Veľké Kapušany (; ) is a small

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 ...

on the eastern plains 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 ...

, not far from the Ukrainian border.

Name

The name "Kapušany" is probably derived from the Hungarian word ''kapu'', meaning "gate".

History

The territory of the town has been settled since time immemorial (findings from the Neolithic period). From the second half of the 10th century until 1918, it was part of the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

. The first written references to the settlement stems from 1211 ("Kapos") and 1214 ("Copus"). The settlement was awarded town status in 1430. The town was the second largest settlement (after

Uzhhorod Uzhhorod (, ; , ; , ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality on the Uzh, Uzh River in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. The city is approximately equidistan ...

) of the Ung County and frequently served as a temporary or permanent station for migrants (Germans, Rusyns, Poles, Hungarians etc.) from the east to the west. In the town square there is a garden with a plaque commemorating the day the Germans marched into Veľké Kapušany in 1944. This is significant as both

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

and Romas were persecuted and murdered by the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

during World War II. At that time, Veľké Kapušany was part of Hungary (based on the

First Vienna Award The First Vienna Award was a treaty signed on 2 November 1938 pursuant to the Vienna Arbitration, which took place at Vienna's Belvedere Palace. The arbitration and award were direct consequences of the previous month's Munich Agreement, whic ...

). The following villages were merged with the town: Malé Kapušany (after 1913), Veškovce (1964).

City parts

*Veľké Kapušany proper *Veškovce

Description

Wood processing Wood processing is an engineering discipline in the wood industry comprising the production of forest products, such as pulp and paper, construction materials, and tall oil. Paper engineering is a subfield of wood processing. The major wo ...

, food and building materials industries and Slovak and Hungarian high schools are located there as is a railroad transfer facility for goods on the broad gauge railroad to

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 ...

. Many Communist remnants remain, notably the apartment buildings of the Communist era, where mainly poor Roma people now live. The rest of the population lives in mostly comfortable-looking homes and farms outside of the main thoroughfare but still within the town's borders. There are several churches, but no synagogue in Veľké Kapušany. On the outskirts of the town there is a heavily damaged Jewish cemetery.

Demographics

According to the 2001 census, the population include 56.98% Hungarians, 35.92% Slovaks, and 4.32% Roma.Mestská a obecná štatistika SR
In 1910, 33.8% of the population was Jewish.

Twin towns – sister cities

Veľké Kapušany is twinned with: * Vásárosnamény, Hungary

Gallery

File:20230525-20230525-IMG 0553.jpg, In front of the Town Hall there's a monument of „Turul-bird” File:Gr kat 2,.jpg, Greek Catholic Church File:20230525-20230525-IMG 0498.jpg, The oldest building is the Reformed Church which roots goes back to abouth 14th century File:20230525-20230525-IMG 0607.jpg, The Roman Catholic Church is already situated on territory of former Malé Kapušany and was built in 1807 File:Veškovce.JPG, Reformed church in Veškovce, a rural borough that is part of the municipality File:20230525-20230525-IMG 0543.jpg, Slovak and Hungarian language gymnasium high school in Veľké Kapušany File:20230930-IMG 2776.jpg, Within a 5 km proximity there is the Ortov Nature Reserve File:20230525-20230525-IMG 0499.jpg, Turist Information Centre (TIC) File:Veľké Kapušany, nádraží, vůz 812.060.jpg, Veľké Kapušany train station, with a ZSSK Class 812 DMU File:20230525-20230525-IMG 0536.jpg, Dobó Square File:Nagykapos - Petőfi Sándor - Túri Török Tibor alkotása.jpg, Memorial bust of Sándor Petöfi at Dobó Square File:20230525-20230525-IMG 0520.jpg, In 2018, a statue was unveiled in the city park in memory Géza Herczeg. File:20230525-20230525-IMG 0646.jpg, Medical Centre File:20230525-20230525-IMG 0521.jpg, Municipal cultural community centre File:20230525-20230525-IMG 0479.jpg, Saint Stephen statue. Created by sculptor Imre Bukóczy from Tokaj, it was unveiled in 2001.

References

External links

Official siteVel'ké Kapušany - ShtetLink
{{DEFAULTSORT:Velke Kapusany Cities and towns in Slovakia Municipalities in Slovakia where Hungarian is an official language