Village History

The center of the village is 530 meters above sea level. PLAVNICA is situated in the LEVOCA MOUNTAINS in the valley of the creek SAMBRONKA. Most of the surrounding area is forested with pine trees and there are rolling hills in this area. There is a sulfur spring in this area and the soils are mostly brown. The village is first mentioned in 1325 when DRUGETH commanded the inheritor Mayor Mikulas to inhabit Plavnica which was partly deserted. In 1366 there is mention of New Plavnica. In 1427 these two villages merged. It was a serf village to the Plavec castle. From the 16^th century it belonged to the family PALOCSAY. In 1787 the village had 135 houses and 1,055 inhabitants. In 1828 there were 167 houses and 1,211 inhabitants. During the second part of the 19^th century there was a lumber mill located here and a sand quarry. At the beginning of the 20^th century there was liquor manufacturing here. In 1880 and in 1914 there was a mass exodus of people who moved to find employment. Many inhabitants of this village immigrated to the United States. Today, many of the inhabitants are employed in various industrial factories which are located in Presov, Stara Lubovna and other towns. Private farmers still work the soil in this village. There is a development of row housing around the creek and folk costumes are a variant from the village of Jakubany which is not far from Plavnica. Christmas theatrical plays were still held here during the early part of the 20^th century.

Churches:

The Roman Catholic church is in early Gothic style and dates from 1325. It was remodeled after 1662. During the first part of the 18^th century the church was remodeled to the Baroque style. The Lutheran church is in classic style from 1806. The chapel located at the cemetery was built in 1826.

Village Statistics

Names:

There have been different names of the village over time:

1325 Plavnich, 1366 Nova Plaunych, 1427 Plavnicha, 1773 Plawnicza, 1920 Plavonica, 1927 Plavnica, Hungarian: Plavnica.

District:

Village is located in former Saris County; then was part of the Presov region until 1960. In 1968 village was placed in Stara Lubovna district, Eastern Slovakia Region.

Population:

Population during various periods:

1869-1,327, 1880-1,525, 1890-1,294, 1900-1,207, 1910-1,059, 1921-932, 1930-1,062, 1940-1,245, 1948-1,342, 1961-1,380,1970-1,475.

Size:

Village size is 1953 HA. HA is short for Hektar. 1 Hektar is 2,471 acres.

Editors Note:

The Roman Catholic parish registers of baptisms, marriages, deaths, and confirmations (1683-1926) for the parish of Plavnica, Slovakia; formerly Plavnicza, Sáros, Hungary are available via the LDS (Family History Center). The film numbers are 1793215, 1793216, 1793217, and 1793218.

Photos of Plavnica

Courtesy of Steven Osifchin

Hillside Views

Roman Catholic Church

Bells in front of the Lutheran church

Cemetery Shrine

Log Homes

This information was graciously offered to TCC by Mr. Tom Peters. Tom has been involved with genealogical work for many years. We thank Tom for his time and for his generosity in sharing this information with others. Thanks Tom!

20 May 1806

Stephan MUHA, GC, Hajtovka & Anna GERAK, RC, Hajtovka

17 Nov 1806

Petrus ARENDACS, GC, Hajtovka & Catharina KADUTSEK, RC, Hajtovka

17 Nov 1806

Miklus ZAVACZKY, GC, Hajtovka & Susanna STUPAK, RC, Hajtovka

9 Nov 1807

Joannes MIKULIK, GC, Ujak & Maria DZATKO, RC, Ujak

16 Nov 1807

Joannes KNAP, GC, Hajtovka & Susanna SZTARINSZKY, RC, Hajtovka

19 Nov 1810

Joseph SZOVA, GC, Hajtovka & Maria MURCZKO, RC, Hajtovka

2 Sept 1811

Andreas MURCZKO, GC, Hajtovka & Susana BARAN, RC, Hajtovka

5 Oct 1811

Vaszko VANCSO, GC, Ujak & Catharina Tengi, RC, Hajtovka

24 Nov 1812

Andreas ARENDACS, GC, Hajtovka & Susana STUPAK, RC, Hajtovka

19 June 1826

Joannes KOLYAR, GC, Ujak & Anna BEDNAR, RC, Ujak

28 Nov 1826

Demetrius SZOVA, GC, Ujak & Anna JANOSTSIK, RC, Ujak

17 June 1829

Michael SZOVA, GC, widower, 28, Hajtovka & Susanna MUHA, RC, 21, Hajtovka

2 Nov 1829

Michael LISTSINSZKY, GC, 30, Hajtov & Maria FEDORKO, RC, 16, Hajtovka

14 Nov 1831

Michael FEDUS, widower, GC, 30, Hajtovka & Susanna PJURA, RC, 24, Gromos

14 Nov 1831

Michael ARENDACS, GC, 21, Hajtovka & Maria PRUZINSKY, RC, 18, Hajtovka

21 Nov 1831

Michael LISTSINSZKY, widower, GC, 30, Hajtovka & Susanna RAUBERSTRAUCH, RC, 17, Plavnica.

12 Feb 1832

Michael ARENDACS, GC, 25, Hajtovka & Juditha BEDNAR, RC, 25, Hajtovka

2 Feb 1835

Basil MIKULIK aka KATSMARUV, widower, GC, 37, Ujak & Anna TENGI, 28, RC, Hajtovka.

11 Feb 1836

Michael HOLODNYAK, widower, GC, 43, Ujak & Maria KUCSMA, RC, 20, Hajtovka.

11 Feb 1836

Georg ROLA, GC, 21, Ujak & Maria KNAP, RC, 19, Hajtovka

14 Feb 1836

Michael KSENYAK, widower, 49, Ujak & Susana PJURA, widow, 38, Hajtovka

21 Nov 1836

Joannes HRINYA, GC, 22, Ujak & Maria PRUZINSKY, RC, 19

21 Nov 1836

Michael MIKULIK, GC, 20, Ujak & Maria KNAP, RC, 17

Lutheran Church Photos

TCC wishes to express our thanks to John Dornik. John photographed the church on his recent visit to his ancestral villages of Plavnica and Udol.

Lutheran church in Plavnica

Lintel over the front door showing the date of construction of 1806

Alter

Plavnica Jewish Cemetery

The Plavnica Jewish Cemetery is located on an isolated agricultural hillside with no sign or marker. It can be reached by crossing a public field or by following the dirt road up from the Roman Catholic Cemetery. Access is open to all via a broken masonry wall without gate. There are 20-30 visible stone 19th-20th century flat shaped tombstones with Hebrew inscriptions. 18 of the stones that had enough visible writing are transcribed here. There may have been other stones not visible due to the overgrown vegetation.

TCC would like to thank Menachem Honig for his translation of the dates and for his efforts in seeking out the assistance of Dr. Esther Cohen. The original dates were Jewish ones. Dr. Cohen translated the “poetic” text and the acrostics, although the names are written with a different number of letters in Hebrew. The photos are courtesy of Steven M. Osifchin.  Photographed in May, 2004.

Here lies

Here lies

Plavnica Cemetery, Courtesy of Gregory Dibb

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