Paks is a small town in

Tolna county Tolna ( hu, Tolna megye, ; german: Komitat Tolnau) is an administrative county (Comitatus (Kingdom of Hungary), comitatus or megye) in present Hungary as it was of the former Kingdom of Hungary. It lies in central Hungary, on the west bank of the ...

, in the south 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 ...

, on the right bank of the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

River, 100 km 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 ...

. Paks as a former agricultural settlement is now the home of the only Hungarian

nuclear power plant A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a electric generator, generato ...

, which provides about 40% of the country's electricity consumption.

History

The settlement was already inhabited in ancient times. It has played a role in 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) ...

times and during

Rákóczi's War of Independence Rákóczi's War of Independence (1703–11) was the first significant attempt to topple the rule of the Habsburgs over Hungary. The war was conducted by a group of noblemen, wealthy and high-ranking progressives and was led by Francis II Rákó ...

. In the Budapest offensive in the final stages of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Soviet troops occupied the town at great cost, followed by four decades of communist rule. Meanwhile, it was famous for its cannery, wine and fish soup. The country's only nuclear power plant was built in Paks in the 1980s, the final decade of Soviet rule within the country.

Description

In the 19th century, several mansions were built in the center of the old town, such as those in Szent István Tér, the main square of the town. The

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

three-isled,

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...

style Sacred Heart church was consecrated in 1901. There is a tablet in the wall of the baroque Szeniczey mansion to commemorate Ferenc Deák, 'the Sage of the Country'. The Town Museum is housed in the former Cseh-Vigyázó mansion. The

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 ...

and the

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

churches were built in 1775 and 1884 respectively. The Catholic Holy Spirit church, built according to the design of

Imre Makovecz Imre Makovecz (November 20, 1935 – September 27, 2011) was a Hungarian architect active in Europe from the late 1950s onward. Makovecz was born and died in Budapest. He attended the Technical University of Budapest. He was founder and "eter ...

is considered to be an outstanding work of 20th-century architecture. There is a hundred-year-old

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. The unrelat ...

alley lining the walkway on the

Danube River The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

bank. The town hosts the Spring Festival at Whitsuntide and the International Festival of Blues, Jazz, Rock and Gastronomy.

Sport

Paksi FC Paksi FC (''Paks'') () is a Hungarian football club based in Paks. Since its founding in 1952, it has played at either a county or national level. In 2006, it ascended to ''Borsodi Liga'', or NB I, the top division in Hungarian football, for the ...

is a Hungarian football club based in Paks. Atomerőmű SE is a Hungarian basketball club based in Paks.

Bronze Age hoard

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

gold hoard of jewelry was found between Paks and

Dunaföldvár Dunaföldvár is a town in Tolna County, Hungary. Residents are Hungarians, with minority of Serbs. A Bronze Age gold hoard of jewellery was found between Paks and Dunaföldvár on the banks of the Danube in the nineteenth century. The treasure ...

on the right bank of the

in the 19th century. The treasure is now in the collections of the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

Twin towns – sister cities

Paks is twinned with: *

Galanta Galanta ( hu, Galánta, german: Gallandau) is a town (about 15,000 inhabitants) in the Trnava Region of Slovakia. It is situated 50 km due east of the Slovak capital Bratislava. Etymology The name is derived from a Slavic name ''Golęta'' ( ...

, Slovakia *

Gornji Vakuf-Uskoplje Gornji Vakuf-Uskoplje ( sr-cyrl, Горњи Вакуф-Ускопље) is a town and municipality located in Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Etymology Although settlements i ...

, Bosnia and Herzegovina *

Loviisa Loviisa (; sv, Lovisa ; formerly Degerby) is a municipality and town of inhabitants () on the southern coast of Finland. It is located from Helsinki and from Porvoo. About 43 per cent of the population is Swedish-speaking. The municipality co ...

, Finland *

Novovoronezh Novovoronezh (russian: Нововоро́неж) is a town in Voronezh Oblast, Russia, located on the left bank of the Don River south of Voronezh. Population: Administrative and municipal status Within the framework of administrative divisions ...

, Russia *

Reichertshofen Reichertshofen is a market town and municipality in the district of Pfaffenhofen in Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , ...

, Germany *

Târgu Secuiesc Târgu Secuiesc (; hu, Kézdivásárhely, ; german: Szekler Neumarkt; la, Neoforum Siculorum) is a municipiu, city in Covasna County, Transylvania, Romania. It administers one village, Lunga (''Nyujtód''). History The town was first mentione ...

Romania *

Vyshkovo Vyshkovo ( uk, Вишкове; hu, Visk) is an urban-type settlement in Khust Raion (district) of Zakarpattia Oblast (province) in western Ukraine., firstly mentioned in the year 1281. The town's population was 8,142 as of the 2001 Ukrainian Cen ...

, Ukraine

References

External links

* in Hungarian, English and Russian
The jewish community in Paks
On

JewishGen JewishGen is a non-profit organization founded in 1987 as an international electronic resource for Jewish genealogy. In 2003, JewishGen became an affiliate of the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in New York Ci ...

website. Populated places in Tolna County Socialist planned cities Planned cities in Hungary Jewish communities in Hungary Jewish communities destroyed in the Holocaust {{Tolna-geo-stub