Keszthely (; also known by other

alternative names Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * ''The Alternative'' (film), a 1978 Australian television film * ''The Alternative ...

) is a Hungarian city of 20,895 inhabitants located on the western shore of

Lake Balaton Lake Balaton () is a freshwater lake in the Transdanubian region of Hungary. It is the largest lake in Central Europe, and one of the region's foremost tourist destinations. The Zala River provides the largest inflow of water to the lake, and th ...

. It is the second largest city by the lake and one of the more important cultural, educational and economic hubs in the region. Due to its favorable location and accessibility by both road and rail, Keszthely and the surrounding area is a preferred holiday destination. Though settled since at least

Roman 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 ...

times (the '' Keszthely culture'' of the

Pannonian Romance Pannonian Romance was spoken by Romanized Celtic and Illyrian peoples that developed in Pannonia, between modern-day Vienna and Belgrade, after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Despite the Romanized population being mentioned in several a ...

language), the first historical evidence of the town Keszthely dates from a 1247 document. Since 1421, Keszthely has been a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

. The Faculty for Agriculture of

University of Pannonia The University of Pannonia (''University of Veszprém'' until March 1, 2006; Hungarian ''Pannon Egyetem'', formerly known as ''Veszprémi Egyetem'') is a university located in Veszprém, Hungary. It was founded in 1949 and is organized in five ...

is located in Keszthely. George Fejer, Hungarian author and librarian at the

University of Pest A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

, was born in Keszthely in 1766.

Etymology and names

The name comes from Slavic ''*Kostel'', see also the etymology of Kesztölc. Hungarian ''hely'': a site, a location. The Hungarian part of the name could be potentially formed by a phonetic similarity and folk etymology ''Kesztely''→''Keszthely''. 1247 ''Kesztel''. The city is also known by alternative names in other languages: german: Kesthell; la, Mogentiana, later ; and sl, Blatenski Kostel.

Location

The city of Keszthely is located at the northwest corner of

, on the shore of one of the biggest

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

s in

Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the area' ...

. The city is surrounded by forests and rolling hills to the north, plains to the south east and the lake. South from the city lies Kis-Balaton (Little Balaton), a swamp which is a part of the

Zala river The Zala is a river in south-western Hungary. Its source is in the hills northwest of Szalafő near the borders with Austria and Slovenia. Its length is and drains water from . Several smaller rivers feed into it, including the Felső-Válic ...

delta and which acts as a natural water purifier for

. The swamp is particularly known as a water fowl habitat and enjoys international recognition and protection as a natural reserve. The city also enjoys the proximity of

Hévíz Hévíz is a spa town in Zala County, Hungary, about from Keszthely. Description of the lake The town is located near Lake Hévíz, the world’s second-largest thermal lake, but biologically the biggest active natural lake. Its temperatur ...

, a town famous for its spa and health services. Keszthely is very close to some northern Balaton wine regions which are known to produce high quality white wines from locally cultivated varieties. Keszthely is easily and rather quickly accessible by car from both

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 ...

, the capital of

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, Croatia a ...

, and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, the capital of

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 ...

. Direct bus services between Keszthely and

run several times a day.

Museum

Balaton Museum The Balaton Museum Association was established in 1898 for among all Sandor Lovassy's initiation. The starting of the museum building in Keszthely was in 1925 with the help of count Taszilo Festetics, on the basis of Györgyi Denes's design in Neo-baroque style. With the building of the first museum in Zala county, the stones from pulled down stables next to Festetics Mannsion were used as well. The collection shows the archeological, ethnographical, historical and natural scientific values of the Balaton area.

Climate

Twin towns – sister cities

Keszthely is twinned with: *

Alanya Alanya (; ), formerly Alaiye, is a beach resort city and a district of Antalya Province on the southern coast of Turkey, in the country's Mediterranean Region, east of the city of Antalya. As of Turkey's 2010 census, the city had a population of ...

, Turkey *

Boppard Boppard (), formerly also spelled Boppart, is a town and municipality (since the 1976 inclusion of 9 neighbouring villages, ''Ortsbezirken'') in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, lying in the Rhine Gorge, a UNE ...

, Germany *

Hof van Twente Hof van Twente () is a municipality in the eastern Netherlands, province Overijssel. The municipality was established 1 January 2001 as the result of the merger of the municipalities of Diepenheim, Goor, Markelo, Ambt Delden, and Stad Delden. Po ...

, Netherlands * Jędrzejów, Poland *

Levoča Levoča (; hu, Lőcse; rue, Левоча) is a town in the Prešov Region of eastern Slovakia with a population of 14,700. The town has a historic center with a well preserved town wall, a Gothic church with the highest wooden altar in the wo ...

, Slovakia *

Odorheiu Secuiesc Odorheiu Secuiesc (; hu, Székelyudvarhely, ; german: Odorhellen) is the second largest municipality in Harghita County, Transylvania, Romania. In its short form, it is also known as ''Odorhei'' in Romanian and ''Udvarhely'' in Hungarian. The Hun ...

, Romania *

Piwniczna-Zdrój Piwniczna-Zdrój (until 1999 Piwniczna, uk, Північна, ''Pivnichna'') is a town in Nowy Sącz County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland, near the border with Slovakia. Piwniczna-Zdrój is the name of both the town and its administrative d ...

, Poland * Stary Sącz, Poland *

Turnov Turnov (; german: Turnau) is a town in Semily District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 14,000 inhabitants. It is a traditional centre for gemstone polishing, glass craftsmanship and arts. The town centre is well preserv ...

, Czech Republic

Gallery

Keszthely town centre 3.jpg, Keszthely town centre Festetics kastely.jpg,

Festetics Palace The Festetics Palace is a Baroque palace located in the town of Keszthely, Zala, Hungary. The building now houses the Helikon Palace Museum. The palace's construction, started by Kristóf Festetics in 1745, lasted more than a century. During th ...

Keszthely - Festetics Castle.jpg, Aerial view of the palace Kesztely.JPG, Front view of the palace from the garden fountain Our Lady of Hungary Church.jpg, Church of Our Lady of Hungary

References

External links

* in Hungarian, English, German and Russian
Keszthely at Veszprém University

Aerial photography: Keszthely

Keszthely in Flickr

Keszthely at funiq.hu
* http://west-balaton.hu/en/keszthely/keszthely-muzeumok/balatoni-muzeum {{authority control Populated places in Zala County