Csurgó Explained

Official Name:Csurgó
Settlement Type:Town
Mapsize:275px
Pushpin Map:Hungary
Pushpin Map Caption:Location of Csurgó
Pushpin Mapsize:275px
Timezone:CET
Utc Offset:+1
Timezone Dst:CEST
Utc Offset Dst:+2
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Type1:Region
Subdivision Name1:Southern Transdanubia
Subdivision Type2:County
Subdivision Name2:Somogy
Subdivision Type3:District
Subdivision Name3:Csurgó
Subdivision Type4:RC Diocese
Subdivision Name4:Kaposvár
Area Total Km2:59.6
Population As Of:2017
Population Total:4806[1]
Population Density Km2:auto
Population Footnotes:[2]
Population Demonym:csurgói
Postal Code Type:Postal code
Postal Code:8840
Area Code Type:Area code
Area Code:(+36) 82
Coordinates:46.257°N 17.098°W
Blank Name:Patron Saint
Blank Info:Holy Spirit
Blank4 Name Sec1:NUTS 3 code
Blank4 Info Sec1:HU232
Blank5 Name Sec2:MP
Blank5 Info Sec2:László Szászfalvi (KDNP)

Csurgó (formerly Somogy-Csurgó; Croatian: Čurguj or Croatian: Čurgov) is a town in Somogy County, Hungary, and the seat of Csurgó District.

The settlement is part of the Balatonboglár wine region.[3]

Geography

It lies on the southwestern part of Somogy County, near the Hungarian-Croatian border. Here meets the Öreghegy (English: Old Mountain) and the Újhegy (English: New Mountain) in Northwest, the Inner Somogy Hill Range in the Northeast and the River Drava in the South. The town can be approached by car or train. It lies on the Dombóvár-Gyékényes Railway Line.

History

The territory of Csurgó was already inhabited in prehistoric times according to archaeological finds. During the Roman times this place was on the road which connected Pannonia province to the Adriatic Sea. Csurgó was first mentioned in the establishing charter of the Abbey of Zalavár in 1019 when Saint Stephen of Hungary donated the village and its goods to the Benedictine monks. During the Árpád era it was one of the lands of the free royal swineherds. Then later the sister of Béla III, Margit gave it to the Crusaders. They settled on the so-called Felső-Csurgó (English: Upper Csurgo) part of the village on a hill in a marsh. Then later the Order of Malta arrived on that place. The Johanniter Order founded their first monastery between 1217 and 1226 which served as a fortress, hospital and church. According to the legends Béla IV fled through Csurgó after the Battle of Muhi where he stayed for a night and drank from the Holy Mary Well. Csurgó was given market town rights on September 28, 1405, by Sigismund Luxemburg. Its castle was built in the 15th century but was demolished in the 18th century. There was also a church built in the 13th century which was repeatedly rebuilt since 1731. Sebestyén Tinódi Lantos moved here in 1543 and stayed for two years after his lord was captured by the Turks. During the Turkish occupation the town lost most of its residents.

In the beginning of the 18th century Csurgó was almost empty and belonged to the Festetics family who decided to revive the settlement. They allowed Hungarians, Germans, Croats and Slovaks to settle in the village. Its Calvinist secondary school was founded in 1792. Also the famous Hungarian poet, Mihály Csokonai Vitéz taught there between the May 26, 1799 and February 17, 1800. He finished his well-known work, Dorottya there. between 1804 and 1809 Csurgó belonged to György Festetics.[4]

Csurgó became market town again in 1850. Since 1896 he operates the first training school in Somogy County. The town became seat of the Csurgó District in 1871. The section of the train line connecting Budapest to Fiume (today Rijeka, Croatia) near Csurgó was finished in 1872. It became third time a town in 1989.

Main sights

Culture

The Hungarian folk song A juhásznak jól van dolga was collected in Alsok (part of Csurgó) in 1898 by Béla Vikár.

Twin towns – sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Hungary. Csurgó is twinned with:[5]

Notable residents

See also

References

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.ksh.hu/apps/hntr.telepules?p_lang=EN&p_id=21315 Csurgó, KSH
  2. Gazetteer of Hungary, 1st January 2015. Hungarian Central Statistical Office.
  3. https://web.archive.org/web/20160410182214/http://www.delbalatonibor.hu/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/HK-Tan%C3%A1cs-Alapszab%C3%A1ly.pdf A Balatonboglári borvidék hegyközségi tanácsának alapszabálya (PDF)
  4. https://library.hungaricana.hu/hu/view/SOMM_SomAlm_052/ László Szita : Somogy megyei nemzetiségek településtörténete a XVIII-XIX. században - Somogyi Almanach 52. (Kaposvár, 1993)
  5. Web site: Csurgó testvérvárosi kapcsolatai. csurgo.hu. Csurgó. hu. 2021-03-28.