NITRA

German Neutra, Hungarian Nyitra, town, Zpadn Slovensko kraj (region), Slovakia. It lies along the Nitra River. The centre of the Nitra principality in the beginning of the 9th century, it was later a stronghold and religious centre. The first Christian church in what is now Slovakia was established there in AD 830 and consecrated by Saints Cyril and Methodius. Town privileges were acquired in 1248. The town's dominant features are still the old fortification gate, above which the Zobor (a hill 1,929 feet high) rises to the north, and the medieval castle enclosure, which includes the cathedral. Nitra is an important road junction and a food-processing centre for the farming area to the south. Nitra's College of Agriculture was founded in 1946. Pop. (1991 prelim.) 89,888.