Szekszárd (, formerly also ''Szegzárd''; hr, Seksar; german: Sechshard or ; sr, Сексард) is a small city in southern

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, Cr ...

and the capital of

Tolna County Tolna ( hu, Tolna megye, ; german: Komitat Tolnau) is an administrative county (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 river Danube. It shares borders ...

. By population, Szekszárd is the smallest county capital in Hungary; by area, it is the second-smallest (after

Tatabánya Tatabánya (; german: Totiserkolonie; sk, Banská Stará) is a city with county rights of 64,305 inhabitants in northwestern Hungary, in the Central Transdanubian region. It is the capital of Komárom-Esztergom County. Location The city is lo ...

Location

Szekszárd lies at the meeting point of the Transdanubian Hills and the Great Hungarian Plain, at the mouth of

Sió The Sió or Sió-csatorna (''Sió-Channel'') is a fully regulated river in midwest Hungary. It is the outlet, at the eastern end, of Lake Balaton, flowing out of the lake in Siófok. It flows into the river Danube near the city of Szekszárd. Sió ...

into the flood plain of

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 ...

History

Szekszárd was first mentioned in 1015. The

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monastery of the town was founded by King Béla I in 1061. During the reign of King Matthias, Szekszárd was the estate of Bishop John, who was involved in a conspiracy against the king. Because of this, King Matthias ordered the castle of Szekszárd to be demolished. In 1485, Szekszárd was already a significant town, holding five market days a year, but during the Turkish ascendancy of Hungary, the town became deserted and the monastery was destroyed. By the 18th century, Szekszárd was again a significant town, it became a county seat (of Tolna), and got a coat of arms. The town was destroyed by a fire in 1794, but it could not stop the town's development. Most of the important buildings—including the

town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

, the County Hall and several churches—were built during the 19th century. By this time, Szekszárd already had 14,000 residents.

Mihály Babits Mihály Babits (; 26 November 1883 – 4 August 1941) was a Hungarian poet, writer and translator. His poems are well known for their intense religious themes. His novels such as “The Children of Death” (1927) explore psychological pro ...

, an important Hungarian

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or w ...

was born in Szekszárd in 1883. During

World War II 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Szekszárd was captured by Soviet troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front on 30 November 1944 as part of the Budapest Offensive. In 1994, Szekszárd was granted the rank of city with county rights, in accordance with a new law stating that all county seats are cities with county rights. (Previously only cities with a population over 50,000 were granted county rights, and Szekszárd was one of only two county seats that had a smaller population than 50,000; the other was Salgótarján).

Transportation

Szekszárd lies on a

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a p ...

line Rétszilas -

Bátaszék Bátaszék (german: Badeseck, sr, Батсек, Batsek) is a town in Tolna County, Hungary. The majority residents are Hungarians, with a minority of Serbs. "The oldest tree of Bátaszék" won the title of European Tree of the Year 2016. The Ro ...

and on a junction of main roads No. 6, 56, 63 and 65. Motorways M6 and M9 cross each other near the city. There also are local bus lines for city transportation operated by DDKK.

Main sights

* Old county hall ( neo-Classical style) * Augusz manor (

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

was a guest here) * Deutsche Bühne Ungarn * Birthplace of Mihály Babits, Museums * Birthplace of Valéria Dienes * Ruins of Benedictine monastery * János Garay Square and statue

Twin towns – sister cities

Szekszárd is twinned with: *

Bečej Bečej ( sr-cyrl, Бечеј, ; hu, Óbecse, ) is a town and municipality located in the South Bačka District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The town has a population of 23,895, while the municipality has 37,351 inhabitants. I ...

, Serbia (1975) *

Bezons Bezons () is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Population Transport An extension of the tramway line T2 to Pont de Bezons opened in 2012. With Bezons not served by any stations ...

, France (1967) *

Bietigheim-Bissingen Bietigheim-Bissingen (locally: ''Biedge-Bissenge'') is the second-largest town in the district of Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany with 42,515 inhabitants in 2007. It is situated on the river Enz and the river Metter, close to its confl ...

, Germany (1989) *

Făget Făget (; hu, Facsád; german: Fatschet) is a town in Timiș County, Romania, with a population of about 7,500. The town administers ten villages: Bătești, Begheiu Mic, Bichigi, Brănești, Bunea Mare, Bunea Mică (depopulated), Colonia Mică, ...

, Romania (1998) *

Jajce Jajce (Јајце) is a town and municipality located in the Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the 2013 census, the town has a population of 7,172 inhabitants, wit ...

, Bosnia and Herzegovina (2016) * Lugoj, Romania (1993) * Province of Ravenna, Italy (1996) *

Tornio Tornio (; sv, Torneå; sme, Duortnus ; smn, Tuárnus) is a city and municipality in Lapland, Finland. The city forms a cross-border twin city together with Haparanda on the Swedish side. The municipality covers an area of , of which is ...

, Finland (1986) *

Waregem Waregem (; vls, Woaregem), sometimes known as Waereghem, is a municipality and city located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality lies in the valley of the river Leie, between Kortrijk and Ghent. It is part of the arrondi ...

, Belgium (1993)

Notable people

* Károly Escher, photographer *

, poet * János Garay, poet * Attila Fiola, footballer * János Hahn, footballer

Sport

The women's basketball team Atomerőmű Szekszárd play in the Nemzeti Bajnokság is the premier tier of Hungarian basketball.

Szekszárdi UFC Szekszárdi Utánpótlásnevelő Football Club is a professional football club based in Szekszárd, Tolna county, Hungary, that competes in the Nemzeti Bajnokság III Nemzeti Bajnokság III (''NBIII'', ''National Championship III'') is the thi ...

play in the Nemzeti Bajnokság III, the third tier of Hungarian football.

References

External links

* in Hungarian, English and German
Aerial photography: Szekszárd
{{DEFAULTSORT:Szekszard County seats in Hungary Cities with county rights of Hungary Populated places in Tolna County Wine regions of Hungary