The Region of Žilina

Žilina´s self governing region has a surface area of 6788km2 and is one of the most beautiful regions in the Slovak Republic. It is most famous for its beautiful nature with many cultural relics, agriculture and developed industry. Tourists will find folk customs, folklore and folk architecture together with modern architecture, transport and power engineering.

Zilina shares borders with Poland and the Czech Republic. Some of the valleys near the rivers Váh, Orava Kysuce, Turiec are situated in the altitude of 300 meters above sea level and are surrounded by the uplands and beautiful mountains: Zpadné Tatry, Nízke Tatry, Veľká Fatra, Malá Fatra, Beskydy, Strážovské vrchy and Javorníky. The highest peak is Bystrá 2245 meters above sea level. Important parts of the international road network lead though Žilina´s region, the most important are: E 50 Czech Republic – Žilina – Košice – Ukraine, E 75 Poland – Čadca – Žilina – Hungary and Austria, E 78 Poland – Trstená Dolný Kubín –Šahy – Hungary, E 442 Czech Republic – Makov – Bytča – connected with E 50 and E 75.

The region shares 9 borderline checkpoints with Czech Republic and Poland. Zilina also plays an important part in the railway transport industry with direct rail links through Cadca and Zwardon to Poland, and from Czech Republic through Cadca and Zilina to Bratislava or Kosice. As you can see the central rail junction is Žilina. The regional also has an international airport situated in Dolný Hričov.

With over 400 hotels and restaurants and many tourist information centers in the region, Zilina has great potential for travel and tourism by offering some of the best trekking and mountain bike riding around. They also have open-air thermal pools, indoor swimming pools, lakes, dams, ski lifts and cable cars. Domestic as well as international visitors are currently taking advantages of these quality facilities.

The Žilina region currently boasts 22 national cultural relics, 1096 immovable relics and 1386 movable relics, 1 town protected area, 3 protected areas of folk architecture, (the village of Vlkolínec belongs to the Worlds Cultural heritage) and 19 protected zones.

The region has four territories that have been declared National Parks – Vysoké Tatry, Nízke Tatry, Veľká Fatra and Malá Fatra. There are also 4 protected landscapes, 62 national natural reserves, 39 natural relics and 9 natural protected relics.

The national chamber orchestra plays an important role in the regional culture as well as 3 theaters, 5 national libraries, many museums and municipal libraries. Visitors can also find 2 observatories in the region. There is a developed school network with 4 universities: Žilina´s University, The Jessenius medical faculty, The Military Academy in Liptovský Mikuláš and Catholis University in Ružomberok.

The locals still believe in the traditional good characteristics such as hospitality, modesty and sedulity needed for overcoming the severe climatic conditions and the lack of ploughland in past. They were able to adapt to new and quite different living conditions after the revolution in 1989 thanks to these characteristics and skills. As you can see the region is developing with great speeds in every direction, currently holding the status as one of the eight higher territorial units in Slovakia.