Gyöngyös

	Gyöngyös
	Gyöngyös
	Gyöngyös
Basic data
State :	Hungary
Region :	Northern Hungary
County :	Heves
Small area until December 31, 2012 :	Gyöngyös
District since 1.1.2013 :	Gyöngyös
Coordinates :	47 ° 47 ' N , 19 ° 56' E Coordinates: 47 ° 46 '30 " N , 19 ° 55' 41" E
Height :	167 m
Area :	54.1 km²
Residents :	32,640 (Jan. 1, 2011)
Population density :	603 inhabitants per km²
Telephone code :	(+36) 37
Postal code :	3200
KSH kódja:	05236
Structure and administration (as of 2015)
Community type :	city
Mayor :	György Hiesz (MSZP-DK-Együtt)
Postal address :	Fő tér 13 ; 3200 Gyöngyös
Website :	www.gyongyos.hu
	(Source: A Magyar Köztársaság helységnévkönyve 2011. január 1st at Központi statisztikai hivatal )

The main square of Gyöngyös, in the background the Apostle St. Bertold Church

Gyöngyös [ ˈɟøɲɟøʃ ] ( German : Gengeß ) is a Hungarian city in Heves County about 90 km east of Budapest with about 33,000 inhabitants. Located near the Mátra Mountains at the foot of Mount Sárhegy , it is home to numerous food companies, such as: B. milk and sausage factories, it is also home to many winemakers who use the slopes of the Sárhegy to grow grapevines.

history

The city was first mentioned as Gungus in a document from 1261. In 1334 it was granted city rights by Charles I of Hungary . Viticulture, important trade routes leading from Budapest , but also trade routes to the more mountainous north, made Gyöngyös a rapidly growing settlement, so that it became an important town around the Mátra Mountains from the 1430s until well into the 19th century . Because of the already high population numbers at that time, the Franciscans decided in the 15th century to build a church, which was visited by Matthias Corvinus in 1461 and by Ulászló II in 1490 .

Between 1546 and 1687 Gyöngyös was placed under Turkish suzerainty, but in contrast to other parts of Hungary under Turkish occupation, the population was doing relatively well. The inhabitants were not oppressed, so the economy and viticulture continued to grow. Between 1708 and 1710 there were major plague outbreaks , from which, among others, János Vak Bottyán , one of the most successful Hungarian military leaders, died. He was buried in the Franciscan Church in Gyöngyös.

On April 1, 1848, the Honvéd (Hungarian "Army") met in Orczy Castle under the leadership of Artur Görgeys , who presented his plans for the campaign against the Habsburgs and had them voted on. Two days later, Lajos Kossuth also visited Gyöngyös. The development of the city was then slowed down relatively sharply, since the Pest - Hatvan - Miskolc - Kassa railway line (today: Košice ; Slovakia ) passed the city. Only in 1870 did Gyöngyös get a branch of the railway line from Vámosgyörk . Wine processing, which had been flourishing up until then, came to an end when the phylloxera epidemic lasted from 1883 to 1885 . The subsequent fires of 1904 and 1908 could have worsened the situation, but the opposite was the case: the city was artistically embellished and expanded, and the situation improved.

May 21, 1917 was one of the darkest days of the city's almost 800 years of existence: A huge conflagration broke out that wandered through almost the entire city and devastated the entire city center. A total of 549 houses and 1,400 outbuildings were destroyed. Immediately after the end of the conflagration, Charles IV visited the city in order to have the city rebuilt immediately. Donations were collected all over the country for the reconstruction of Gyöngyös, and after the First World War the city was built according to the plans of László Wargha , an architecture professor , and with the active help of Mayor Dr. Árpád Puky rebuilt; this is how Gyöngyös got his present face.

View of Gyöngyös on May 23, 1917

At the turn of the century Gyöngyös was discovered as a tourist destination and gateway to the nearby Mátra Mountains , which culminated in the 1930s when most of the hotels that still exist today and the ski slope on Mount Kékes were built. Further major leaps in development can be seen in the 1950s with the expansion of the Sástó (lake in the Mátra Mountains) and between 1970 and 1980. During these years, with the construction of new hotels and the expansion of the drinking and sewage pipes around Gyöngyös, parks and resting places were newly designated and built.

Today Gyöngyös is next to Eger a central town in Heves county and is of major importance for the popular recreational destination of the Mátra Mountains.

Sights and culture

The tower of the Franciscan Church

Franciscan Church

The Franciscan house in Gyöngyös was founded in 1370. The oldest parts of the church were built in the 14th century. It was sacked by the Turks in 1528 and rebuilt by the Franciscan monks five years later. In the 18th century, the church was rebuilt and expanded due to the steadily growing number of visitors to the fair. János Vak Bottyán , one of Hungary's most successful and popular generals, who died in a plague that raged between 1708 and 1710, rests in the church .

Orzcy Castle - Mátra Museum

The entrance of the Mátra Museum

The classicistic Orczy Castle was built in the 18th century, rebuilt in the 19th century, and around 1826 it got its final and present form. The name comes from the owner and builder István Orczy , from whose descendants the castle was bought back by the city in 1930 and converted into a museum in 1957.

The museum itself acquaints visitors with the varied history of Gyöngyös, with the plants and animals in the Mátra Mountains. A famous exhibit in the museum is the skeleton of a young mammoth .

János Berze Nagy High School

The main entrance to the school

The grammar school, named after the Hungarian fairy tale researcher János Berze Nagy , is directly opposite the Mátra Museum and was built between 1898 and 1899 according to plans by Miksa Rausher , who was also the builder of the building. The two-storey building is built in the eclectic style and brought the architect Rausher the greatest success of his career, he was awarded the gold medal at a school exhibition in London in 1908 due to the targeted establishment of the high school . 1982–1983 the school was renovated and a new wing was built at the same time.

Mátra Railway

A locomotive of the Mátra Railway

In the immediate vicinity of the Mátra Museum and the grammar school are the terminus and operating facilities of the Mátra railway. Their routes lead from Gyöngyös in the Mátra Mountains to Mátrafüred , a settlement north of Gyöngyös, and Lajosháza , a village in the Mátra Mountains. It runs over a total distance of 18 km.

Actually, the railway line was intended to transport raw materials from the nearby forest areas and quarries. It was built and opened in parts in 1906, 1923 and 1926. In 1937 the route was extended to the Kékes , the highest mountain in Hungary at 1014 m. As a result of the Second World War , traffic on the railway line was temporarily suspended until 1949, when the entire railway network was nationalized and the Mátra Railway was expanded to include a branch to Pipishegy in 1951, where a tool and machine factory was established at the time. The total length of the route in 1950 was 48 km.

In the 1960s, the steam locomotives previously in service were gradually replaced by more modern and more powerful diesel locomotives . During this time, the movement of raw materials and goods decreased significantly, while tourism experienced a surge, so that the railway experienced its peak. The decline began in the 1970s, when transport increasingly shifted to the road and, for example, wood was no longer transported by rail from 1978.

Nowadays, the railway has mainly limited itself to transporting tourists.

The branch to Lajoshaza is now without passenger traffic.

Apostle St. Berthold Church

The first church of the settlement, at that time still a small chapel, which was built on the area of today's Apostle St. Berthold Church ( Szent Bertalan-templom ), was already in 1301. It was built in the middle of the 14th century by Tamás Szécsényi and whose family was rebuilt after it burned down in 1320. Over the next few centuries the church fell victim to fire several times. In the last quarter of the 15th century, again after a fire, it was renovated and enlarged in the late Gothic style; at that time it was the largest church in Hungary. Between 1746 and 1756 it was rebuilt in the Baroque style, in 1772 the still standing northern bell tower was completed, in 1815 the southern one.

During the great fire in 1917 that destroyed hundreds of houses in Gyöngyös, the church burned down almost completely and was restored in 1921–1922 by the two architects Virgil Nagy and Gyula Wälder . Today the Apostle St. Berthold Church is the largest of the countless churches and chapels in Gyöngyös.

More Attractions

Old synagogue , built in 1820
New synagogue , built 1929/30
Franciscan Parish Church of the Visitation, 14. – 15. Century, late Gothic, rebuilt in the 18th century Baroque