Balatonberény is a village in Somogy county,

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 ...

, with a popular nudist beach. The country village had a population of 1,200 in 2011. The settlement is part of the Balatonboglár wine region.

History

General history

A late

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

cemetery has been found near the town. Many of inhabitants escaped to the reed-woods of Small Balaton (Kis-Balaton) close to the village and

Lake Balaton Lake Balaton () is a freshwater rift lake in the Transdanubian region of Hungary. It is the List of largest lakes of Europe, largest lake in Central Europe, and one of the region's foremost tourist destinations. The Zala River provides the larges ...

when the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

conquered the village. By 1733 the Hunyady family had become the largest landlord in the area.

Churches

The town's first recorded church owned lands was noted in 1332. The

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church was built around 1350 and it got seriously damaged during the Ottoman invasion.

Castles

The Star Castle (known locally as the Csillagvár) lies at the border with the settlement of Balatonszentgyörgy. The star-shaped, fortress-like building was constructed by László Festetics during the 1820s as a hunting lodge and an exhibition inside the building introduces the life of knights of border castles in the 16th century.

Public bathing

In 1902 there were 170 bathing huts set up in the water, alongside each other across the beach-front as its popularity boomed during the turn of that century. The hot-water medicinal baths of

Hévíz Hévíz () is a spa town in Zala County, Hungary, about from the city of 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. ...

and Zalakaros can be visited by tourists.

Demographics

The country village had a population of 1,200 in 2011.

Population change

Geography

Balatonberény is next to

. The local hills are good for hiking and scenic experiences . A pleasant path goes to the Bokrosi wine-hill that lies above the village, Keszthely Mountain and the monadnocks of Tapolca hollow .

Transport

There are 3 main roads, 1 bus-stop and a railway station in the village. The railway goes to

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

and Balatonszentgyörgy.

The arts

The Transdanubia Amateur Art Festival is held in July. In summer exhibition of the fine arts in the Painters' House. Village Day is held on 1 May. .

Culture

The Hungarian folk song Elhervadt cidrusfa was collected in Balatonberény in 1906 by

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as Hunga ...

. Balatonberény is also site of the Hungarian Emigration Memorial, situated at Balaton utca, opposite of the station.

References

External links

Street map (Hungarian)
Populated places in Somogy County {{Somogy-geo-stub