of 109,121, which ranks it among the largest population centers in eastern Slovakia.
The city of present-day Michalovce along with the adjacent lowlands was settled in from thePalaeolithic era. Archaeologists have found prehistoricHomo sapiens skeletons in the region, as well as numerous objects and vestiges by the foot of the Vihorlat mountains, dating from theNeolithic.[5] During theLate Bronze Age, which meant the period of processing bronze as the main metal, the surrounding area was an important cultural and trading center within theCarpathian Basin and, together with the area of the southernTisa River Basin, played an important part forging relations with areas outside of theCarpathians. The history of Michalovce was significantly influenced by presence ofCeltic tribes, starting from theGallic expansions in the 4th century BC, and later by theRomans.[6]
The town of Michalovce is the place where the legendary PrinceLaborec died and was buried according to legends.
After theOttoman conquest in south central Hungary in the sixteenth century, Hungary was divided, and present-day Michalovce became part of theEastern Hungarian Kingdom, and laterRoyal Hungary. The town grew significantly in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Since the Austrian-HungarianAusgleich of 1867, it achieved the status of a large community, and shortly afterward became the seat of one of the districts ofZemplén County.[7]
The 19th century brought back significant development of the town. In 1828, there were 49 craftsman workshops representing all 22 kinds of craft production of the crafts licences in the region of Zemplin. Until 1874 there were a few industrial factories of local importance in the surroundings of Michalovce (starch factories,distilleries, mill-houses,brickworks) with a limited number of work opportunities. The construction of the railway linking Michalovce withMedzilaborce in 1874, as well as the construction of the first railway linking Hungary withGalicia in 1871, had a profound impact on the production, business, and regional development in and around Michalovce.
More food-processing factories and industrial factories – a brewery, two brickworks and a steam millhouse – were established. Starting in 1876 doctors were employed in the town, as theŠtefan Kukura Hospital was established that year. In 1896 theHungarian language newspaperFelso Zemplén was published. In 1805 a common school is founded, which later changed into a state school. In 1804, a post office was established, and in 1873 a printing office was established.
In 1885, by a decision of the municipal council, a fire brigade was founded, and the firstpublic lighting was provided. Unemployment, being a widespread side-effect of the 18th century, resulted in the emigration of mainly farmers. Many left to seek work in thecoal mining industry inPennsylvania, United States, giving rise to a largeRusyn American community there.
AfterWorld War I, in 1918 (confirmed by theTreaty of Trianon in 1920), Michalovce, along with some other parts of Zemplén County, became part of the then-formedCzechoslovakia. From 1939 to 1944, it was part of theSlovak Republic. In late summer and early autumn (August/September) 1944, 3500 Jewish inhabitants were deported from Michalovce. On 26 November 1944, theRed Army dislodged theWehrmacht from Michalovce and it was once again part of Czechoslovakia. Since 1993, with the breakup of Czechoslovakia, Michalovce has been part of Slovakia. In 1996 it was made the seat of the Michalovce District.
The previous agricultural character of Michalovce was changed by a number of newly established industrial factories after 1945. In the 1950s and 1960s, factories processing agricultural products, andtextile,engineering and construction companies arose. These included Agricultural Business and Supply Company, East-Slovak Dairy, East-Slovak Bakery and Confectionery, Slovak Malt Plant, East-Slovak Poultry Plant, Clothing Company and Odeta, a production company. During the early 1960s, construction of theDruzhba pipeline was a major source of employment.
It has apopulation of 35,310 people (31 December 2024).[11]
In 1910, Michalovce had 6120 residents, of whom 3792 were Hungarian, 1586 Slovak and 542 German. The religious makeup was 38.6% Roman Catholic, 32.3% Jewish and 23.2% Greek Catholic. AfterWorld War II, due to the PresidentialBenes decrees, almost the entire population of the region's ethnic Hungarians and Germans (including the region's nativeCarpathian Germans) wereforcibly expelled. Those remaining were assimilated and subjected toSlovakization.[12]
The difference between the population numbers above and in the census (here and below) is that the population numbers above are mostly made up of permanent residents, etc.; and the census should indicate the place where people actually mainly live. For example, a student is a citizen of a village because he has permanent residence there (he lived there as a child and has parents), but most of the time he studies at a university in the city.
The city of Michalovce is home to many secondary schools and some university colleges. Of the seven secondary schools, the most well-known and prestigious is thePavol Horov Gymnasium. The other gymnasium is Gymnazium na ulici Ľudovita Štúra 26.
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