Pátka is a village in
Fejér 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 ...
. Located just north of
Lake Velence and 12 km northwest of
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 ...
, the village extends across 40.4 km
2 of
loess
A loess (, ; from ) is a clastic rock, clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. Ten percent of Earth's land area is covered by loesses or similar deposition (geology), deposits.
A loess ...
plain and low crystalline ridges in the western foothills of the
Velence Hills. The village is notably home to the Pátkai-víztározó, a 312-hectare
reservoir
A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation.
Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...
created in 1975 by damming the Császár-víz watercourse, which serves as a water-supply buffer for Lake Velence and supports a rich diversity of bird species. While maintaining a stable permanent population of around 1,770 residents, Pátka has increasingly oriented toward recreation and commuter living since the 1990s, attracting anglers, birdwatchers, and cyclists to its natural attractions and heritage sites.
Description
Lying just north of
Lake Velence, Pátka extends across of
loess
A loess (, ; from ) is a clastic rock, clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. Ten percent of Earth's land area is covered by loesses or similar deposition (geology), deposits.
A loess ...
plain and low crystalline ridges in the western foothills of the
Velence Hills. The village sits at , 12 km north-west of
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 ...
. The cadastral area is drained south-east by the regulated channel of the watercourse. In 1975 this stream was impounded with an earthfill barrage to create the Pátkai-víztározó, a 312-ha
reservoir
A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation.
Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...
holding 7.9 million cubic metres; together with the Zámolyi basin it forms the water-supply buffer for Lake Velence.
The lake's wide reedbeds and shallow bays now support at least 167 bird species—including spoonbill, white-tailed eagle and rare migrants such as lesser white-fronted goose—prompting conservationists to propose local protected-area status.
Heavy abstraction to bolster Lake Velence, however, left the reservoir perilously low and triggered a mass
fish kill
The term fish kill, known also as fish die-off, refers to a localized mass mortality event, mass die-off of fish populations which may also be associated with more generalized mortality of aquatic life.University of Florida. Gainesville, FL (200 ...
in December 2023; the managing angling federation ordered a full
drawdown and fish rescue in early 2024, suspending all fishing until
water quality
Water quality refers to the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of water based on the standards of its usage. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which compliance, generally achieved through tr ...
recovers.
History
Archaeology
Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
shows that the site has been occupied since the
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 ...
.
Rampart
Rampart may refer to:
* Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement
Rampart may also refer to:
* LAPD Rampart Division, a division of the Los Angeles Police Department
** Rampart scandal, a blanket ter ...
traces at Szűzvár mark a late prehistoric
hillfort
A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...
, while silver hoards and the
masonry
Masonry is the craft of building a structure with brick, stone, or similar material, including mortar plastering which are often laid in, bound, and pasted together by mortar (masonry), mortar. The term ''masonry'' can also refer to the buildin ...
remains of a 4th-century Roman dam on the Császár-víz testify to continuous use of the valley's water resources.
The name Patka appears in royal charters of 1192 as Patca/Pathka, probably derived from the
Old Hungarian personal name Paty plus the
diminutive
A diminutive is a word obtained by modifying a root word to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment, and sometimes to belittle s ...
-ka.
During the
Ottoman wars the village was repeatedly depopulated, then repopulated in the 18th century by
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 ...
settlers whose
Baroque
The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
church (1730) still stands on Fő utca. Pátka next enters national history on 29 September 1848, when the triangle of Pátka–Pákozd–Sukoró formed the left wing of General János Móga's defensive line that halted
Josip Jelačić's Croatian army in the first major clash of the
Hungarian War of Independence.
Recent history
Industrial ventures arrived late in Pátka. Exploration for lead–zinc
veins
Veins () are blood vessels in the circulatory system of humans and most other animals that carry blood towards the heart. Most veins carry deoxygenated blood from the tissues back to the heart; exceptions are those of the pulmonary and fetal c ...
beneath Szűzvár opened a small
fluorspar mine in 1952; it closed in 1967, and the
ore-dressing plant was dismantled six years later. Since the 1990s the settlement has shifted toward recreation and commuting: census estimates show the permanent population holding steady around 1,770 in 2025, yet weekend numbers swell with anglers, bird-watchers and cyclists heading for the reservoir and the 33-km Velence-lake cycle loop.
Local government promotes "green heritage"
tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...
by maintaining way-marked
trail
A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or a small paved road (though it can also be a route along a navigable waterways) generally not intended for usage by motorized vehicles, usually passing through a natural area. Ho ...
s around the Roman dam and installing a lakeshore bird hide, while plans for a
wetland reserve hinge on resolving long-term water-level
management
Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a Government agency, government bodies through business administration, Nonprofit studies, nonprofit management, or the political s ...
at Pátkai-víztározó.
References
External links
Street map
{{DEFAULTSORT:Patka
Populated places in Fejér County