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Skalica lying on the border with the Czech Republic is one of the most beautiful western slovakia´s towns and ranks among the ancient Slovak towns which could boast of the attribute “Free Royal Town“ in the past centuries. Its history is long and rich. Periods of building activities, development and prosperity were followed by periods marked by wars, uprisings, plundering and destruction, epidemics or natural disasters. Skalica has an important position on the historic map as well as on the present map of Slovakia for several reasons.
Favourable conditions of life were the reason for the intensive settlement of the territory as early as the Early Stone Age (4,000 B.C.). The settlement continued in the Late Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age, La Tene times, Roman times, Early Slav times, and Great Moravian times. The first written mentions of Skalica date from 1217 and 1256 when it was mentioned in documents as Zakolcha.
On October 6, 1372, Lewis I, king of Hungary awarded Skalica privileges of a “Free Royal Town“. The original of the document wasn´t preserved but the later confirmations tell us that the town was guaranteed the right of building the town walls, its inhabitants were free from paying taxes and other fees and the goods produced by the inhabitants of Skalica were tollfree throughout the kingdom. Skalica was also awarded privileges of organizing weekly fairs and annual fairs.
Thanks to the other privileges of Sigismond of Luxemburg and his successors, Skalica became an important economic, cultural and spiritual centre of the neighbourhood as early as the first half of the 15th century. From the point of view of economics and thanks to the number of houses Skalica ranked among the 5 or 6 biggest and most important towns in Slovakia in the 17th century and it was on a level with other royal towns: Bratislava, Košice, Trnava, Bardejov or Prešov. Crafts and trade flourished in Skalica and different guilds were founded. Skalica drapery, which developed at the end of the 18th century, was well-known everywhere in Hungary.
As for the agriculture, it was viticulture that developed most. Viticulturalists founded their association, the so-called Brotherhood of St Urban more than 300 years ago. It was based on the principle of guilds of craftsmen. Some of the historical sights, for example The Church of St Urban, patron saint of viticulturalists and the guild Altar of St Urban with the emblem of viticulturalists in the Parish Church date from this period, too. High-quality red wine is still made here and numerous small houses called “búda“ which can be found in vineyards offer you a chance to taste this delicious drink.
The spiritual and social life of the town has been influenced by several monastic orders since the 15th century. The Franciscans settled down in Skalica probably in the thirties of the 15th century. The Carmelites and the Jesuits came in the 17th century. The Jesuits founded a secondary school – gymnázium in 1662. The Paulines came later and the Merciful Brethren came at the end of the 18th century. Besides the spreading of catholic faith they also helped develop culture and education.
Skalica went in national history in the second half of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century when it became a centre of the national-liberation fight against Magyarization and together with Martin and Ružomberok it became an intellectual centre of this movement which stopped its activities in 1918 when Czechoslovakia was founded.
In 1918 Skalica became the seat of the Temporary Government of Slovakia for several days and in 1923 it became a district town. It lost this status in 1960 when the territorial reorganization took place and Skalica became part of the big Senica district. Skalica became a district town again in 1996.