Preà ¡ov () is a city in eastern Slovakia. It is the seat of administrative Preà ¡ov Region () and à  arià ¡. With a population of approximately 85,000 for the city, and in total more than 100,000 with the urban area, it is the second-largest city in eastern Slovakia and the third-largest city in all of Slovakia, after the nearby city of Koà ¡ice. It belongs to the and is the natural cultural, economic, transport, and administrative center of the Preà ¡ov Region. It lends its name to the Eperjes-Tokaj Hill-Chain, which was considered the geographic entity on the first map of Hungary from 1528. There are many tourist attractions in Preà ¡ov, such as castles (e.g. à  arià ¡ Castle), pools, and the old town.
The first written mention is from 1247 (). Several authors derived the name from Hungarian (strawberry).
Other alternative names of the city include , , , , () , () and () .
People from Preà ¡ov are traditionally known as which means "horse keepers".
The old town is a showcase of Baroque, Rococo, and Gothic architecture. The historical center is lined with buildings built in these styles. On the outskirts, however, the Soviet influence is clearly evident through the massive concrete panel buildings () of the housing estates () and specifically the SekÃÂov housing estate, the largest housing estate in Preà ¡ov. More Soviet-style architecture is seen in the government buildings near the city center.
Significant industries in the city include mechanical and electrical engineering companies and the clothing industry. Solivary, the only salt mining and processing company in Slovakia, also operates in the city. The city is the seat of a Greek Catholic metropolitan see and of the primate of the autocephalous Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia.
Many concerts, operas, operettas, and stage plays are performed at the new building of the JonÃ¡à ¡ Záborský Theatre (Divadlo JonÃ¡à ¡a Záborského), as well as at the older theatre premises.
The city and the region were contenders for European Capital of Culture 2013. The nearby city of Koà ¡ice was chosen.
Preà ¡ov lies in the eastern part of Slovakia at the confluence of the rivers Torysa and SekÃÂov in the Koà ¡ice Basin. It is surrounded by Slanské vrchy from the east and à  arià ¡ská vrchovina from the west. Roads I / 18 (Poprad â Michalovce), I / 68 (direction Stará ýubovà Âa), I / 20 (direction Koà ¡ice) intersect in the town and the south-western connection of the D1 motorway (Poprad â Koà ¡ice) is being built. The Koà ¡ice â Muszyna railway line leads through Preà ¡ov, to which the lines to Humenné and Bardejov connect. Koà ¡ice lies south, Poprad west, Bardejov north and Vranov nad Topþou east.
Self-governing city districts. Territorial districts of self-governing city districts:
Cadastral city district: Preà ¡ov, Nià ¾ná à  ebastová, Solivar, à  algovÃÂk, Cemjata
Other districts: Delà Âa, Dúbrava, Kalvária, Rúrky, Soþná Baà Âa, à  arià ¡ské Lúky, à  irpo, à  idlovec, Táborisko, Teþov, Vydumanec, Borkút, Kúty, Surdok
Housing estates: SÃÂdlisko Duklianskych hrdinov, Mier, Mladosà ¥, SekÃÂov, SÃÂdlisko II, SÃÂdlisko III, à  váby
Previous city districts: Haniska (1970âÂÂ1990), ýubotice (1970âÂÂ1990), à  arià ¡ské Lúky (1970âÂÂ1990, since 1990 it's a part of the village ýubotice)
In the last few years and today, the construction of new residential areas and satellite towns in Preà ¡ov is being realized, especially in the districts à  idlovec, Solivar, à  algovÃÂk, Tichá dolina, and Surdok.
Habitation in the area around Preà ¡ov dates as far back as the Paleolithic period. The oldest discovered tools and mammoth bones are 28,000 years old. Continuous settlement dates back to the 8th century.
After the Mongol invasion in 1241, King Béla IV of Hungary invited German colonists to fill the gaps in population. Preà ¡ov became a German-speaking settlement, related to the Zipser German and Carpathian German areas, and was elevated to the rank of a royal free town in 1347 by Louis the Great.
In 1412, Preà ¡ov helped to create the Pentapolitana, the league of five towns, a trading group. The first record of a school dates from 1429. After the collapse of the old Kingdom of Hungary after the Ottoman invasion of 1526, Preà ¡ov became a border city and changed hands several times between two usually rivalrous domains, Habsburg Royal Hungary and Hungarian states normally backed by the Ottomans: the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom, the Principality of Transylvania, and the Principality of Upper Hungary.
Still, Preà ¡ov went through an economic boom thanks to trade with the PolishâÂÂLithuanian Commonwealth. In the 16th century, it brought in grape vines from the nearby Tokaj wine region, and was home to German-Hungarian, Polish, and Greek wine merchants. Some of the first books on Tokaj wine were written in German in Preà ¡ov.
In 1572, salt mining began in Solivar (at that time a nearby town, now a part of Preà ¡ov).
Antun VranÃÂiÃÂ, a Croatian prelate, writer, diplomat and Archbishop of Esztergom, died in Preà ¡ov in 1573.
Preà ¡ov was prominent in the Protestant Reformation. It was at the front line in the 1604âÂÂ1606 Bocskai uprising, when Imperial Army commander Giorgio Basta retreated to the town after failing to take Koà ¡ice from the Protestant rebels.
In 1647, the Habsburgs designated it the capital of Sáros County. In late January 1657, Transylvanian Prince George II Rákóczi, a Protestant, invaded Poland with an army of some 25,000, which crossed the Carpathians on the road from Preà ¡ov to Krosno.
Wolfgang Schustel, a Lutheran reformer during the Reformation, who adopted an uncompromising position on public piety, worked in Preà ¡ov and other towns. In 1667, the important Evangelical Lutheran College of Eperjes was established by Lutherans in the town.
Imre Thököly, the Protestant Hungarian rebel and Ottoman ally, studied at the Protestant college here. In 1685, he was defeated here by the Habsburgs at the Battle of Eperjes. In 1687, twenty-four prominent citizens and noblemen were executed, under a tribunal instituted by the Austrian general Antonio Caraffa, for supporting the uprising of Imre Thököly:
At the beginning of the 18th century, the population was decimated by the Bubonic plague and fires and was reduced to a mere 2,000 inhabitants. By the second half of the century, however, the town had recovered; crafts and trade improved, and new factories were built. In 1752, the salt mine in Solivar was flooded. Since then, salt has been extracted from salt brine through boiling.
The English author John Paget visited Preà ¡ov and describes it in his 1839 book, Hungary and Transylvania. In 1870 the first railway line was built, connecting the town to Koà ¡ice. At the end of the 19th century, the town introduced electricity, telephone, telegraph, and sewage systems. In 1887, fire destroyed a large part of the town.
In 1918, Czechoslovak troops began occupying eastern Slovakia, along with Preà ¡ov. On 16 June 1919, Hungarian troops entered the city and the very brief Slovak Soviet Republic was declared here with the support of the Hungarian Soviet Republic. The short-lived republic collapsed on 7 July 1919, and Czechoslovak troops re-entered Preà ¡ov. In 1920, after the Treaty of Trianon, Preà ¡ov definitively became part of the newly created Czechoslovakia. During World War II, the nearby town of Koà ¡ice again became part of the Kingdom of Hungary as a result of the First Vienna Award. As a result, many institutions moved from Koà ¡ice to Preà ¡ov, thus increasing the town's importance. In 1944, a professional Slovak Theatre was established in Preà ¡ov. The city is a site in the Holocaust:
About two thousand Jews were deported from Preà ¡ov to the DÃÂblinâÂÂIrena Ghetto in May 1942. Only a few dozen survived.
On 19 January 1945, Preà ¡ov was taken by Soviet troops of the 1st Guards Army. After 1948, during the Communist era in Czechoslovakia, Preà ¡ov became an industrial center. Due to World War II, Preà ¡ov lost the majority of its Jewish population. Nonetheless, the population of the city increased rapidly from 28,000 in 1950 to 52,000 in 1970 and 89,000 in 1990.
By granting city privileges in 1299, the people of Preà ¡ov gained the right to elect their Vogt. Such a Vogt embodied the highest executive and judicial power in the city. He was elected among the esteemed burghers, usually for one year. The first Vogt in the city of Preà ¡ov, whose name has been preserved, was Hanus called Ogh, who is mentioned in historical sources as early as 1314. However, historians have not been able to complete the list of all the Vogts of Preà ¡ov until 1497. For the first time, a woman became the highest representative of Preà ¡ov in 2014, when Andrea TurÃÂanová became the winner of the election. In the elections of 2018, she strengthened her position and won the elections to be the mayor of Preà ¡ov.
Preà ¡ov already had an important geographical position in the Middle Ages, because it was located at the crossroads of trade routes and also belonged to the important defense system of the emerging Hungarian state. The beginnings of the army in Preà ¡ov date back to this area, as Hungarian tribes and their allies, which were military-guard groups of Asian ethnic groups, came to these areas to establish guard settlements and fortresses to defend the emerging Kingdom of Hungary from enemy attacks. To this day, the names of the nearby hills Veþká and Lysá strÃ¡à ¾ have been preserved.
The city had its own garrison probably since 1374, when it was given the right to build defensive walls with bastions and towers by King Louis I. The importance of the military garrison certainly increased because the city of Preà ¡ov became a free royal town in the 14th century. At the end of the 16th century, during the 15-year war with Turkey, the city had to sustain a large imperial army. From 1604, when the first of several anti-Habsburg uprisings of the Hungarian estates broke out, until 1710, when the city capitulated to a strong Habsburg army, Preà ¡ov was besieged many times by various insurgent troops, even by imperial troops. For example: Bocskai uprising, General Bast's troops, George I Rákóczi's insurgents, Veshelini's conspiracy, Kuruk's insurgents, Tököli's uprising, General Caraffa's Preà ¡ov slaughterhouses, and the insurgents led by Francis II Rákóczi. Preà ¡ov then flourished until 1848, because it did not experience any war.
The revolutionary years of 1848âÂÂ49 pulled not only the free royal city of Preà ¡ov, but the whole country into the whirlwind of events. Due to its strategic location, Preà ¡ov experienced several changes of military forces during this period. For example, General Schlick's imperial army was replaced by Görgey's Hungarian army, which was soon replaced by Austrian and Slovak volunteer units, which in turn were replaced by imperial soldiers together with the Russian army. The fact that the military importance of Preà ¡ov continued to grow is also evidenced by the data from the census of 1900, when out of 14,447 inhabitants of Preà ¡ov, there were up to 1,349 soldiers. The local military garrison consisted of several units of the joint army and militia, the largest of which was the 67th Imperial and Royal Infantry Regiment. The hardships of World War I and especially its end tragically affected the life of Preà ¡ov, because on 1 November 1918, under the influence of the revolution in Budapest, soldiers of the 67th Regiment and some other smaller units in Preà ¡ov refused to obey their commanders and looted some shops in Preà ¡ov. After the arrival of military reinforcements, the insurgents were arrested, and even though there were no casualties during the riots, the statistical court sentenced the participants in the uprising to death. On the same day, 1 November 1918, 41 soldiers and 2 civilians were executed in the square. This event is also known as the Preà ¡ov Uprising (Preà ¡ovská vzbura). The bombing of the city on 20 December 1944 was also devastating for the city of Preà ¡ov.
From 4 July 1945, shortly after the end of World War II, military units in the territory of Czechoslovakia were reorganized according to the model of the Red Army. Since then, the following military headquarters have been located in the city of Preà ¡ov: infantry regiment headquarters, rifle division headquarters, tank division headquarters, motorized rifle division headquarters, mechanized division headquarters, army corps headquarters, and mechanized brigade headquarters.
From 1918 to 2019, these soldiers, who were born in Preà ¡ov, brigadier general Frantià ¡ek Bartko, major general Vojtech Gejza DanieloviÃÂ, lieutenant general Alexander Mucha, brigadier general Ing. Karol Navrátil, brigadier general Ing. Ivan Pach, major general Emil Perko, major general Jozef Zadà ¾ora.
It is located in north-eastern Slovakia, at the northern reaches of the Koà ¡ice Basin, at the confluence of the Torysa river with its tributary SekÃÂov. Mountain ranges nearby include Slanské vrchy (south-east), à  arià ¡ská vrchovina (south-west), Bachureà  (west), and ÃÂergov (north). The neighbouring city of Koà ¡ice is to the south. Preà ¡ov is about south of the Polish border, north of the Hungarian border and is some northeast of Bratislava (by road).
Preà ¡ov has a warm humid continental climate, bordering an oceanic climate. Preà ¡ov has four distinct seasons and is characterized by a significant variation between somewhat warm summers and slightly cold, snowy winters.
It has a population ofÃÂ people (31 December ).
In the past, Preà ¡ov was a typical multiethnic town where Slovak, Hungarian, German, and Yiddish were spoken.
Before World War II, Preà ¡ov was home to a large Jewish population of 4,300 and housed a major Jewish museum. During 1939 and 1940, the Jewish community absorbed a flow of Jewish refugees from German Nazi-occupied Poland, and in 1941, additional deportees from Bratislava. In 1942, a series of deportations of Preà ¡ov's Jews to the German Nazi death camps in Poland began. Plaques in the town hall and a memorial in the surviving synagogue record that 6,400 Jews were deported from the town under the Tiso government of the First Slovak Republic. Only 716 Jewish survivors were found in the city and its surroundings when it was liberated by the Soviet Red Army in January 1945.
Preà ¡ov is the seat of the Roman Co-Cathedral of St. Nicholas. The city is part of the metropolitan Koà ¡ice Archdiocese.
Preà ¡ov is the seat of the Slovak Greek Catholic metropolis and the Preà ¡ov Greek Catholic Archeparchy, which was founded on 3 November 1815, by Emperor Francis II.
The Preà ¡ov Orthodox Diocese was established after World War II by the division of the Mukachevo-Preà ¡ov Orthodox Diocese. The Cathedral of St. Prince Alexander Nevsky was built between 1946 and 1950 in the traditional Russian style.
Preà ¡ov is also the seat of the diocese of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovakia.
There are two theological faculties in the city â the Greek Catholic Theological Faculty and the Orthodox Theological Faculty. Both are part of the University of Preà ¡ov.
The religious makeup in 2011 was 55.8% Roman Catholics, 12.44% people with no religious affiliation, 8.15% Greek Catholics, 4.05% Lutherans, 1.55% Orthodox, 17.16% did not declare any religious affiliation. On the contrary, there was an increase in the number of atheists, Greek Catholics and the unidentified.
Thanks to the lively musical life and the success of Preà ¡ov's music production, the city of Preà ¡ov has earned the nickname "Slovak Seattle" () or "City of Music" () long ago, mainly through the media. However, many musicians from Preà ¡ov work not only within their hometown or region, but also reap success in the whole of Slovakia, neighboring countries, or even Europe.
However, not only the number of mainstream successful musicians contributed to the musical life of the city, in the past and today, but also more or less (un)known groups and musical subcultures, steadily operating in the city foothills (genres: metal, punk, alternative, hip-hop, R&B, gospel, rock, pop-rock, folk, jazz, country, and possibly others), concert rooms and clubs (VéÃÂko, Bizarre, Christiania, City Club, Stromoradie, Za siedmimi oknami, Wave, Ester rock club, Netopier, Staré Mexiko, Insomnia, Ponorka, ENCORE), rock shows of bands with a long tradition (Rocková liga, vyà ¡e 20. roÃÂnÃÂkov, Preà ¡ovský à ¡tudentský Liverpool, 6. roÃÂnÃÂkov, RebrÃÂk) but also festivals (Sigortus, Dobrý festival, (t)urbanfest, ImROCK FEST, East Side Music Festival, Festival zlej hudby, Farfest, Jazz Preà ¡ov).
Important events include the Dni mesta Preà ¡ov (Days of the City of Preà ¡ov), which are held annually on the occasion of the celebrations of the first written mention of the city (, 774th anniversary). The celebrations usually include open-air concerts right in the center of Hlavná street, whereas several guests from the domestic and European alternative scene have taken turns throughout the years. That includes: Deti Picasso (Russia), Myster Möbius (France/Hungary), Masfél (Hungary), Prague Selection II.; Laura a jejàtygà Âi (Czech Republic), SreÃÂna Mladina (Slovenia), Squartet (Italy), but also Slovak groups Heþenine OÃÂi, Chiki liki tu-a, Arzén, Mango Molas, Alter Ego, Kapátske chrbáty, and Komajota.
Part of the city's celebrations are also side stages, where young bands can also try their luck.
In 2009, the first Preà ¡ov film festival, the Bastion film festival, was established. The festival takes place on the historic wall behind the Franciscan Church. The organizers are PKO Preà ¡ov and Preà ¡ov composer and guitarist David Kollar.
After many years, the constant influx and modification of music groups, which are often enforced throughout Slovakia, required documentation, which took place through the internet database of Preà ¡ov bands and performers under the name Frenky's Music Encyclopedia. Historically and currently, the ever-growing database of Preà ¡ov musicians is run by Michal Frank, a journalist and editor-in-chief of the Preà ¡ov Korzár.
Prominent Preà ¡ov musicians and bands include IMT Smile, Peha, KatarÃÂna Knechtová, KatarÃÂna Koà ¡ÃÂová, Peter Lipa, David Kollar, Hrdza and Peter Nagy.
Preà ¡ov has the largest number of preserved castle ruins among all the regional towns in its vicinity, which led to the creation of the Preà ¡ov Castle Road project in 2019. The aim was to connect these castles with an imaginary tourist line and thus support the development of tourism in Preà ¡ov and its surroundings. 6 castles took part in the Preà ¡ov Castle Road project, namely:
The construction of a central city park, situated between the SekÃÂov housing estate and Táborisko, is being prepared. In addition to the planned central city park, there are several parks and parks in Preà ¡ov:
Preà ¡ov is home to one professional football team: 1. FC Tatran Preà ¡ov which is the oldest football team in Slovakia.
The city's ice hockey club is HC Preà ¡ov. The home arena of Preà ¡ov is the ICE Arena, and it has a capacity of 3600 visitors. Preà ¡ov had a hockey team since 1928 (HC Preà ¡ov Penguins), but in 2019 it folded.
The city's handball club is HT Tatran Preà ¡ov, which is Slovakia's most popular and currently most successful club. The handball team of Preà ¡ov is taking part not only in the Slovak league (where it is dominating), but also in the international SEHA League with the best handball teams from the region. Many handball players from this team are also members of the Slovak national handball team.
The following industrial parks and industrial zones are located in Preà ¡ov:
Preà ¡ov is connected by the D1 motorway to the south with Koà ¡ice, to the west with Poprad and Ruà ¾omberok. The completion of its connecting sections enabling motorway connections to Bratislava and à ½ilina is expected in 2024. A high-quality connection with Poland via SvidnÃÂk and Hungary is to be provided by the R4 expressway.
Today, Preà ¡ov has a southwestern motorway bypass, which has been under construction since 2017 and was officially opened on 28 October 2021. The southwestern bypass of Preà ¡ov forms part of the D1 motorway in the section Preà ¡ov â west and Preà ¡ov â south. Since 2019, the 1st stage of the northern bypass from the Preà ¡ov â West (Vydumanec) junction to the Preà ¡ov â North (Dúbrava) junction, which will be part of the R4 expressway, has been under construction. After the overall construction, the Preà ¡ov motorway bypass will bypass the whole city, divert transit traffic in all directions, and connect the D1 with the R4. It will start at D1 Preà ¡ov â South junction, continue towards the northwest, to the Preà ¡ov â West junction, where it will connect to the already completed parts of the D1 motorway. At this junction, the R4 will connect to D1. Completion of the construction of the 1st stage (PO west-PO north) of the northern bypass R4 is planned for the summer of 2023, and the 2nd stage (PO north-PO east) is now under the tender with planned opening in 2027.
International routes of European importance E50 and E371, first-class roads I/18, I/68, and I/20, and second-class road 546 pass through Preà ¡ov. In 2017, the last stage of the so-called Embankment communication (Nábreà ¾ná komunikácia) was finished, including the reconstruction of the intersection at ZVL, which relieved the city center of transit traffic.
Urban public transport is provided by the Transport Company of the City of Preà ¡ov (Dopravný podnik mesta Preà ¡ov, a. s.), which operates a total of 45 regular public transport lines by the following means of transport:
Today, the following vehicles are operated in MHD (Metská hromadná doprava â Public transport) Preà ¡ov:
The history of public transport in Preà ¡ov began in 1949, when Local Transport was established, a municipal enterprise of the city of Preà ¡ov, as the operator of regular public transport in the territory of Preà ¡ov. After the end of World War II, it was not possible to start public transport with a new vehicle fleet, so an offer was accepted for the purchase of older Tatra vehicles from public transport facilities in Prague, Plzeà Â, and Bratislava. The vehicles were initially parked in the courtyard of the old prison on Konà ¡tantÃÂnova street, where the company was also located.
On 4 September 1949, the traffic on the first lines was ceremoniously opened. Already in the first year of operation, the Preà ¡ov public transport buses went beyond the city limits to the municipalities of à  arià ¡ské Lúky, Nià ¾ná à  ebastová, Haniska, and Solivar. The following year, the development of public transport continued with the introduction of additional bus lines. The state hospital, Záhrady, SÃÂdlisko II, Budovateþská and ÃÂapajevova street were all gradually connected to the public transport network in the 1950s, as well as other municipalities: the town of Veþký à  arià ¡ and its part Kanaà ¡, Malý à  arià ¡, ýubotice, Fintice, Teriakovce and Záborské.
In 1959, the first night line began operating, and the company was located on its own premises on Petrovanská street, where it moved in 1951. In 1958, when the construction of the trolleybus network in the city was approved, it brought a new stage in the development of urban transport. All high-capacity intra-city lines were to be electrified, while bus transport was to remain ancillary. Line 1 was the first to be electrified, which led from Nià ¾ná à  ebastová through à  arià ¡ské Lúky to Solivar. Although its construction was delayed by several technical problems, on 13 May 1962, passengers got to experience trolleybuses. A new depot for trolleybuses and buses was completed in à  arià ¡ské Lúky, where the entire vehicle fleet as well as the company's administration moved. Work on other sections soon began, so in 1966, trolleybuses were already running on Koà ¡ická, Sabinovská, Budovateþská streets, and Gottwald, the present-day 17 November Street.
In the first half of the 1970s, the track along Sabinovská street was extended to Dúbrava, and trolleybuses also began to serve industrial à  irpo. Other projects of lines to SÃÂdlisko III, à  váby, Haniska, and Delà Âa could no longer be carried out. Under the influence of cheap oil, buses also began to gain ground in Preà ¡ov. Bus transport recorded a quantitative development, when buses also started to run to Táborisko, à  idlovec, Cemjata, Pod Kamennou baà Âou street, and SÃÂdlisko III. In terms of quality, however, this mode of transport has struggled with constant difficulties such as the lack of vehicles, their low capacity, and breakdowns. These shortcomings were not gradually overcome until the late 1970s. Nevertheless, due to the non-construction of the trolleybus line to SÃÂdlisko III, the service of which was crucial at that time, the buses fully prevailed.
The period of the turn of the 1970s and 1980s, when the possibilities of public transport were significantly limited by the lack of fuel, pointed to the suitability of trolleybus transport. Following a review at the government level, the electrification program was re-launched. SÃÂdlisko III was the first to be connected to the trolleybus transport network in 1985. Trolleybuses achieved a majority share in public transport in the city of Preà ¡ov after 1992, when trolleybus transport was introduced to the largest housing estate, SekÃÂov. The issue of the tariff in Preà ¡ov has always been characterized by an ever-changing number of tariff bands, based on which the rates for individual journeys were set. In 1949, there were three fare zones, and it was possible to change to another vehicle on one ticket. In 1969, single-ticket transfers were canceled, and the number of bands was reduced to two. Since 1984, the government has simplified the tariff, and there has been no division of the network into bands.
Different fares for travel to neighboring municipalities were reintroduced in 1993 and existed until 1996. Special rates also applied in 1997 â 99 and again in 2000. Tickets were originally bought from the guide directly in the vehicle, later sold by the driver, respectively a ticketing machine was installed in the vehicle. In 1977, the sale of tickets outside the vehicle was introduced. Since 1995, it has again been possible to buy a ticket from the driver, but at an increased price. Public transport is improved by the gradual renewal of the vehicle fleet, focused on low-floor vehicles, the introduction of computer technology into traffic management, as well as the reconstruction of track sections of the trolleybus track and overhauls of vehicles. In the future, it is planned to expand ecological trolleybus transport to the à  váby housing estate and the second connection of the city center and the SekÃÂov housing estate along RusÃÂnská Street.
Three railway lines, Koà ¡ice â Muszyna with a connection to Poland, the line Preà ¡ov â Humenné and Preà ¡ov â Bardejov pass through the city. The length of the railway network in the city is . In 2007, the main railway station in Preà ¡ov was modernized, and in 2019, the pre-station area was reconstructed, including the underpass under Masarykova street, as well as MHD (Public transport) stops.
The following railway stations and stops are located in Preà ¡ov:
As part of the integrated transport project, the construction of other railway stops in the city is also planned.
The main bus transport operator in the Preà ¡ov self-governing region is the company SAD Preà ¡ov, a.s., which provides suburban, long-distance, and international transport. Suburban transport is performed on 63 bus lines serving the districts of Preà ¡ov, Bardejov, Sabinov, SvidnÃÂk, Koà ¡ice-okolie, Koà ¡ice, Vranov nad Topþou, Stropkov, Stará ýubovà Âa, and LevoÃÂa. The main transport terminal in Preà ¡ov for the bus service is the Preà ¡ov Bus Station. SAD Preà ¡ov, a.s., in addition to the performance of suburban, long-distance, and international transport, also ensures the performance of public transport in Bardejov.
There is currently no public civil airport in Preà ¡ov. There is an air base in the Nià ¾ná à  ebastová district.
The international cycle route of European significance EuroVelo 11 leads through the functional territory of the city of Preà ¡ov, which passes through the cadastres of the municipalities of Veþký à  arià ¡, Preà ¡ov, Haniska, and Kendice. The route is a part of the General Cycling Route as branch H1 â the main cycling route and belongs to the strategic goals of the Preà ¡ov self-governing region, as the main axis of the region. Currently, within the framework of EuroVelo 11, a continuous cycle route is in operation on the route Wilec hórka â City Hall â SÃÂdlisko II â SÃÂdlisko III â Veþký à  arià ¡ âÂ à  arià ¡ské Michaþany. A part of this route is also a bicycle bridge under the à  arià ¡ Castle with a historical look, which has become a new sought-after attraction. Another important cycling route is the so-called cycle railway leading from Solivar in Preà ¡ov to the Sigord recreational area.
In addition to these important cycle routes, there are several other local cycle routes in Preà ¡ov in various parts of the city. So far, the newest cycle routes in Preà ¡ov are the cycle route on Masarykova street, completed in 2019, and the Mlynský náhon cycle route, completed in 2020. Their completion was ensured by the cycling connection of SÃÂdlisko III with the city center and with the SekÃÂov and à  váby housing estates. In 2020, a new cycle route was also completed in the SekÃÂov housing estate on the route from Laca Novomeského street to à  algovÃÂk. For lovers of mountain biking, there are Preà ¡ov singletracks available in the Preà ¡ov forests, which together form eight routes of varying difficulty with a total length of approximately . Preà ¡ov singletracks are one of the most attractive cycling areas in Preà ¡ov and its surroundings. They are well-marked and maintained in excellent condition. The routes lead through Malkovská hôrka, to the recreation center Cemjata (Kyslá and Kvaà ¡ná voda), to Borkút, and it is also possible to get to the Calvary in Preà ¡ov.
The largest providers of health care in Preà ¡ov are the following public and private facilities:
In addition to these facilities, medical services are also provided by other smaller clinics and health centers.
Institutions of tertiary education in the city are the University of Preà ¡ov with 12,600 students, including 867 doctoral students, and the private International Business College ISM Slovakia in Preà ¡ov, with 455 students. In addition, the Faculty of Manufacturing Technologies of the Technical University of Koà ¡ice is based in the city.
There are 15 public primary schools, six private primary schools and two religious primary schools. Overall, they enroll 9,079 pupils. The city's system of secondary education consists of 10 gymnasiums with 3,675 students, 4 specialized high schools with 5,251 students and 11 vocational schools with 5,028 students.
There are several business (shopping) centers in Preà ¡ov. EPERIA Shopping Mall has taken its name according to the historic city name Eperies. It is located at the river bank SekÃÂov, between the "Hobby park" at the west side (with DIY chain store HORNBACH) and STOP SHOP point from south side. Total shopping area of all three units is approximately . ZOC MAX is also located in SekÃÂov. NOVUM Shopping Mall in the very heart of city centre with is the second largest. There are also ZOC Koral, Solivaria SC and the nearby ýubotice Retail Park, with an additional area together of .
One of the most popular locations in Preà ¡ov is Plaza Beach Resort. It is an exotic place in a cozy and calm city area, consisting of a luxury hotel with a restaurant and outside swimming pools. The resort has been built in a Mediterranean style.
Preà ¡ov is twinned with: