Kisvárda (; , ) is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County, in the

Northern Great Plain The Northern Great Plain ( ) is a statistical ( NUTS 2) region of Hungary. It is part of the Great Plain and North (NUTS 1) region. The Northern Great Plain includes the counties of Hajdú-Bihar, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok, and Szabolcs-Szatmár-Be ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

of eastern

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 ...

near the border of

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

and

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. It is the 3rd largest town in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg after

Nyíregyháza Nyíregyháza (, ) is a city with county rights in northeastern Hungary and the county capital of Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg. With a population of 118,001, it is the seventh-largest city in Hungary and the second largest in the Northern Great ...

and

Mátészalka Mátészalka is a town in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county, in the Northern Great Plain region of eastern Hungary. It is on the Kraszna River, 52 kilometers from the city of Nyiregyhaza. Geography It covers an area of and has a population of 17 ...

with a population of 16 669 people. The Subregion of Kisvárda lies between two large landscapes, the Nyírség and the Rétköz. Kisvárda is just from the border of

, from

, from Ungvár ( Uzhorod), from

Beregszász Berehove (, ; , ) is a city in Zakarpattia Oblast, western Ukraine. It is situated near the border with Hungary. It is the cultural centre of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine, and Hungarians constitute roughly half (a plurality) of its popula ...

(

Berehove Berehove (, ; , ) is a city in Zakarpattia Oblast, western Ukraine. It is situated near the border with Hungary. It is the cultural centre of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine, and Hungarians constitute roughly half (a plurality) of its popula ...

), from

Sátoraljaújhely Sátoraljaújhely (German language, German: ''Neustadt am Zeltberg''; Slovak language, Slovak: ''Nové Mesto pod Šiatrom;'' Yiddish: ''איהעל'') is a border town located in Borsod–Abaúj–Zemplén County, Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County, Hu ...

and from Dorolţ, Romania.

Etymology

The name of the town, which means "little castle" in Hungarian, dates back to the

Conquest of Hungary Hungary in its modern (post-1946) borders roughly corresponds to the Great Hungarian Plain (the Carpathian Basin) in Central Europe. During the Iron Age, it was located at the crossroads between the cultural spheres of Scythian tribes (such as ...

. The conquering

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars, are an Ethnicity, ethnic group native to Hungary (), who share a common Culture of Hungary, culture, Hungarian language, language and History of Hungary, history. They also have a notable presence in former pa ...

named the town for its earthwork. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, it occurred like ''Warda'' and ''Warada'' in documents. The "kis" (meaning ''little'') word part was added to differentiate the town from

Nagyvárad Oradea (, , ; ; ) is a city in Romania, located in the Crișana region. It serves as the administrative county seat, seat of Bihor County and an economic, social, and cultural hub in northwestern Romania. The city lies between rolling hills on ...

(now

Oradea Oradea (, , ; ; ) is a city in Romania, located in the Crișana region. It serves as the administrative county seat, seat of Bihor County and an economic, social, and cultural hub in northwestern Romania. The city lies between rolling hills on ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

), "nagy" meaning ''great'' or ''large''.

Coat of arms

The red and white stripes on the shield symbolize the

Árpád Dynasty The Árpád dynasty consisted of the members of the royal House of Árpád (), also known as Árpáds (, ). They were the ruling dynasty of the Principality of Hungary in the 9th and 10th centuries and of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 to 130 ...

, the medieval kings of

. The sword with the

Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...

and green background shows the heroic knights of Kisvárda. The scales represents the town's trade and markets. In the middle of the shield there is the

Castle of Kisvárda A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

in gold. There is a dark green, winged dragon around the shield, choking itself with its tail wrapped around its neck. This is the insignia of the

Order of the Dragon The Order of the Dragon (, literally "Society of the Dragonists") was a Chivalric order#Monarchical or dynastical orders, monarchical chivalric order only for selected higher aristocracy and monarchs,Florescu and McNally, ''Dracula, Prince of M ...

which derives from the Várday family's coat of arms.

History

The conquering

found a hill fort here in 895 which then they used for their border protection system. St. Ladislaus defeated the Kuntesk

Cuman The Cumans or Kumans were a Turkic nomadic people from Central Asia comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confederation who spoke the Cuman language. They are referred to as Polovtsians (''Polovtsy'') in Rus' chronicles, as " ...

prince in 1085 in a great fight. In memory of the glorious battle, he had a church established. He dedicated it to

St Peter Saint Peter (born Shimon Bar Yonah; 1 BC – AD 64/68), also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the first leaders of the early Christian Church. He appears repe ...

and

St Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...

Apostles An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary. The word is derived from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", itself derived from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to se ...

. In the 12th century, the settlement's importance declined. The castle became the possession of the

Swabia Swabia ; , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of Swabia, one of ...

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

Gutkeled The coat-of-arms of the Hungarian Gutkeled clan Gutkeled (spelling variants: Gut-Keled, Guthkeled, Guth-Keled) was the name of a ''gens'' (Latin for "clan"; ''nemzetség'' in Hungarian) in the Kingdom of Hungary, to which a number of Hungarian nob ...

family. The settlement was the denominator of one branch of the family, the Várdays. The Várday family worked a lot to revive Kisvárda. Shortly the place got their fair housing law. Pelbárt Várady got permission from the king to build the

in 1415. In 1421, it became a town. István Várday, the

Archbishop of Kalocsa In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdioc ...

Matthias Corvinus Matthias Corvinus (; ; ; ; ; ) was King of Hungary and King of Croatia, Croatia from 1458 to 1490, as Matthias I. He is often given the epithet "the Just". After conducting several military campaigns, he was elected King of Bohemia in 1469 and ...

's chancellor expended the town's autonomy in 1468. At that time, the population of Kisvárda was more than a thousand people. It became the centre of Szabolcs. The first guild was formed in 1591. Because of the Turkish conquest of Hungary and the economic changes, the town's importance diminished. Prior to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Kisvárda had a total population of approximately 20,000. Of the total population, 3,500 were Jewish and there were twelve synagogues. The Nazi Germans and their Hungarian allies confined the Jewish community to a ghetto in 1944 and gathered an additional 3,500 Jews from the surrounding area into the Kisvárda ghetto. They were deported to the

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...

where the majority were slaughtered. A small community was re-established after the war, but almost no Jews are left in Kisvárda today. One of the former synagogues remains one of the most imposing structures in Kisvárda and is now a local history museum known as the Rétközi Múzeum.

Economy

Historically, Kisvárda has been a market town for the surrounding agricultural district, and is also has some light industry such as distilling, electrics, and brake pad production. It is on the main railway line from the Hungarian capital of

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 ...

. Kisvárda also attracts tourists to its

thermal springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by cir ...

, and the ruins of a medieval castle.

Notable people

Bertalan Farkas Bertalan Farkas (, born August 2, 1949) is the first Hungarian cosmonaut, space explorer and fighter pilot. Hungary became the seventh nation to be represented in space by him. Farkas is also the first Esperantist cosmonaut. He is currently the ...

, astronaut *

Krisztina Nyáry Baroness Krisztina Nyáry de Bedegh (31 October 1604 – 17 February 1641) was the daughter of Baron Pál Nyáry and Katalin Várday de Kisvárda. She was the second wife of Palatine Nikolaus, Count Esterházy. Her son, among others, was Paul I, P ...

(1604–1641) *

ByeAlex Alex Márta (born 6 June 1984), better known by his stage name ByeAlex, is a Hungarian indie pop singer, songwriter, journalist, and novelist. He represented Hungary in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö, Sweden, with the song " Kedvesem ...

, Hungarian singer, songwriter * Sándor Radó, Hungarian psychoanalyst *

Victor Varconi Victor Varconi (born Mihály Várkonyi; March 31, 1891 – June 6, 1976) was a Hungarian actor who initially found success in his native country, as well as in Germany and Austria, in silent films, before relocating to the United States, where ...

, Hungarian filmstar who rose to fame in the

silent era A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, wh ...

Arnost Zvi Ehrman Arnost Zvi Ehrman (1914–1976) was a Czech orthodox rabbi best known for his work as editor of the ''Talmud El Am''. In addition, his contribution on Jewish law is evident in a number of articles and conference papers on the subject. Bernard Jac ...

(1914–1976), Israeli jurist

Rabbis

* Moshe Grunwald (1853–1910), progenitor of the Pupa Hasidic dynasty through his five sons *

Shimon Sofer Shimon Sofer (; 1820–1883) was a prominent Austrian Orthodox Jewish rabbi in the 19th century. He was Chief Rabbi of Kraków, Poland after serving as Chief Rabbi of Mattersdorf. He was the second son of Rabbi Moshe Sofer (Chassam Sofer) of ...

(1850–1944),

Rav ''Rav'' (or ''Rab'', Modern Hebrew: ) is the Hebrew generic term for a person who teaches Torah or is a Jewish spiritual guide or a rabbi. For example, Pirkei Avot (in the Talmud) states (1:6) that: The term ''rav'' is also Hebrew for ''rabbi ...

of the Hungarian city of

Eger Eger ( , ; ; also known by other #Names and etymology, alternative names) is the county seat of Heves County, and the second largest city in Northern Hungary (after Miskolc). A city with county rights, Eger is best known for Castle of Eger, its ...

* Tibor Rosenbaum (1923–1980), rabbi and businessman

Politics

Attila Tilki Dr. Attila Tilki (born 9 May 1967) is a Hungarian jurist and politician, member of the National Assembly (MP) for Fehérgyarmat ( Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County Constituency X) from 2006 to 2014, and for Vásárosnamény (Szabolcs-Szatmár-Ber ...

(1967–), politician * Péter Kozma (1959–2017), politician * Dr. Miklós Seszták (1968–), jurist, politician, Minister of National Development(2014–), vice president of

KDNP The Christian Democratic People's Party (, , KDNP ) is a right-wing Christian democratic political party in Hungary. It is officially a coalition partner of the ruling party, Fidesz, but is mostly considered a satellite party of Fidesz. The party ...

* József Tóbiás (1970–), politician, former leader of the

MSZP The Hungarian Socialist Party (, ), commonly known by its acronym MSZP (), is a Centre-left politics, centre-left to Left-wing politics, left-wing social democracy, social-democratic and Pro-Europeanism, pro-European list of political parties in ...

(2014–2016) *

Dov Gruner Dov Béla Gruner (; December 6, 1912 – April 16, 1947) was a Hungarian-born Zionist activist in Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Pales ...

, Hungarian-born

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

activist, member of the

Irgun The Irgun (), officially the National Military Organization in the Land of Israel, often abbreviated as Etzel or IZL (), was a Zionist paramilitary organization that operated in Mandatory Palestine between 1931 and 1948. It was an offshoot of th ...

Sports

Football

* Volodymyr Kornutyak (1983–), footballer * Dušan Pavlov (1989–), footballer * Yves Mboussi (1987–), footballer *

Zoltan Silvashi Zoltan Silvashi (; ; or Zoltán Szilvási; born 20 June 1993) is a Ukrainian football defender who plays for german team TSV Dasing. Silvashi spent some years in the Sportive Youth system in Uzhhorod. Then he played in the Ukrainian Premier L ...

(1993–), footballer * László Miskolczi (1986–), footballer * Dávid Oláh (1988–), footballer *

Ignác Irhás Ignác Irhás (born 18 March 1985 in Miskolc) is a Hungarian football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, fo ...

(1985–), footballer *

Valér Kapacina Valér Kapacina (born 14 July 1993 in Nyíregyháza) is a Hungarian football player who currently plays for Sényő FC. Club career He made his debut for Budapest Honvéd of 19 March 2011 against Szolnoki MÁV FC Szolnoki MÁV FC is a Hung ...

(1993–), footballer *

Tamás Csilus Tamás Csilus (born 8 May 1995) is a Hungarian football player. He plays for Kazincbarcikai SC in the Hungarian NB II. He played his first league match in 2013. He is the older brother of Ádám Csilus, who is also a footballer. Club statis ...

(1995–), footballer * Norbert Heffler (1990–), footballer *

Miroslav Grumić Miroslav Grumić (; born 29 June 1984) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Hungarian club Szentlőrinc. Career After starting out at Mladost Apatin, Grumić was transferred to Vojvodina in the 2004 winter transfer win ...

(1984–), footballer * Zsolt Bognár (1979–), footballer * Zoltán Molnár (1971–), footballer * Gábor Bardi (1982–), footballer * Gábor Jánvári (1990–), footballer * Zoltán Horváth (1989–), footballer * Raymond Lukacs (1988–), footballer * Patrik Bacsa (1992–), footballer * Sergiu Oltean (1987–), footballer *

András Gosztonyi András Gosztonyi (born 7 November 1990) is a Hungarian professional footballer who plays as a right midfielder for Austrian club ASK Goberling. Club career At the age of 18, Gosztonyi spent a week on trial at Newcastle United. On 1 Februar ...

(1990–), footballer * Péter Baráth (2002–), footballer

Handball

* Ivett Nagy (1982–), handballer * Gabriella Juhász, Hungarian handballer * Ivett Nagy, Hungarian handballer * Gabriella Juhász (1985–), handballer * Ágnes Hornyák (1982–), handballer

Other

Éva Kaptur Éva Kaptur (born 15 November 1987) is a Hungarian athlete competing in sprinting events. International competitions Personal bests Outdoor *100 metres – 11.47 (+1.2 m/s, Budapest 2013) *200 metres – 23.53 (+1.0 m/s, Budapest 20 ...

(1987–), athlete * Gyula Halasy (1891–1970), sport shooter * Ervin Acel (1888–1958), American fencer

Twin towns – sister cities

Kisvárda is twinned with: *

Hildburghausen Hildburghausen () is a town in Thuringia in central Germany, capital of the Hildburghausen district. Geography It is situated in the Franconian part of Thuringia south of the Thuringian Forest, in the valley of the Werra River. The town centre ...

, Germany *

Karmiel Karmiel () is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Established in 1964 as a development town, Karmiel is located in the Beit HaKerem Valley which divides upper and lower Galilee. The city is located south of the Acre–Safed road, from Sa ...

, Israel *

Kráľovský Chlmec Kráľovský Chlmec (; until 1948 ''Kráľovský Chlumec'', ) is a town in the Trebišov District in the Košice Region of south-eastern Slovakia. It has a population of 7,462. Etymology The name means "Royal Hill". Slovak ''chlm'', Czech ''chlu ...

, Slovakia *

Mukachevo Mukachevo (, ; , ; see name section) is a city in Zakarpattia Oblast, western Ukraine. It is situated in the valley of the Latorica River and serves as the administrative center of Mukachevo Raion. The city is a rail terminus and highway junct ...

, Ukraine *

Strzyżów Strzyżów is a town in Strzyżów County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, Poland, along the Wisłok river valley. Strzyżów is one of the towns within the Strzyżowsko-Dynowskie Foothill, located south-east of Kraków and 30 km from Rzeszó ...

, Poland *

Târgu Secuiesc Târgu Secuiesc (; , ; ; ) is a city in Covasna County, Transylvania, Romania. It administers one village, Lunga (''Nyújtód''). History The town was first mentioned in 1407 as ''Torjawasara'', meaning in Hungarian “Torja Market”. ( Torja ...

, Romania

Sport

Kisvárda FC Kisvárda Football Club is a Hungarian football club located in Kisvárda. It currently plays in Nemzeti Bajnokság II. The team's colors are red and white. History Kisvárda FC, later known as Várda SE, was founded in 1911 as ''Kisvárdai Sp ...

, association football club *

Kisvárdai KC Kisvárdai KC is a Hungarian handball club from Kisvárda. Since the season 2017/18 it plays in the Nemzeti Bajnokság I. Kits Team Current squad :''Squad for the 2025–26 season'' * Head coach: Krisztián Józsa * Assistant c ...

, handball team

References

External links

* in Hungarian
Memorial Book of the Jews of Kisvarda and its Vicinity
Ed: Rabbi Dr. Karoly Jolesz, et al., Tel Aviv, Kleinwardein Society, 1980 {{DEFAULTSORT:Kisvarda Populated places in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County