The area around today's Žilina was inhabited in the late Stone Age (about
20,000 BC). In the 5th century Slavs started to move into the area. However,
the first written reference to Žilina was in 1208 as terra de Selinan.
From the second half of the 10th century until 1918, it was part of the Kingdom
of Hungary.
In the middle of the 13th century terra Sylna was the property of
the Cseszneky