Fiľakovo (; hu, Fülek, german: Fülleck, tr, Filek) is a town in the

Banská Bystrica Region The Banská Bystrica Region ( sk, Banskobystrický kraj, ; hu, Besztercebányai kerület, ) is one of the eight regions of Slovakia. It is the largest region by area, and has a lower population density than any other region. The Banská Bystric ...

of south-central

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

. Historically it was located in

Nógrád County Nógrád ( hu, Nógrád megye, ; sk, Novohradská župa) is a county ( hu, megye) of Hungary. It sits on the northern edge of Hungary and borders Slovakia. Description Nógrád county lies in northern Hungary. It shares borders with Slovakia an ...

, as part of the Nógrád, Novohrad, "Newcastle" region.

Geography

It is located in the Cerová vrchovina hills, in the valley of the ''Belina'' brook, located around from the Hungarian city of

Salgótarján Salgótarján (; sk, Šalgotarján) is city with county rights in Hungary, the capital of Nógrád county, north-eastern Hungary, making it the third smallest county capital based on population. The nearby Salgó castle is a well-known tourist ...

, from Banská Bystrica, about from Košice and around from Bratislava.

History

The first written record of the town, along with the Fiľakovo Castle is from 1242, where the castle withstood the Mongol invasions. It is mentioned in 1246 as ''Filek''. In 1423 the town received municipal privileges. In 1553 the town with the castle was conquered by the Turks and was the seat of a

sanjak Sanjaks (liwāʾ) (plural form: alwiyāʾ) * Armenian: նահանգ (''nahang''; meaning "province") * Bulgarian: окръг (''okrǔg''; meaning "county", "province", or "region") * el, Διοίκησις (''dioikēsis'', meaning "province" ...

until 1593, when it was reconquered by the Imperial troops. However, it was conquered once more by the Ottomans in 1662 and the town along with the castle was burned down in 1682 by troops of

Imre Thököly Imre is a Hungarian masculine first name, which is also in Estonian use, where the corresponding name day is 10 April. It has been suggested that it relates to the name Emeric, Emmerich or Heinrich. Its English equivalents are Emery and Henry ...

. It was finally passed to Austrians in 1686. After the

Treaty of Trianon The Treaty of Trianon (french: Traité de Trianon, hu, Trianoni békeszerződés, it, Trattato del Trianon) was prepared at the Paris Peace Conference and was signed in the Grand Trianon château in Versailles on 4 June 1920. It forma ...

in 1920 came under the rule of

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. It belonged to Hungary again in years 1938–1945 after the

First Vienna Award The First Vienna Award was a treaty signed on 2 November 1938 pursuant to the Vienna Arbitration, which took place at Vienna's Belvedere Palace. The arbitration and award were direct consequences of the previous month's Munich Agreement, which ...

Demographics

According to the 2001 census, ethnic groups included 64.40% Hungarians, 30.19% Slovaks, and 4.03% Roma. The religion make-up was as follows: 77.52% Roman Catholic, 11.82% without denomination, 3.21% not specified and others.

Twin towns — sister cities

Fiľakovo is twinned with: * Bátonyterenye, Hungary *

, Hungary * Szécsény, Hungary *

Szigethalom Szigethalom is a town in Pest county, Hungary. Twin towns – sister cities Szigethalom is twinned with: * Fiľakovo, Slovakia * Jaworzno, Poland * Söderhamn, Sweden * Nagykikinda, Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the ...

, Hungary * Ustrzyki Dolne, Poland

People

* Sándor Büchler, rabbi, historian *

Frank Lowy Sir Frank P. Lowy ( ; born 22 October 1930) is an Australian-Israeli businessman of Jewish Slovakian-Hungarian origins and the former long-time Chairman of Westfield Corporation, a global shopping centre company with billion of assets under ...

, Australian businessman * Allan Vilhan, musician *

Vica Kerekes Éva "Vica" Kerekes (born 28 March 1981) is a Slovak actress of Hungarian ethnicity. She is active in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Hungary. She is often referred to and credited as Vica Kerekésová, Vica Kerekešová, and Kerekes Vica. Sh ...

, actress

Gallery