Akasztó is a village and municipality in Bács-Kiskun county, in the

Southern Great Plain The Southern Great Plain ( ) is a statistical ( NUTS 2) region of Hungary. It is part of Great Plain and North (NUTS 1) region. The Southern Great Plain includes the counties of Bács-Kiskun, Békés, and Csongrád-Csanád. The region is in the ...

region of southern

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, 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 and ...

. It is surrounded by several areas of the

Kiskunság National Park Kiskunság National Park () is a national park located in Danube–Tisza Interfluve mainly in Bács-Kiskun county, Hungary. It was created in 1975 and declared a biosphere reserve by the UNESCO. The park covers an area of 530 km2 and stretch ...

Geography

Akasztó covering an area of 64.88 km² lies in the northern edge of the

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 ...

region. Its closest neighbor is

Csengőd Csengőd is a village in Bács-Kiskun County, in the Southern Great Plain region of Hungary. Croats in Hungary call this village as ''Čengid''. Živko Mandić: Hrvatska imena naseljenih mjesta u Madžarskoj, Geography It covers an area of ...

, about 6 km away.

History

According to local tales, the name of the town comes from the Hungarian word ''akasztani'' which means ''to hang'' in English. The area was known for its muddy roads that ''hanged'' the wheels of a

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

. Others says the town was named Akasztó because of its often exercised right to hang people. Akasztó was first mentioned in 1278 as ''Akazthow''. It was the center of royal tax-collectors. During the Ottoman Conquest it lost much of its population. In the early 18th century Slovak farmers settled in the region. In 1737 the village was the property of the Bosnyák family and in 1770 of the

Batthyány family The House of Batthyány () is an ancient and distinguished Hungarian noble magnate family. The Head of the family bears the title Prince (Fürst) of Batthyány-Strattmann, while other members of this family bear the title Count/Countess ( Graf ...

. Before World War II, the local winery and mill industry belonged to Count Mihály Cseszneky de Milvány, but his fortune was nationalised in the Communist-ruled

People's Republic of Hungary The Hungarian People's Republic (HPR) was a landlocked country in Central Europe from its formation on 20 August 1949 until the establishment of the current Republic of Hungary on 23 October 1989. It was a professed communist state, govern ...

References

External links

A timeline of the history of AkasztóA comprehensive book on the history of Akasztó
Geography of Bács-Kiskun County Populated places in Bács-Kiskun County {{Bacs-geo-stub