Polgárdi is a town in

Fejér county Fejér (, ) is an administrative county in central Hungary. It lies on the west bank of the river Danube and nearly touches the eastern shore of Lake Balaton. It shares borders with the Hungarian counties Veszprém, Komárom-Esztergom 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 ...

, reportedly the site where the

Sevso Treasure The Seuso Treasure or Sevso Treasure (; ), is a hoard of silver objects (14 items) from the late Roman Empire. The first pieces appeared on the market in London in 1980, and the treasure was acquired by a consortium headed by Spencer Compton, ...

was discovered.

Geography

Polgárdi is located at an elevation of about 144 metres, about 12 kilometres northeast of

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 ...

, a resort area in western Hungary popular with German tourists, and about 30 kilometres southeast is

Sárbogárd Sárbogárd () is a town in Fejér county, Hungary. The town is at the intersection of important railroad routes in Hungary: this is where electrified routes from Balaton and Pécs merge with non-electrified railways from Baja and Szekszárd. A ...

. About 17 kilometres northeast of Polgárdi is the city

Székesfehérvár Székesfehérvár (; ; ; ; Serbian language, Serbian: ''Стони Београд''; ), known colloquially as Fehérvár (), is a city in central Hungary, and the country's ninth-largest city. It is the Regions of Hungary, regional capital of C ...

. South of Polgárdi runs the M7 motorway. In addition, the city is connected to the railway line from Székesfehérvár to

Tapolca Tapolca (; ) is a town in Veszprém County, Hungary, close to Lake Balaton. It is located at around . The town has an outer suburb, Tapolca-Diszel, approximately 5 km to the East. Etymology The origin of ''Tapolca'' is disputed, originat ...

History

Lake Balaton was popular with Romans, especially for the generals who ruled

Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a Roman province, province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, on the west by Noricum and upper Roman Italy, Italy, and on the southward by Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia and upper Moesia. It ...

, the Roman province that now includes parts of Bosnia, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, and Albania. It was a hub of the Roman Empire, and therefore the site of trade routes and wars. In the fourth and fifth centuries Goths and Vandals swept down from the north. 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 ...

, there were three settlements at the present Polgárdi site: Cinca, Polgárdi, and Bökény-somlyó. The first mention of Polgárdi dates from 1277. Since 1397, George Batthyány owned the land, until 1945 when the land left the control of the Batthyány family. The nearby town of Fehérvár was settled in 1543, but it was often a double taxation victim (both the Hungarian landowners and the Turks paid the locals), so the population fell dramatically. Local people also actively participated in the 1848-49 War of Independence. After the expulsion of the

Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks () were a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group in Anatolia. Originally from Central Asia, they migrated to Anatolia in the 13th century and founded the Ottoman Empire, in which they remained socio-politically dominant for the e ...

, many locals were attracted to settlements, and civic development began in Polgárdi in the 19th century. It is the reported location of the controversial Seuso Treasure, traced back to a villa excavated in the area, dating back to the late Roman Empire period. Hungarian authorities claim that the treasure was discovered by a young soldier, József Sümegh, in around 1975–76 near the town. Sümegh's body was found in a nearby cellar in 1980. The official investigation at the time determined that he had committed suicide, but later the police came to the conclusion that he had been killed. As of 2012 the criminal investigation is still ongoing. Since 2013 it is the seat of the Polgárdi District, which ended in late 2014. The settlements that belonged to the Polgárdi District then became part of the Enyingi or Székesfehérvár District.

Sights

* Reformed Church, built 1807–1811 ( Late Baroque) * Catholic Church, ''Szent István király'', built 1853

Twin towns – sister cities

Polgárdi is twinned with: *

Dinkelland Dinkelland () is a municipality in the eastern Netherlands. For a short time it was known as Denekamp (one of its component towns) until it was renamed in 2002. Population centres Notable people * Johan Jongkind (1819 in Lattrop – 1891) a ...

, Netherlands *

Grafrath Grafrath is a municipality in the district of Fürstenfeldbruck in Bavaria in Germany. It takes its name from Saint Rasso (Ratho), a count (Graf) who founded a Benedictine abbey in the 10th century, and which existed until 1803. Points of int ...

, Germany * Petrești, Romania * Vlčany, Slovakia

References

External links

* in Hungarian {{DEFAULTSORT:Polgardi Populated places in Fejér County