What is Komárno?
{{For|the town in the [[Ukraine]] |Komarno}} [[File:Coat of Arms of Komárno.svg|right|90px]] '''Komárno''' is a town in the southwest of [[Slovakia]]. It is an important, historical town which is famous for having a historical [[fortification]]. The river [[Váh]] flows into the [[Danube]] at Komárno. The Danube at this point forms the border between the countries Slovakia and [[Hungary]]. The Hungarian name for the town is Komárom. == History == At first there was just one town, with the Danube flowing through the middle of the town. Since the end of [[World War I]], when [[Czechoslovakia]] became a separate country from Hungary, the town has been split into two: Komárno is on the left (north) bank of the river, now in Slovakia, and Komárom is on the right (south) bank of the river, in Hungary. Komárno has a [[population]] of 37.000 and Komárom has a population of 19.600. The two towns are joined by a [[bridge]]. People have lived in the area of Komárno for thousands of years. The first [[castle]] was built in the [[10th century]]. In [[1244]] a law was made which said that every [[merchant]] who sailed a boat down the Danube past Komárno had to stop for several days in Komárno and unload all the cargo so that people could buy it if they wanted. If the merchant did not want to do this he had to pay a large duty (amount of money) to continue his journey. This law was stopped in [[1751]]. In the [[15th century]] Komárno had become very important. The rulers and the court of the kingdom of Hungary often stayed there. The fortress was very powerful and they managed to fight off [[Turkey|Turkish]] [[Invasion|invaders]] after the Turks had already captured [[Esztergom]] and [[Budapest|Buda]]. The fort was badly damaged in [[1783]] in an [[earthquake]], but it was built up again because of the [[Napoleon|Napoleonic]] wars. Today Komárno is a nice town to visit. There are many tourist attractions, especially the fort which is on the Hungarian side of the town (Komárom). There are also [[spa]] health centre