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THIS POSTCARD showing Plavecký Peter, a village in the Záhorie region, dates back to the period shortly after World War I.
Large religious processions, as in the photograph, were a characteristic scene in the countryside also after the 1950s, when communists started eliminating any expression of religion.
The village's name is a bit misleading. Though plavecký can be translated as "swimming", the name actually comes from the Polovci tribe, who were nomads from Russian savannahs. In the Middle Ages, Hungarian kings invited the tribe to protect Záhorie, which, at the time, was a busy border region. The nomads settled there during the 11th and 12th centuries.
Plavecký Mikuláš and Plavecký Štvrtok are other villages in the region that remind us of the ancient Polovci nation.
Prepared by Branislav Chovan
