The town of Nováky

All the geographical, economic and political conditions of the time support the belief that "Villa Nuovac", a relatively well-organized conglomeration of smaller settlements at the time, was an important citizen. In its time, it represented the natural center of the entire valley of the Nitra River, from the eastern slopes of the Lelovské vrchy to the foot of the Vtáčnik mountain range. According to the Zobor Charter, the nearest settlements in the north were Opatovce, Kocúrany and Koš, in the south Kostoľany, in the west Račice. Other settlements, such as Dolné (Malé) and Horné (Veľké) Lelovce, Malá (Štefanova) and Veľká (Kňazova) Lehota and Sebedražie were established much later - not to mention Podhradí - from small settlements, which were strengthened by settlement activity, based on the initiative of the nobility. from Novák.

However, the settlement of the Novák area is ancient. This is evidenced by the truly unique finding of a human individual with a child from the Tertiary period (1 million years BC) in the Bane Mier coal seam, unfortunately scientifically unexplored and unpreserved, because he was destroyed by unconscious human hands immediately after the discovery.
Very clear archaeological traces of the settlement of the Novice locality date back to the Late Bronze Age (1200-800 BC). The occurrence of finds from this period indicates the existence of scattered small settlements gravitating towards the Lehota stream. This is evidenced by the accidentally but significant discoveries of mounds during arable work in the autumn of 1888 and the ashtray burial ground in the autumn of 1889. He published his discoveries in detail and handed over all objects to the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest. Among them are urns with a diameter of 15 - 47 cm, smaller clay fired vessels, a stone flint, hair pins up to 32 cm long, a knife, bracelets, a ring and decorative rings - all made of bronze. The locations of the three finds prove that the man of that time avoided the flow of the Nitra River and preferred more distant, higher places. Probably Nitra, at that time much richer in water, especially in spring and autumn, managed to make life very much for the people of that time.

WE HAVE TO WAIT FOR MORE SIGNALS FROM THE NOVEL PAST. It is a rare find of a skeleton grave from the times of Great Moravia at the confluence of the Lehota into Nitra. It significantly documents that the settlement in the 8th and 9th centuries AD has definitely shifted to the center of the lowlands.

Thus, the novices existed and, thanks to their location, certainly had a considerable regional significance already in the period of our first statehood. An important role was also played by the extensive fortress system at Vyšehrad, which is only 25 km as the crow flies, as well as the location of the citizen on the important road from Ponitria to Turc. It is a realistic assumption that, thanks to that, the then Nováky were not bypassed by any significant event of a national character. Such is the beginning of Christianity, which was taking root here even before the arrival of the Byzantine mission of Constantine and Methodius. After all, Scottish-Irish missionaries were active in the north in the Turks at a time when the focus of the Frankish mission was developing in the south in Nitra.

AFTER THE FALL OF GREAT MORAVIA, it took at least a century before they dared to penetrate the Staromad'ari into our area. The obstacle was not only the inability to fight between mountains and swamps, but also the ingenious system of fortifications and jams, whose junctions were Skačany, Vestenice and Račice. There was also a stronghold for immediate protection of Novák in the territory of the area of the current Lehota pod Vtáčnikom. The temporary administrative center of the whole region at that time was Diviaky nad Nitricou, the military support of the extensive Vyšehrad fortress.

AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 11TH CENTURY, the Hungarian guards only reached for Uherka. A century later, "Villa Nuoac" appeared in the Zobor Charter for the first time. In later materials, this name also comes as Nowacz or "new", ie something new. This name expresses a new and already definitive settlement, respectively. shifting of settlements from the middle course of the Lehota to a wider plain to the river Nitra to the surroundings of a rather steep hill, on which, according to justified hypotheses, a sacral building stood in the 12th century.

However, the scattered settlement has also shifted to the north. In this period, we could include a grain tank, which was uncovered in the spring of 1961 by Anton Štanga while leveling the floor area of a chicken hatchery in the northern part of the yard of the novice unified farmers' cooperative. The vessel, already considerably damaged, had a diameter of 50 cm. It was not removed from the ground and thus remained preserved and unexplored under a layer of concrete ...

The third center of settlement was the Priedavky locality - the vicinity of today's Bane Nováky administrative center. Here, on the territory of the northern part of the current Sama Chalupku Street, was also the oldest known novice cemetery.

An important milestone in the HISTORY OF MUNICIPALITIES AND PLACES is the erigation of an independent parish. When a novice was formed, it is not documented by documentary materials. In the Series porochiarum et parochorum arcidioecesis Strigonniensis (1894), Némethy Ludovicus states that the Novaks are "antiqua parochia, quae iam ante an. 1149 erecta fuisse dicitur" (an old parish that was founded before about 1149). However, it does not speak of a historical source. Preserved canonical visitations from the 18th and 19th centuries, relying on visits from previous periods, refer to the parish as "perantiqua" (ancient) and emphasize that it had the status of a primordial postmaster.

We would like to thank the existence of the Nováky parish for another documented mention of Nováky. In the census of papal tithes in the years 1332 - 1337 "parochus Martinus de Nuoac" - pastor Martin of Novák - declares that his parish has an annual income of tens of grain one mark of silver. Was it enough or not enough? For comparison: the parish of Prievidza had a quarter more marks, the wild and vestibule had half a mark more.

WHEN HUNGARY END TERRITORIALLY CONSOLIDATED AT THE END OF THE 11TH CENTURY, Nováky - until then free and independent - became a royal property, administered until 1321 from Prievidza Castle. After its demise, the Novák administration passed under Bojnice Castle, but after only three decades, the village came under the rule of the Lords of Sivý Kamen, which had been completed shortly before. However, Sivý Kameň, and thus also Nováky, became the property of King Sigismund in the years 1387 - 1395. In 1395, he donated the castle and its surroundings to the palatine Leustach of Jelšava, who died in the same year, and his inheritance until In 1429, his sons Juraj and Peter kept it.

Five years passed before Sigismund decided on a new owner. Due to personal merit, it became r. 1434 Gregor Majthényi. After about a hundred years, his descendants chose Nováky as their permanent residence and lived here in a direct line until the middle of the 20th century. In parallel with their destinies and actions, Novák's later history also developed.