Szanticska is a former village in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County,

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 ...

. With a population of 5Census 2001 detailed data for Abaújlak, HCSO
/ref> people in 2001 Szanticska is famous for being regarded the smallest settlement in Hungary, although officially it is not an independent municipality but part of the village Abaújlak since 1870. In fact, mentioning it as "smallest settlement in Hungary" has neither official nor statistical basis rather it is a kind of

urban legend An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...

born in the 1980s.

History

Szanticska was first mentioned in 1317. Its name comes from the name of

St. Stephen Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ''Stéphanos'', meaning "wreath, crown" and by extension "reward, honor, renown, fame", often given as a title rather than as a name; c. 5 – c. 34 AD) is traditionally venerated as the protomartyr or first ...

(''Szent István'' in Hungarian). During the Ottoman occupation of Hungary, the area was an important wine district, later it became deserted, but in the 18th century it was a populated place again. In 1870 it was annexed to Abaújlak. Between the World Wars the village prospered, but the population started to decrease in the 1930s, mostly because the village didn't have a

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...

. In 1988 the village had only one resident. During the 1990s Szanticska experienced a revival; some new residents settled down in the village and now it is a holiday resort where people can have an insight into everyday life of Hungarian peasants in the 19th century. Szanticska also hosts Hungarian schoolchildren during the summer for weeklong camps. There are 19 houses and 2 churches in the village, as well as one store sporadically open an hour or two based on the number of visitors.

Other data

* Postal code: 3815 * Calling code: (+36) 46

References

External links

A Vendégváró.hu cikke
(Hungarian only)
A Kastélyutak.hu cikke

Picture gallery
(not accessible to those outside the country)
An article on Szanticska
(Hungarian only) Populated places in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County Former municipalities of Hungary {{Borsod-geo-stub