Ilava

Ilava (German: Illau, Hungarian: Illava) is a town in the Trenčín Region, northwestern Slovakia. It is located in the Ilava Basin near the Váh river at the foothills of Strážovské vrchy mountains, near the cities of Považská Bystrica and Trenčín. In addition to the main settlement, it also has "boroughs" of Iliavka and Klobušice (both since 1969, latter with a Classic castle). The first written reference to the town dates from 1332/1337, the town charter stems from 1339. The settlement developed below a Gothic castle (bearing the same name) from the 13th century, turned into a Renaissance fortification in the 16th century, into a monastery in 1693 and finally, in 1856, into a prison. A concentration camp was in the prison in...