1217 Older on paper than its neighboursNa papieri starší než susedia

The first written mention of the place is from 1217, under the name Sarus. That puts it on paper before Košice (1230), Bardejov (1241) and Prešov (1247) — a useful reminder that a first mention tells you when a scribe wrote something down, not when people arrived. Why a settlement was here at all is easy to see on a map: the long north-south route from the Balkans to the Baltic ran up the Torysa valley, and an east-west road linked Galicia with Spiš. Veľký Šariš sits where they cross, on flat ground where the river's floodplain narrows between low hills.Prvá písomná zmienka o tomto mieste je z roku 1217 a znie Sarus. Na papieri je teda staršie než Košice (1230), Bardejov (1241) aj Prešov (1247) — čo je dobré pripomenutie, že prvá zmienka hovorí o tom, kedy niečo zapísal pisár, nie o tom, kedy sem prišli ľudia. Prečo tu osada vôbec vznikla, vidno na mape hneď: dolinou Torysy viedla dlhá cesta zo severu na juh, od Baltu k Balkánu, a priečna cesta spájala Halič so Spišom. Veľký Šariš leží presne na ich križovatke, na rovine, kde sa niva rieky zužuje medzi nízkymi kopcami.