Mátraszentimre () is a village in

Heves County Heves county (, ) lies in northern Hungary, between the right bank of the river Tisza and the Mátra and Bükk mountains. It shares borders with the Hungarian counties Pest (county), Pest, Nógrád (county), Nógrád, Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén and ...

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 ...

, in the

Mátra The Mátra () is a mountain range in northern Hungary, between the towns Gyöngyös and Eger. The country's highest peak, Kékestető (1014 m), belongs to this mountain range. Formation Pre-volcanic formations The formation of the Mátra ...

mountain range, between the Darázs, Teréz and Nagy-Átal-kő mountains. The

Galya-tető Galya-tető () is the second highest mountain (altitude: 965 m) in Hungary and in the Mátra mountain range (after Kékes). Galya-tető is a resort place of the village of Mátraszentimre in Heves County. The territory of Galyatető have an own ...

peak is inside of the village territory, east from the center. As of 2022 census, it has a population of 455 (see Demographics). The village located 17.5 km from (Nr. 81)

Hatvan–Fiľakovo railway Hatvan– Fiľakovo railway is a non-electrified railway connecting Hatvan, Hungary with Fiľakovo, Slovakia. Once a major connecting railway, the line currently sees only local Regionalbahn service and local goods traffic. It is double tracke ...

line, 21.9 km from the main road 21 and 38.0 km from the

M3 motorway M3 motorway may refer to: * M3 motorway or Riverside Expressway, part of the Pacific Motorway in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia * M3 motorway (Great Britain), a motorway in England * M3 motorway (Hungary), a motorway in Hungary * M3 motorway in ...

. The ''Mátraszőlős-Hasznos'' railway stop is the closest on the

line, and 7.8 km from the village is the ''Szalajkaház'' terminus of the Mátravasút, which is a

narrow-gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter cur ...

to Gyöngyös for tourist.

History

The first writings relating to the territory of today's settlement mentions ''Ágasvár'' in 1265. The castle is 6.3 km from Mátraszentimre and in the 15th century it was only a ruin, the remains of ramparts can still be seen today. The first Slovak settlers built their first glass huta in 1741 in the valley of the Csörgő creek, then in the 1780s they abandoned it and created new huts next to the Hutahelyi creek and on the side of Nárád mountain. Felsőhuta () and Fiskalitáshuta () were created by harvesting the forests. In addition to glass production and

coal burning Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is a type of fossi ...

, they were engaged in animal husbandry and farming. The first school was established at Fiskalitáshuta in 1896. 5 families moved to the other side of Teréz mountain and Dobogó mountain from Felsőhuta and created Ötházhuta (). Under the

east of the settlements, the Mátra Association established a hostel in 1894. An

andesite Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomina ...

watchtower A watchtower or guardtower (also spelt watch tower, guard tower) is a type of military/paramilitary or policiary tower used for guarding an area. Sometimes fortified, and armed with heavy weaponry, especially historically, the structures are ...

was erected on the Péter-hegyese to the east of the Galya-tető in 1934. In memory of the saints of 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 settlements were renamed in 1938: Felsőhuta to ''Mátraszentistván'' (named after King St. Stephen), Fiskalitáshuta to ''Mátraszentlászló'' (named after King St. Ladislaus) and Ötházhuta to ''Mátraszentimre'' (named after Prince St. Emerich. A new luxury hotel was built under the Péter-hegyese lookout tower in 1939. The Church of Patrona Hungariae built on Galya-tető in 1941. The King Saint Stephen Church was built above Mátraszentlászló in 1942 and was intended as the "Church of the 3 villages". Until 1944 the villages was part of the territory of Hasznos, but in 1944 Mátraszentimre became independent and Mátraszentlászló and Mátraszentistván were added to it. Based on the

Czechoslovak–Hungarian population exchange The Czechoslovak–Hungarian population exchange was the exchange of inhabitants between Czechoslovakia and Hungary after World War II. Between 45,000 and 120,000 Hungarians were forcibly transferred from Czechoslovakia to Hungary, and their propert ...

agreement in 1948, most of the population was displaced, Galya-tető was also annexed to Mátraszentimre in the same year. Mrs. László Sánta had two visions of the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

in 1947-48. Based on the first, she found the Fallós

well A well is an excavation or structure created on the earth by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...

, and according to the second, she should have had a

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

built. Because of her visions, she was locked up in a

psychiatric hospital A psychiatric hospital, also known as a mental health hospital, a behavioral health hospital, or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe Mental disorder, mental disorders. These institutions cater t ...

. However, the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

bought the area around the well in 1987 and the "Queen of Forests" chapel was built in 1990, then the

Queen of Peace Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

church in 2006. Weekend houses were established on ''Fallóskút'', and the settlement became a place of

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

. The St. Emerich Church was also built in Mátraszentimre in 1980, considering that the Mátraszentlászló church is 2.9 km from the village. The importance of tourism increased in the 1960s and hotels and

ski slopes Skis are runners, attached to the user's feet, designed to glide over snow. Typically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partially secured heel. For climbing slopes, ski skins can ...

were built one after the other, at the same time animal husbandry was banned, which led to the greening of the meadows. The

observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. Th ...

was built on the Piszkés-tető in 1960 and has been open to visitors since 2013. The

folk museum A folk museum is a museum that deals with folk culture and heritage. Such museums cover local life in rural communities. A folk museum typically displays historical objects that were used as part of the people's everyday lives. Examples of such ...

handed over in 2012 represents the culture of the Slovak minority. Of the ski slopes, only those established on ''Bagolyirtás'' and Oszicsinszki mountain are in use nowadays. A

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area–a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North Am ...

above Mátraszentistván was created in 2004 by expanding the ski slopes on the Oszicsinszki mountain. A

was built on the Vörös-kő in 2005, opposite Mátraszentlászló. In 2015, a new hostel was established in Galyatető. The Ágasvár's hostel, Mátraszentistván and

are stamping places of the

National Blue Trail The National Blue Trail (in Hungarian: ''Országos Kéktúra'', short: ''OKT'') is a national trail in Hungary, for most of its length part of the European Long Distance Walking Route E4. The route starts atop the Írott-kő Mountain (884 m) ...

Demographics

According the 2022 census, 88.6% of the population were of Hungarian ethnicity, 27.7% were Slovakian, 1.2% were

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, 1.0% were Ukrainian and 10.6% were did not wish to answer. The religious distribution was as follows: 47.5%

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 ...

, 5.2%

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

, 2.2%

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

, 6.2% non-denominational, and 37.1% did not wish to answer. The Slovakian have a local nationality government. The settlement is made up of several separate parts. The number of the inhabitants in the inner areas were the followings: Mátraszentimre - 234, Mátraszentistván - 60, Mátraszentlászló - 47, Galyatető - 43, Bagolyirtás - 11 and Fallóskút - 4. Further 5 people live in a resort place 6.3 km away from the village. Galyatető have an own post code (3234). Population by years:

Politics

''Mayors since 1990'': * 1990–1994: Lajos Szabad (independent) * 1994–2019: András József Stuller (Until 1998 Slovak Association, but from 1998 independent) * 2019–: Péter Előházi (independent)

Gallery

Galya-tető.rom.kat.templ.DSCF1443.jpg, Patrona Hungariae Church Mária-kápolna.jpg, Queen of Forests Chapel Szlovák tájház.jpg, Slovak Folk Museum Vörös-kő kilátó.jpg, Vörös-kő watchtower Országos Kéktúra pecsételőhely Galyatető (OKTPH 102 2).jpg, Péter hegyese watchtower

References

External links

Air photos
Populated places in Heves County {{Heves-geo-stub