Kiskunhalas (; german: Hallasch) is a city in the county of Bács-Kiskun, Hungary.

Railroad

The city is an important railway junction. It crosses the Budapest-Subotica-Belgrade railway line. The Kiskunfélegyháza railway ends in Kiskunhalas.

Geography

Kiskunhalas is located south of

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 ...

. On 20 July 2007, Kiskunhalas recorded a temperature of , which is the highest temperature to have ever been recorded in Hungary.

Name

Kiskunhalas used to be surrounded by lakes that were rich in fish, ''Halas'' in Hungarian, and this gave rise to the town's name. The other part of the name comes from the Hungarian kiskun-, meaning

Little Cumania Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt * ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film *The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...

(Hungarian: ''Kiskunság''); Kun was what the Hungarians called the

Cuman people The Cumans (or Kumans), also known as Polovtsians or Polovtsy (plural only, from the Russian exonym ), were a Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confederation. After the Mongol invasion (1237), many sough ...

Croats The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, G ...

in Hungary call this town as ''Olaš''. The Croat name came as shortening of its Hungarian name, as it was easier for Croat speakers to pronounce it that way.

History

Its known history goes back to the 9th century. Kiskunhalas has many

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

artifacts. These are displayed in the

János Thorma János Thorma (24 April 1870 – 5 December 1937) was a Hungarian painter. A representative figure of the Nagybánya artists' colony, which started in 1896, in Nagybánya, Austria-Hungary (today Baia Mare, Romania), He moved through differ ...

Museum, established in honor of an early 20th-century painter who was born and grew up here. Several villages were known to have been in the area from 895. The place became significant when the Cumans arrived. Its name is derived from the Hungarian word, ''Kun,'' for the Cumans. The first written documents mentioning ''Halas'' date to 1347. After 1596, the town lost much of its population due to warfare during the Ottoman invasion and plague. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Kiskunhalas welcomed the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

. Until 1754 the city was the center of the region, but after that, its significance declined under Catholic rulers because of the local people's support for Protestantism. A Roman Catholic church was built in 1770. A new Reformed (now called

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

) church was built in 1823. In 1910 the population reached 25,000.

Gallery

File:Kiskunhalas városháza.JPG File:Lakóház, részben irodákkal, Kvártélyház (2303. számú műemlék).jpg File:Sáfrik-féle szélmalom (2302. számú műemlék) 2.jpg File:Sáfrik-féle szélmalom (2302. számú műemlék) 3.jpg File:Kiskunhalas kórház Hírnök.JPG File:Kiskunhalas-református templom.JPG File:Csipkemúzeum Kiskunhalas.JPG File:Lace Museum, aerial, Kiskunhalas.jpg File:Water tower, Kuruc vitézek tere, aerial, Kiskunhalas.jpg

Notable natives and residents

(1870–1937), a painter and founding member of the influential

Nagybanya artists' colony Baia Mare ( , ; hu, Nagybánya; german: Frauenbach or Groß-Neustadt; la, Rivulus Dominarum) is a municipality along the Săsar River, in northwestern Romania; it is the capital of Maramureș County. The city lies in the region of Maramureș ...

, was born and grew up here. *

Zsolt Daczi Zsolt Daczi (June 12, 1969 – August 6, 2007) was a Hungarian guitarist. He was born in Kiskunhalas, Hungary. He was a member of Hungarian rock band Bikini and heavy metal band Omen. He also founded a project (Carpathia Project), and he also ...

(1969–2007), hard-rock guitarist, was born here. *

Erika Miklósa Erika Miklósa (born 9 June 1970) is a Hungarian coloratura soprano. Career Born in the southern Hungarian town of Kiskunhalas, she spent her youth as an athlete training for the heptathlon. Miklósa was Hungarian Junior Champion in the high jum ...

Sports

The town is the birthplace of the highest ranked Hungarian tennis player

Ágnes Szávay Ágnes Szávay ( hu, Szávay Ágnes, ; born 29 December 1988) is a former professional tennis player from Hungary. The 2007 WTA Newcomer of the Year achieved her career-high ranking of world No. 13 in April 2008. Personal life Szávay was bor ...

(at one time ranked 13th in the world), who has won five WTA titles.

Twin towns – sister cities

Kiskunhalas is twinned with: * Aizkraule, Latvia *

Hódmezővásárhely Hódmezővásárhely (; also known by other alternative names) is a city with county rights in southeast Hungary, on the Great Hungarian Plain, at the meeting point of the Békés-Csanádi Ridge and the clay grassland surrounding the river Tisza. ...

, Hungary *

Kanjiža Kanjiža ( sr-Cyrl, Кањижа, pronounced ) formerly Stara Kanjiža ( sr-cyrl, Стара Кањижа; yi, קניזשא; hu, Magyarkanizsa, formerly ''Kanizsa'') is a town and municipality located in the North Banat District of the autonomous ...

, Serbia *

Kronach Kronach (East Franconian: ''Gronich'') is a town in Upper Franconia, Germany, located in the Frankenwald area. It is the capital of the district Kronach. Kronach is the birthplace of Lucas Cranach the Elder and Maximilian von Welsch, as well as ...

, Germany *

Nowy Sącz Nowy Sącz (; hu, Újszandec; yi, Tzanz, צאַנז; sk, Nový Sonč; german: Neu-Sandez) is a city in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship of southern Poland. It is the district capital of Nowy Sącz County as a separate administrative unit. It has ...

, Poland *

Sfântu Gheorghe Sfântu Gheorghe (; hu, Sepsiszentgyörgy or ''Szentgyörgy'' ; yi, סנט דזשארדזש; English lit.: ''Saint George'') is the capital city of Covasna County, Romania. Located in the central part of the country and in the historical regio ...

, Romania *

Subotica Subotica ( sr-cyrl, Суботица, ; hu, Szabadka) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the North Bačka District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. Formerly the largest city of Vojvodina region, ...

, Serbia

References

External links

* in Hungarian {{Authority control Populated places in Bács-Kiskun County Towns in Hungary