The village of Orlov

The area of the village is hilly, divided by smaller streams with a large amount of greenery. In terms of size, the cadastre has an area of 2,077 ha, of which 1,238 ha is forest and only 366 ha of arable land, where potatoes thrive best, beets, oats, rye and barley are also produced.

The village also includes the settlements of Andrejovka and Kurčín. The village was founded by settlers with Šoltýs according to the right of purchase between 1330 and 1349. It belonged to the manor of the nearby Plaveč Castle, to the Bebek family, under the name Orlou. It is not known exactly where the name of the village comes from, but there were probably many birds of prey in the region, especially eagles.

The first written mention is from 1349, when the river Poprad changed its course and thus violated the boundaries of Rikolf's property between the settlements of Orlov, Ľubotín and Čirč. During the investigation of this event, Šoltýs from Orlov, Plavča and Ľubotín also acted as witnesses.

History of the village
In 1427, the village had 26 farmhouses and a house of Šoltýs. In those days, the village was a medium-sized settlement. Later, the number of peasants decreased as most of them moved or became extinct. Some lost their land and became jailers. After the decline of the population at the end of the 15th and the beginning of the 16th century, the number of peasant households decreased to a fifth compared to 1427. From 1505 it belonged to the Horváth family - Palocsay family, under the name Orló. In the 70s - 80s of the 16th century, the Wallachian population settled here and so at the end of the 16th century it was again a medium-sized village with a predominantly Wallachian population of Ruthenian origin. In 1600 the village had 25 inhabited houses and a house of Šoltýs. At that time it belonged to the Semsey family. In 1781 it had 61 houses with 471 inhabitants. In 1828 already 70 houses. At that time, the inhabitants of the village, living in wooden cottages, subsisted mainly on working in the forest and agriculture. They also knew well the work on "men's". In order not to suffer poverty, they tried to make a better living by producing many things, such as clothes, tools, utensils, tools and household appliances. They sown flax and made it from home-made linen linen, which they used to sew not only underwear, but also richly embroidered shirts and other pieces of clothing. At that time, sheep farming was very widespread. Sheep wool was used to make pants called "chološne" and jackets called "hune". Sheepskins were used to sew short women's, richly decorated fur coats and for men sleeveless coats called "fur coats", as well as gloves and hats. The inhabitants also bred other livestock, cows, goats and especially horses. At that time, there may not have been a house in the village - a farm where horses would not be bred. Horse breeding was popular because horses were very useful animals, especially in agriculture and forest work. Eagles have long been known as breeders of good draft horses.

The development of life in the village took place after 1873, when on May 1 the railway from Prešov to Poland was put into operation. Many men have found employment on the railways, and even today more people are employed there. The surrounding forests provided a lot of coniferous wood, and the proximity of the railway enabled the arrival of the Tisza company from Žilina in 1934, which built a steam sawmill for wood processing and a bridge over the Poprad River in the village. This has expanded employment in logging, sledding, especially in winter and the sawmill itself, as well as in the loading of lumber at the railway station. Other work, especially in the winter months, was sand mining in the Poprad River Valley, consideration at the railway station and loading onto wagons.

Until World War II, 90% of people lived in wooden houses with a farm building and a small garden next to the house. Only a few apple and plum trees were grown in these harsh sub-mountain conditions. Due to the mountainousness of the region and poor soil fertility, agriculture would not feed small farmers, so the above-mentioned earning opportunities came in handy.

In the village there was a Greek Catholic church, one inn with mixed goods, one two-class eight-year folk school. The citizens were religiously Greek Catholics. The language of instruction in the school was Ruthenian, so if some wealthier citizens sent their children to secondary schools, then usually to Prešov, to the Greek Catholic Ruthenian bourgeois school, then to a teacher training institute. Some also attended the later established Greek Catholic Russian grammar school in Prešov.

At the end of the Second World War, already in the years 1943 - 1944, a partisan group was formed. The Germans employed people by digging trenches. Heavy fighting was expected here, but the crossing of the front lasted only three days, because after the occupation of Plavč by the Soviet army, the Germans retreated to Starina. Previously, they threw bridges on the railway, a bridge over the river Poprad and a bridge by the parish, on the way to Plavča. About ten houses were destroyed, three burned down, and almost half of the houses had broken windows, causing explosions when throwing out bridges. At that time, the parish building was also badly damaged. All the windows were broken and the stones from the discarded bridge reached the rooms, because the discarded bridge was only a few meters from the rectory. The village was liberated by the Soviet army on January 23, 1945. A monument to fallen Soviet soldiers is erected in a beautiful park by the new bridge. In 1947, 3 families opted for the USSR.

After the Second World War, there was a better life in the village. Wooden houses were rebuilt into new brick houses. One indicator of rapid growth is undoubtedly education. Immediately after the war in 1946, two school buildings called "barracks" were built, in which, especially in the 6th to 9th grade, children from Čirč, Ruská Vola, Obručný, Andrejovka, Šarišský Jastrabius, Kyjov, Vislanka and Údola began to attend. This made Orlov a center of education for the whole area. After the construction of the ZDŠ in Šarišské Jastrabí and Plavnice, the children moved from Kyjov and Vislanka to Šarišské Jastrabia and from Údola to Plavnice. A kindergarten was built in 1958, and a new kindergarten building stands next to it. On September 15, 1962, a new modern two-story school with 14 classrooms and a large gym building was built. Today, children from Čirč, Ruská Vola, Obručný and the settlement of Andrejovka go to Orlov.

An important step in raising the standard of living of the people living in Orlov was electrification in 1956. Then new businesses began to come to the village.

In 1957, in the small old building behind the bridge by the river Poprad Kovorob, the exact name Produné družstvo invalidov was established. He started with 15 workers. His first products were posts and knitting of wire mesh for fences - fences. Later he produced various products from wire, iron, sheet metal, such as. iron frames, gates, gates, fences, parts of various kinds and constructions for circular saws. The plant built new halls from its own resources. He moved to Východoslovenské autodružstvo Prešov changed production and employed up to 225 workers who worked two shifts. They produced cabins for tractors for ZŤS Martin. They produced up to 4,000 a year. They also produced other cabins in the amount of about 3,000 and heating for tractors in the amount of 150,000 per year, which were exported to Poland. The plant owns a nice office building with a buffet and a dining room. It has production halls, such as a cutting room, welding shop, assembly plant, paint shop and other intermediate warehouses. Next to the plant are changing rooms and sanitary facilities. After privatization in the 1990s, the name was changed to Kovotrend, later to Eurokov, and production was significantly reduced.

The second race that was created is Prefa. In 1958, the old Píla was liquidated and the foundations of a new plant for the production of prefabricated parts are laid on its territory. In the beginning, 20-30 people work here. Their work is difficult, they do not yet have the necessary machinery. But in 1966, on the day of the builders, a new modern plant with the appropriate administrative building was handed over. Prefabricated products were produced here and changed according to the needs of construction plants. The number of employees was increasing. The production volume reached 55 mil. crowns. Predominantly structural prefabricated parts for industrial constructions were produced here, both for domestic use and for export to Uzhhorod. The number of employees was about 170. They had their own dining room, a nice new hostel - a free-standing room with a sauna. The surroundings of the building are nicely landscaped. There is a sports field, a park with benches and a fountain. The PL Profy company was established in the Prefy building since 2004 for the production and assembly of large metal structures. Prefa remained in the premises of the old Píla and merged with Cement into the company Ekoprim sro Prešov. It changed its range to smaller concrete products.

On June 29, 1958, after a downpour that lasted three days and three nights, there was a great flood that had not yet existed in this region. Everything near the river was flooded and it was not possible to cross the old bridge over which the water flowed. The newly established Kovorob plant was completely under water. The entire area of the former Sawmill, where there was still enough material from the newly established Prefa plant, was flooded. A large amount of logs was washed away from the wood dump. Farm buildings near the river were flooded and water had to be rescued by citizens. The water from Magura, a stream around the rectory - the upper end of the village, rushed like a wild man carrying wood, bridges and stones, thus deepening its bed to a depth of several meters. She also washed over the bridge at the rectory. It took several years to get bridges, destroyed buildings and roads in order. The stream was regulated and a new bridge was built on the way to Plavč.

A year later, on April 9, 1959, the building of the municipal office and the cultural center was built. The Epocha cinema was set up in part of this center. Various cultural events and wedding receptions are celebrated in the cinema hall. Also at the municipal office is a nicely equipped space to celebrate various events such as weddings, anniversaries and other anniversaries.

Years ago, it was known how good the gravel and sand are in the river Poprad. This fact gave rise to the creation of a new plant in 1963, as Štrkopiesky popularly calls it. Its official name is Východoslovenské kameňolomy a štrkopiesky. This plant started with 30 - 40 workers and the appropriate equipment. They began to dredge valuable gravel and sand from the Poprad riverbed. Later, the plant had 54 workers, 2 mining excavators, tugs, short motor boats and dump boats. After the privatization, the plant changed its name to Betox, continues to operate and supplies Ekoprim gravel and sand and various construction companies in the wider area as well as in Poland.

It is worth mentioning here that the dredging of the riverbed created the so-called "Eagle Sea", where the places are depressions up to 4 m in size. Dredged places by the river today allow the development of fishing. Therefore, in Orlov and its surroundings we will find several fishing huts, we will even meet fishermen from different places in Moravia, who spend their holidays by the river Poprad with fishing rods. They come to their senses because they often pull a few kilograms of carp out of the water, a nice head in the autumn and other species of fish.

In 1965 a local radio was built and in 1966 public lighting.

In 1967, another plant was established, Cementa. It uses a local source of gravel and sand for its products. They started with 10 people, their number gradually increased. They produce road panels, stone blocks, shaft bottoms, sidewalk and road curbs, concrete curbs, amelioration paving, well and sewer rings, cover plates, fence posts, bank bases, drainage gutters, concrete mixtures, etc. In 2005 he merged with Prefa into the company Ekoprim sro Prešov.

When we were in 1967, it should be mentioned that the Orlov - Podolínec line was opened that year, which is of great importance for this region, for increasing employment, tourism and bringing our citizens closer to the district town as well as to the railway junction in Poprad.

In the village, the state forests had a forest office until 1973. Men in logging activities and women in the summer found a job in the forest in afforestation, growing forest trees, treatment and protection of stands. There was a timber warehouse near the railway station, and the pulp mills had a pulp debarking treatment plant there.
In 1968, the Stará Ľubovňa district was created and Orlov was the most industrial village in the district.

On October 22, 1971, the JRD agricultural enterprise is established. Its first chairman is Michal Ščerbák from the settlement of Andrejovka. They started working on 570 hectares of agricultural land. After the incorporation of agricultural land from the Plaveč district, the JRD managed 1,658 ha of land. About 300 workers worked here. They achieved good results, especially in yields per hectare in the cultivation of potatoes and barley, but also in the breeding of cattle. At a time when there were no agricultural peaks, men were leaving for associated production under the JRD. The women had the opportunity to work in a sportswear, which was at JRD as an associated production. It is worth mentioning that the volume of this production was 9 mil. crowns. They sewed very nice tents and beach chairs, which went for export to other states. In the 1990s, the JRD disappeared and a private sheep farm was established on its premises and on leased land. Odeva sro Lipany has a sewing production center in the ready-to-wear premises.

In 1971, a fire station was built. In 1973, a new bridge over the Poprad River was built. In 1988, a self-help water supply system was built. For the development of sports, a nice football stadium with a grandstand was built in 1989.

With the reprivatization of state forests in 1993, the Association of Urbarialists Orlov, Farské lesy and in Andrejovka Urbariát Ščerbák a spol. and Želiari. In 2003, the gasification of the entire village and settlement of Andrejovka was carried out, and in the same year a mourning house and a wastewater treatment plant were put into use. In 2006, a new cemetery was built. In 2007, the sewerage of the village was completed. In May 2009, the construction of the rectory was completed. The gym was repaired in July and the school at the end of the year, on which a gabled roof, an insulated facade and replaced windows were built.

On June 4, 2010, after prolonged rains, there was a flood as in 1958. The lower-lying houses in the village and settlement of Andrejovka were flooded. Local streams overflowed and flooded the surrounding courtyards. The whole industrial part of the village was under water and the companies suffered considerable damage. The bridge over the river Poprad collapsed after the water washed away its middle pillar. The construction of the new bridge began on June 10, 2011 and the Poprad River was bridged on November 29, 2011. On July 4, 2012, a new bridge was put into use. In September 2012, the sidewalk in the village was reconstructed and a new asphalt carpet was laid on the road.