Gyula (; german: Jula; ro, Jula or ) is a town in

Békés County Békés (, , ro, Județul Bichiș) is an administrative division (county or ''megye'') in south-eastern Hungary, on the border with Romania. It shares borders with the Hungarian counties Csongrád, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok, and Hajdú-Bihar. The ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croa ...

. The town is best known for its

Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

castle and a

thermal bath A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneot ...

Ferenc Erkel Ferenc Erkel ( hu, Erkel Ferenc , german: link=no, Franz Erkel; November 7, 1810June 15, 1893) was a Hungarian composer, conductor and pianist. He was the father of Hungarian grand opera, written mainly on historical themes, which are still o ...

, the composer of the Hungarian national anthem, and Albrecht Dürer the Elder, the father of Albrecht Dürer, were also born in Gyula.

Geography

Gyula is located in the

Great Hungarian Plain The Great Hungarian Plain (also known as Alföld or Great Alföld, hu, Alföld or ) is a plain occupying the majority of the modern territory of Hungary. It is the largest part of the wider Pannonian Plain. (However, the Great Hungarian plai ...

on the River Fehér-Körös, southeast from

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

and from the border with

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...

. The Békéscsaba-Gyula-Kötegyán railway line and Highway 44 also cross the town. Highway 44 is a four-lane expressway between Gyula and the county seat

Békéscsaba Békéscsaba (; sk, Békešská Čaba; see also other alternative names) is a city with county rights in southeast Hungary, the capital of Békés County. Geography Békéscsaba is located in the Great Hungarian Plain, southeast from Budapes ...

.Magyarország autóatlasz, Dimap-Szarvas, Budapest, 2004,

Name

Gyula is named after the medieval Hungarian warlord

Gyula III Gyula III, also Iula or Gyula the Younger, Geula or Gyla, was an early medieval ruler in Transylvania ( – 1003/1004). Around 1003, he and his family were attacked, dispossessed and captured by King Stephen I of Hungary (1000/1001-1038). The name ...

.Antal Papp: Magyarország (Hungary), Panoráma, Budapest, 1982, , p. 860, pp. 453-456 Gyula was also a title among the

Hungarian tribes The Magyar tribes ( , hu, magyar törzsek) or Hungarian clans were the fundamental political units within whose framework the Hungarians (Magyars) lived, before the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin and the subsequent established the Pr ...

and still a popular given name for boys. In Turkish, the town is also known as Göle.

History

The first recorded reference to Gyula was in a document dated 1313 which mentions a

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whic ...

called Gyulamonostora (''Julamonustra'' in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

). By 1332 the settlement around the monastery was called Gyula. The construction of Gyula Castle began in the 14th century but finished only in the mid-16th century. It was the property of the Maróthy family and later

John Corvinus John Corvinus ( Hungarian: ''Corvin János'', Croatian: ''Ivaniš Korvin'', Romanian: ''Ioan Corvin''; 2 April 1473 – 12 October 1504) was the illegitimate son of Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary, and his mistress, Barbara Edelpöck. Biogr ...

, the illegitimate son of

Matthias Corvinus Matthias Corvinus, also called Matthias I ( hu, Hunyadi Mátyás, ro, Matia/Matei Corvin, hr, Matija/Matijaš Korvin, sk, Matej Korvín, cz, Matyáš Korvín; ), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458 to 1490. After conducting several mi ...

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...

conquered Gyula in 1566 and the town remained part of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

until liberated by Christian troops in 1694. Due to the wars, most of the native Hungarian population fled from Gyula and

became near uninhabited.Károly Kocsis (DSc, University of Miskolc) – Zsolt Bottlik (PhD, Budapest University) – Patrik Tátrai: Etnikai térfolyamatok a Kárpát-medence határon túli régióiban, Magyar Tudományos Akadémia (Hungarian Academy of Sciences) – Földrajtudományi Kutatóintézet (Academy of Geographical Studies); Budapest; 2006.; , CD Atlas The landowner János Harruckern invited

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, Hungarian, and

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditiona ...

settlers, who re-established the town in the early 18th century. In 1881, the town had 18,046 inhabitants, of which 12,103 were Hungarians, 2,608 Romanians, 2,124 Germans, 400 Slovaks and 811 of other ethnicities. Gyula became a popular tourist destination in the 20th century. The thermal bath was established in 1942 and expanded in 1959, and the castle was restored in 1962.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census the total population of Gyula was 31,067, of whom there were 25,895 (83.4%)

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Ural ...

, 974 (3.1%)

Romanians The Romanians ( ro, români, ; dated exonym '' Vlachs'') are a Romance-speaking ethnic group. Sharing a common Romanian culture and ancestry, and speaking the Romanian language, they live primarily in Romania and Moldova. The 2011 Roman ...

, 971 (3.1%)

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

and 102 (0.3%)

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

by ethnicity. In Hungary, people can declare more than one ethnicity, so some people declared Hungarian and a minority one together.2011 Hungarian census, Békés county
/ref> Gyula is the center of the small native Romanian community in Hungary. It has its own newspaper published in Gyula, ''

Foaia Românească ''Foaia Românească'' ("The Romanian Sheet" in Romanian) is a weekly newspaper published in Hungary for the Romanian minority of the country. It was the first newspaper established for the Romanian minority of post- Trianon Hungary and it is t ...

'' ("The Romanian Sheet"). In 2011 there were 5,726 (18.4%)

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

, 5,560 (17.9%)

Hungarian Reformed The Reformed Church in Hungary ( hu, Magyarországi Református Egyház, MRE) is the largest Protestant church in Hungary, with parishes among the Hungarian diaspora abroad. Today, it is made up of 1,249 congregations in 27 presbyteries and four ...

(

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

), 606 (2.0%) Orthodox and 507 (1.6%)

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

in Gyula. 8,304 people (26.7%) were

irreligious Irreligion or nonreligion is the absence or rejection of religion, or indifference to it. Irreligion takes many forms, ranging from the casual and unaware to full-fledged philosophies such as atheism and agnosticism, secular humanism and ant ...

and 453 (1.5%)

Atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

, while 9,012 people (29.0%) did not declare their religion.

Tourist attractions

*Gyula Castle (''Gyulai vár'') *Thermal bath (''Gyulai gyógyfürdő'') *100-year-old confectionery (''100 éves cukrászda'') *Town hall, 1861 (''Városháza'') *Birth house of

(''Erkel Ferenc szülőháza'') *Saint Michael Cathedral, 1825 (''Szent Miklós katedrális'') *Roman Catholic church, 1775-1777 (''Római katolikus templom'') *Roman Catholic chapel, 1738–1752, (''Római katolikus kápolna'')

Politics

The current mayor of Gyula is Dr. Ernő István Görgényi of the Fidesz-KDNP party. The local Municipal Assembly has 14+1 members divided into this political parties and alliances:

Notable people

Born in Gyula

* Béla Bánáthy (1919–2003), social scientist and professor * Zoltán Bay (1900–1992), physicist (born in Gyulavári, now part of Gyula) * Imre Bródy (1891–1944), physicist * Albrecht Dürer the Elder (1427–1502), the father of Albrecht Dürer *

(1810–1893), composer *

Imre König Imre König (Koenig) aka Mirko Kenig (September 2, 1901, Gyula, Austria-Hungary – September 9, 1992, Santa Monica, California) was a chess master representing Yugoslavia and Great Britain. He was born in Gyula, Hungary, and also lived in Aust ...

(1901–1992), chess player *

László Krasznahorkai László Krasznahorkai (; born 5 January 1954) is a Hungarian novelist and screenwriter known for difficult and demanding novels, often labeled postmodern, with dystopian and melancholic themes. Several of his works, including his novels '' S ...

(born 1954), novelist and screenwriter * Mihály Mező (born 1978), singer and musician * George Pomutz (1818–1882), Romanian-American diplomat and general

Lived in Gyula

* (1974–2013), Hungarian bodybuilding champion *

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as Hun ...

(1881–1945), Hungarian composer

Burials in Gyula

* John Corvin (1473–1504), King of Bosnia, illegitimate son of

Beatrice de Frangepan Beatrice de Frangepan (Croatian: Beatrica Frankopan, Hungarian: Frangepán Beatrix), (1480 – c. 27 March 1510) was a Croatian noblewoman, a member of the House of Frankopan that lived in the Kingdom of Croatia in personal union with Hunga ...

(1480–1510), wife of John Corvin

Twin Towns - Sister Cities

Gyula is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with: * Arad,

(1994) *

Bălți Bălți (; russian: Бельцы, , uk, Бєльці, , yi, בעלץ ) is a city in Moldova. It is the second largest city in terms of population, area and economic importance, after Chișinău. The city is one of the five Moldovan municipali ...

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnist ...

Budrio Budrio ( Eastern Bolognese: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, in Emilia-Romagna, Italy; it is east of Bologna. Budrio is the birthplace of Giuseppe Barilli, better known under his pseudonym of Quirico Filopanti, an I ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

(1965) *

Ditzingen Ditzingen ( Swabian: ''Ditzenge'') is a town in the district of Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located approximately 10 km northwest of Stuttgart, and 12 km southwest of Ludwigsburg. The Hirschlanden transmitter was ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

(1991) *

Droitwich Droitwich Spa (often abbreviated to Droitwich ) is an historic spa town in the Wychavon district in northern Worcestershire, England, on the River Salwarpe. It is located approximately south-west of Birmingham and north-east of Worcester. Th ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

(2001) * Krumpendorf,

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

(1995) * Miercurea-Ciuc,

(1993) * Schenkenfelden,

(1997) *

Zalău Zalău (, unofficial and former official name: ro, Zălau (; german: Zillenmarkt or , hu, Zilah, tr, Zile) is the seat of Sălaj County, Romania. In 2011, its estimated population was 56,202. History Ancient times Zalău is situated in the ...

(1991)

References

External links

* in Hungarian {{Authority control Populated places in Békés County Hungary–Romania border crossings Thermal baths in Hungary Romanian communities in Hungary