Szekszárd

Szekszárd
City
Aerial view
Coat of arms
Szekszárd Location of Szekszárd
Coordinates:
Country	Hungary
County	Tolna
Area
• Total	96.27 km2 (37.17 sq mi)
Elevation	83 m (272 ft)
Population (2011 census)
• Total	33,720
• Density	359.98/km2 (932.3/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	7100
Area code(s)	74
Website	www.szekszard.hu

Szekszárd (Hungarian: [sɛksaːrd] <phonos file="Szekszard.ogg"></phonos>, German: Sechshard, Croatian: Seksar, ) is a city in Hungary and the capital of Tolna county. By population, Szekszárd is the smallest county capital in Hungary; by area, it is the second smallest (after Tatabánya).

Location

Szekszárd lies at the meeting point of the Transdanubian Hills and the Great Hungarian Plain.

History

City center

Babits Memorial House

Szekszárd was first mentioned in 1015. The Benedictine monastery of the town was founded by King Béla I in 1061.

During the reign of King Matthias, Szekszárd was the estate of Bishop John, who was involved in a conspiracy against the king. Because of this, King Matthias ordered the castle of Szekszárd to be demolished.

In 1485, Szekszárd was already a significant town, holding five market days a year, but during the Turkish ascendancy of Hungary, the town became deserted and the monastery was destroyed.

By the 18th century, Szekszárd was again a significant town, it became a county seat, and got a coat of arms. The town was destroyed by a fire in 1794, but it could not stop the town's development. Most of the important buildings – including the town hall, the County Hall and several churches – were built during the 19th century. By this time, Szekszárd already had 14,000 residents.

Mihály Babits, an important Hungarian poet was born in Szekszárd.

In 1994, Szekszárd was granted the rank of city with county rights, in accordance with a new law stating that all county seats are cities with county rights. (Previously only cities with a population over 50,000 were granted county rights, and Szekszárd was one of only two county seats that had a smaller population than 50,000; the other was Salgótarján).

Main sights

Church of King Béla square

• Old county hall (neo-Classical style)
• Augusz manor (Franz Liszt was a guest here)
• Deutsche Bühne, Ungarn
• Birthplace of Mihály Babits, museum
• Birthplace of Valéria Dienes
• Ruins of Benedictine monastery
• János Garay, Poet, Square and Statue

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Hungary

Twin towns — Sister cities

Szekszárd is twinned with:

• Bečej, Serbia since 1975
• Bezons, France since 1967
• Bietigheim-Bissingen, Germany since 1989
• Făget, Romania since 1998
• Lugoj, Romania since 1993
• Ravenna, Italy since 1996
• Tornio, Finland since 1986
• Waregem, Belgium since 1993

See also

• Gemenc forest

External links

• Official website
• Aerial photography: Szekszárd