Svinia
Svinia ( to 1927 Slovak: Svina; Hungarian: Szinye ) is a municipality in eastern Slovakia. It is located in the mountains Šarišská highlands on the shores of Malá Svinka creek on the main road I/18 between Prešov (8 km to the east ) and Široké on Branisko tunnel (16 km west ).
History
The village was first mentioned in 1262. The village has a Roman Catholic church of the 13th century, and a country castle from the 18th century.
In Slovakia there are about 300 slums. Among them Svinia is considered limbo. There live 700 Roma who are even despised by other Roma, because they are considered dog-eater. The place is divided into a Slovak and a gypsy part. During the Slovak part describes himself as White Svinia, Roma Svinia is characterized by 100 % unemployment and appalling sanitary and humane conditions. Three quarters of the residents of Svinia are teenagers.
1993 Canadian anthropologists visited the Roma settlement. Since then Svinia is notorious in Europe and the subject of studies, books and films. International projects to improve the lives of Roma in Svinia, already underway since the 1990s.
See also Roma in the Czech Republic and Slovakia