Transcribed by Helena Malastova, Sulín - May 14, 1998
Includes hands on information by Sulín villager Vasil Cicak
PAST HISTORY
The Village of Sulín is situated within a deep valley of the L'ubovanianskej highlands which has been formed by the river Poprad and other mountain waterways. This river creates a natural dividing point between Slovakia and Poland. The village lies approximately 380 to 500 meters above the sea level. There are hills and mountains which surround Sulín that are 780 meters or more. The size of the area of Sulín is 2016,5 ha. The village of Sulín is among the largest villages in this territory. The distance between the two furthest points of Sulín is about 10 kilometers. In 1998 there are at the present time 457 inhabitants in village of Sulín. Sulín has three parts to its territory. Velky Sulín (Big Sulín), Maly Sulín (Little Sulín) and Zavodie. The Mayor (Starosta) of Sulín as in 1998 is Miroslav Tyliscak. The history of the village of Sulín is historical and very variable.
The first mention of one part of the village, Velky Sulín, comes from the year 1306 when it belonged under the protectorate of the gentry of Plavec. In one document from the year 1338 the village is mentioned as Villa Zolonk. When the town of Stara Lubovna was awarded the title "the rights of a town" in 1364 the boarders were marked where along the stream called Sulín. This settlement was founded along the stream Sulín and between 1412 to 1772 the village was reserved for Poland, together with 16 towns of the Spis area. During 1828 there were 101 houses and 735 inhabitants in Sulín. People worked in agriculture and they bred cattle and worked in the forests. Poverty and starvation forced many of the inhabitants to emigrate to the United States and Canada. The largest amount of people of this place emigrated before the course of World War I. In the year of 1850 the poet, Julius Ivanowic Stavowsky Popradov, was born in this village. He named himself Popradov after the river, Poprad. He died in the year 1899 in Certizne. In the year 1891 a glassworks production was built in Sulín and since this time in history the part of the village where this production used to be is called Huta.
The section of the village called Maly Sulín is first found in historical documentation of the year 1600. This section of the village is located near the river Poprad. During the era of the Austro-Hungarian Empire Monarchy, Velky Sulín belonged to the Spis district and Maly Sulín to the Saros district. The third part of Sulín, Zabodie, is found as late as 1700 in documents. This section was administered under Mnisek nad Popradom and as late as the year 1960 it was incorporated to Sulín when all of the three sections were combined. This is how the village Sulín finally developed. In the year of 1961 Sulín had 787 inhabitants.
In former years in this village an important mineral spring was discovered and this water (named Sulínka) was a good cure for medical conditions with major assistance for heart and digestion problems along with regular drinking enjoyment. It was exported to various places and also to United States and Canada in the Eighteenth century. A label with the Sulínka name for this product was preserved that states its age at 1836. In the year of 1958 a portion of this village was flooded and the mineral spring located here was partially damaged.
The church in Sulín was built in the year of 1879 in neo-classical style with baroque features. Prior to this church was of wood and wood products. The Iconstanis and holy altar of this church were from the year 1837. The refurnishing and upgrading of the Iconstanis and interior architectural paintings were completed by Jana Bogdanskeho from Dobromilu in 1896. The interior ornamentations were completely renovated and additions made in the year 1995 by Michael Hutnik, inhabitant of Sulín. The religion in this place was always Greek Catholic but in 1950 the Russian religion (i.e. Orthodoxy) was enforced. The people of Sulin resisted the Communist Russian religion for 18 years. At this time they had no priest but continued to practice their religion for which they were discriminated against. Several priests from the Russian religion tried to convert the people of Sulín but this did not succeed. In 1968 under Alexander Dubcek the people were permitted to return to their Greek Catholic religion. The church of the Greek Catholic faith and is under the holy protection of the Archangel Michael. During the prior twenty years the church has seen timely reconstructions of the Iconstanis, fresh painting of the interior and other important additions including the new roof covered in metal. This was all paid for by Greek Catholic members of this church. The Greek Catholic priest who serves as of 1998 is Father Jan Mindas.
IMPORTANT DATES IN HISTORY OF Sulín
1945 - January 21, The Village was liberated from Nazi Administration.
1959 - New Primary School was built for Sulín Children.
1960 - Electricity was introduced to all buildings.
1962 - Local Radio was established.
1963 - Local Transport (Bus) System was established.
1965 - Grocery Store to serve Velky and Maly Sulín portions of village.
1970 - Automatic Water Pumping Machinery installed.
1971 - New City Hall is built.
1974 - Mineral water now incorporated from Mineral-Sulín, s.r.o to Mineral-AGT s.r.o.
1975 - New Apartment Housing (Six Buildings) is constructed.
1976 - Community Center for all inhabitants enjoyment is built.
1979 - Television Tower for reception is built and brings new employment.
1983 - Young Pioneer Camp built for children and their enjoyment.
1989 - After "Velvet Revolution" many businesses were privatized such as the bakery.
1992 - The firm "Signum" from Bratislava designed the shield of the village.
2 parts for large and small Sulín with the historical year of inception of 1863. On left is found Archangel Michael killing the dragon and on right side is 7 mountains and flying eagle in the colors of yellow, red and white. The village seal is a flag with 6 horizontal stripes in the colors of white, red, green, brown, gold, red/white and is taken from historical reference in the year of 1863.
This short history offers many important and interesting facts for the village of Sulín which is near the river Poprad. Today, this place offers good and strong homes with inhabitants having good employment in the district. We look with fondness upon the history of this village and are proud of all accomplishments in the past. We believe that the future will also have a history of further interest for all readers who wish to learn of this place.
Present Day Surnames Found in the Section Called Maly Sulín
GBUR
HILAK
HRICENAK
KNAP
KRETA
KUCA
PIALAK
ROMANAK
STEFANAK
TYRPAK
VILKO
Present Day Surnames Found in the Section Called Velky Sulín
BOGUSKY-JUDA
BOGUSKY-KOKINDA
BOGUSKY-OSIFCIN
BORECKY-PESRICKO
CICAK
CICAK, STEFAN
DRORIZNAK-KACOJURBA
FILAK-BARTEK
FILAK-DZUBIK
FILAK-HAVTANAK
GUREGA
HANISAK-KAROS
HANISAK-PAPUSAK
HRINAK
HRINAK
HRINAK-HURCIK
HRINAK-STASKO
HUTNIK-HRNIK
HUTNIK-KRAVCAK
HUTNIK-MISOMISKA
HUTNIK-MULAR
HUTNIK-PAVLACKY
HUTNIK-RASARJIO
KLIMCAK
KNAP
KOPAC-BURDEL
KUCA
KUSMIAK
KUSMIAK-HNAT
LAGORA-JURKO
LAMPARD
MALARCIK
MALARCIK-KACUPETRA
MALAST-BARNULIN
OITKO-KOCOLAY
OLEBSAK-DRDA
OLEBSAK-KAJCIN
OLEBSAK-KAJCIN, MICHAL
OBEBSAK-LHORBKA
OLEBSAK-MURIN
MALAST-DRDISIN
MALAST-VASIL
MATVIAK
MALVIAK-FEDOR
PAVLAK
PETRILAK
PETRILAK-FEDORCAK
PIATAK
PIATAK-BARTOS
POKRIVCAK
VILCAK
Present Day Surnames Found in the Section Called Zavodie
Note: Eight other villages are listed with the Greek Catholic Parish Records of Sulín. The surnames from these villages are not listed above but are contained in the Sulín Parish Register.
As best interpreted these villages were Ficialibus, Dosesane, Husta, Kocse, Krendzseloska, Medzsibrodya, Tescrbovka & Zavodya.
2 parts for large and small Sulín with the historical year of inception of 1863. On left is found Archangel Michael killing the dragon and on right side is 7 mountains and flying eagle in the colors of yellow, red and white. The village seal is a flag with 6 horizontal stripes in the colors of white, red, green, brown, gold, red/white and is taken from historical reference in the year of 1863. 
