Kiskunhalas

Kiskunhalas

The Tower of the Town Hall

Coat of arms
Kiskunhalas

Location of Kiskunhalas

Coordinates: 46°25′55″N 19°29′19″E / 46.43201°N 19.48850°E / 46.43201; 19.48850
Country  Hungary
County Bács-Kiskun
Area
 • Total 227.58 km2 (87.87 sq mi)
Population (2009)
 • Total 28,997
 • Density 128.16/km2 (331.9/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 6400
Area code(s) 77
Website kiskunhalas.hu

Kiskunhalas (German: Hallasch) is a city in Bács-Kiskun County, Hungary.

Railroad

The city is an important railway junction. It crosses the Budapest-Subotica-Belgrade railway line. The Kiskunfélegyháza railway ends in Kiskunhalas.

Geography

Kiskunhalas is located 130 km (81 mi) south of Budapest.

Name

Kiskunhalas used to be surrounded by lakes that were rich in fish, Halas in Hungarian, and this gave rise to the town's name. The other part of the name comes from the Hungarian kiskun-, meaning Little Cumania (Hungarian: Kiskunság); Kun was what the Hungarians called the Cuman people.

Croats in Hungary call this town as Olaš.[1] The Croat name came as shortening of its Hungarian name, as it was easier for Croat speakers to pronounce it that way.

History

Its known history goes back to the 9th century. Kiskunhalas has many archaeological artifacts. These are displayed in the János Thorma Museum, established in honor of an early 20th-century painter who was born and grew up here.

Several villages were known to have been in the area from 895. The place became significant when the Cumans arrived. Its name is derived from the Hungarian word, Kun, for the Cumans. The first written documents mentioning Halas date to 1347.

After 1596, the town lost much of its population due to warfare during the Ottoman invasion and plague.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, Kiskunhalas welcomed the Protestant Reformation. Until 1754 the city was the center of the region, but after that, its significance declined under Catholic rulers because of the local people's support for Protestantism. A Roman Catholic church was built in 1770. A new Reformed (now called Presbyterian) church was built in 1823.

In 1910 the population reached 25,000.

Notable natives and residents

Sports

The town is the birthplace of the highest ranked Hungarian tennis player Ágnes Szávay (at one time ranked 13th in the world), who has won five WTA titles.

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Kiskunhalas is twinned with:

See also

References

  1. ↑ (Croatian) "Folia onomastica croatica 14/2005.". (462 KB) Živko Mandić: Hrvatska imena naseljenih mjesta u Madžarskoj,
  2. ↑ "Miasta partnerskie i zaprzyjaźnione Nowego Sącza". Urząd Miasta Nowego Sącza (in Polish). Archived from the original on 2013-05-23. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kiskunhalas.

Coordinates: 46°25′55″N 19°29′18″E / 46.43194°N 19.48833°E / 46.43194; 19.48833

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/17/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.