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Gyula, Hungary

Coordinates: 46°39′N 21°17′E / 46.650°N 21.283°E / 46.650; 21.283
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gyula
Town
Gyula Castle
Gyula Castle
Flag of Gyula
Flag
Coat of Arms
Coat of arms
Gyula is located in Békés County
Gyula
Gyula
Gyula is located in Hungary
Gyula
Gyula
Coordinates: 46°39′N 21°17′E / 46.650°N 21.283°E / 46.650; 21.283
Country Hungary
CountyBékés
DistrictGyula
Area
 • Total
255.8 km2 (98.8 sq mi)
Population
 (2017)
 • Total
30,004[1]
Demonymgyulai
Population by ethnicity
[2]
 • Hungarians83.4%
 • Romanians3.1%
 • Germans3.1%
 • Gypsies0.3%
 • Slovaks0.3%
 • Others0.8%
Population by religion
[2]
 • Roman Catholic18.4%
 • Greek Catholic0.4%
 • Calvinists17.9%
 • Lutherans1.6%
 • Other4.5%
 • Non-religious28.2%
 • Unknown29.0%
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
5700, 5711
Area code(+36) 66
Websitegyula.hu
Downtown of Gyula
Siege of Gyula 1566
Trilingual (Hungarian, Romanian, German) table in Gyula (meaning "social health insurance")
Birth house of Ferenc Erkel, the composer of the Hungarian national anthem
Roman Catholic chapel in Gyula

Gyula (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈɟulɒ] ⓘ; German: Jula; Romanian: Jula or Giula) is a town in Békés County, Hungary. The town is best known for its medieval castle and a thermal bath. Ferenc Erkel, the composer of the Hungarian national anthem, and Albrecht Dürer the Elder, the father of Albrecht Dürer, were also born in Gyula.[3]

Name

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Gyula is named after the medieval Hungarian warlord Gyula III.[3] Gyula was also a title among the Hungarian tribes and still a common male given name.

In Romanian, the town is known as Jula or Giula, in German as Jula and in Turkish as Göle.

Geography

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Gyula is located in the Great Hungarian Plain on the River Fehér-Körös, 235 km (146 mi) southeast from Budapest and 5 km (3 mi) from the border with Romania. The (Szeged-)Békéscsaba-Gyula-Kötegyán railway line and Highway 44 also cross the town. Highway 44 is a four-lane expressway between Gyula and the county seat Békéscsaba.[4]

History

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The first recorded reference to Gyula was in a document dated 1313 which mentions a monastery called Gyulamonostora (Julamonustra in Latin). By 1332 the settlement around the monastery was called Gyula. The construction of Gyula Castle began in the 14th century but finished only in the mid-16th century.[3] It was the property of the Maróthy family and later John Corvinus, the illegitimate son of Matthias Corvinus.[3]

In the beginning of July 1566, an Ottoman army of 27,000–30,000 men led by Pertev Mehmed Pasha [tr] surrounded the 2,000-strong Gyula castle and laid siege to it. The city defenders surrendered after 59–63 days of siege. No other castle in 16th-century Hungary could hold the besieging Ottoman army for such a long time. Despite securing a deal, the defenders who withdrew on 2 September were looted and many of them were slaughtered by the Janissaries. Castle captain László Kerecsényi [hu] was also captured and taken to Belgrade, where he was executed in 1567.

From 1566, the town became part of Ottoman Hungary. During Ottoman rule, it was known as Göle and was an important sanjak in the centre of the Temeşvar Eyalet.

At the end of 1693, Gyula remained the only stronghold of the Ottomans north of the Maros river. In 1694, several Turkish letters sent from the castle were intercepted by the imperial troops, in which they requested the delivery of food from the Turkish army stationed in Temesvár. The Turkish military leadership was unable to deliver food to Gyula. In mid-December 1694, the Turkish castle commander indicated his intention to capitulate. On 21 December, a contract was signed on the surrender of the castle and the free retreat of the guard and the population. Gyula's Turkish guard left the castle on 18 January 1695, and after 129 years, the city was liberated by Christian troops.[3]

Due to the wars, most of the native Hungarian population fled from Gyula and Békés County became near uninhabited.[5] The landowner János Harruckern invited German, Hungarian, and Romanian settlers, who re-established the town in the early 18th century.[3] In 1881, the town had 18,046 inhabitants, of which 12,103 were Hungarians, 2,608 Romanians, 2,124 Germans, 400 Slovaks and 811 of other ethnicities.[6] Gyula became a popular tourist destination in the 20th century. The thermal bath was established in 1942 and expanded in 1959, and the castle was restored in 1962.[3]

Demographics

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According to the 2011 census, the population of Gyula was 31,067, of whom there were 25,895 (83.4%) Hungarians, 974 (3.1%) Romanians, 971 (3.1%) Germans and 102 (0.3%) Romani by ethnicity. In Hungary, people can declare more than one ethnicity, so some people declared Hungarian and a minority one together.[7][8]

Gyula is the center of the small native Romanian community of Hungary.[9] It has its own newspaper published in Gyula, Foaia Românească ("The Romanian Sheet").[10] Gyula also has a school for its Romanian population, the Nicolae Bălcescu Romanian Gymnasium, Primary School and College,[11] as well as a Research Institute of the Romanians of Hungary seated in the town.[12] Furthermore, the Diocese of Gyula, the Romanian Orthodox diocese serving the Romanians in Hungary, is seated in Gyula. The town itself hosts two Romanian Orthodox churches,[13] the St. Nicholas Romanian Orthodox Cathedral [eo; pl; ro][14] and the St. Paraskeva Church.[15] There is also a consulate general of Romania in Gyula.[16]

In 2011 there were 5,726 (18.4%) Roman Catholic, 5,560 (17.9%) Hungarian Reformed (Calvinist), 606 (2.0%) Orthodox and 507 (1.6%) Lutheran in Gyula. 8,304 people (26.7%) were irreligious and 453 (1.5%) Atheist, while 9,012 people (29.0%) did not declare their religion.[7]

Tourist attractions

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  • Gyula Castle (Gyulai vár)
  • Thermal bath (Gyulai gyógyfürdő)
  • 100-year-old confectionery (100 éves cukrászda)
  • Town hall, 1861 (Városháza)
  • Birth house of Ferenc Erkel (Erkel Ferenc szülőháza)
  • Saint Michael Cathedral, 1825 (Szent Miklós katedrális)
  • Roman Catholic church, 1775-1777 (Római katolikus templom)
  • Roman Catholic chapel, 1738–1752, (Római katolikus kápolna)[3][4]

Politics

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The current mayor of Gyula is Dr. Ernő István Görgényi of the Fidesz-KDNP party.

The local Municipal Assembly has 14+1 members divided into this political parties and alliances:[17]

    Party Seats 2014 Council
  Fidesz-KDNP 10                    
  Gyulai Városbarátok Köre 2                    
  Movement for a Better Hungary (Jobbik) 1                    
  Unity (Együtt-PM-MSZP-DK) 1                    

Sport

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The Christián László Municipal Sports Complex is a municipal sports complex, consisting of 13 hectares of sports facilities, which includes the Himer Center field with an athletics track and a football pitch surrounded by a motorcycle speedway track. In addition, there are two more full size football pitches, tennis courts, basketball and skateboarding facilities.[18][19]

Notable people

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Born in Gyula

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Lived in Gyula

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Burials in Gyula

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Twin Towns - Sister Cities

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Gyula is twinned with:

References

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  1. ^ Gyula, KSH
  2. ^ a b KSH - Gyula, 2011
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Antal Papp: Magyarország (Hungary), Panoráma, Budapest, 1982, ISBN 963 243 241 X, p. 860, pp. 453-456
  4. ^ a b Magyarország autóatlasz, Dimap-Szarvas, Budapest, 2004, ISBN 963-03-7576-1
  5. ^ Károly Kocsis (DSc, University of Miskolc) – Zsolt Bottlik (PhD, Budapest University) – Patrik Tátrai: Etnikai térfolyamatok a Kárpát-medence határon túli régióiban, Magyar Tudományos Akadémia (Hungarian Academy of Sciences) – Földrajtudományi Kutatóintézet (Academy of Geographical Studies); Budapest; 2006.; ISBN 963-9545-10-4, CD Atlas
  6. ^ "Hungarian 1881 census" (in Hungarian). Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  7. ^ a b 2011 Hungarian census, Békés county
  8. ^ Hungarian census 2011 - final data and methodology
  9. ^ Bușu, Camelia (11 April 2023). "O carte despre românii din Ungaria Trianonică, lansată la Universitatea Oradea". Bihor Online (in Romanian).
  10. ^ Iova Șimon, Eva (2006). "Rolul presei în viața unei minorități. Perspectivă generală cu referire la evoluția în timp a săptămânalului "Foaia Românească"" (PDF). Studii de Știință și Cultură (in Romanian). 2 (5): 123–125.
  11. ^ Bălan, Titus (3 December 2019). "Liceul "Nicolae Bălcescu" din Gyula, Ungaria, 70 de ani de la înființare". Banatul Azi (in Romanian).
  12. ^ "Berényi Mária lesz a FITC díszvendége". Szabadság (in Hungarian). 3 September 2017.
  13. ^ Țăbârnă, Cezar (15 November 2008). "Istoria creștinismului (MCXXIV): Biserica Ortodoxă din Ungaria". Ziarul Lumina (in Romanian). Retrieved 28 October 2019.
  14. ^ Mere-Albe, Mihail (4 September 2019). "Parcul "Sfântul Nicolae" al Catedralei Românești din Gyula a fost inaugurat". Basilica News Agency (in Romanian).
  15. ^ "Sfințire la Biserica românească din Gyula Mică, Ungaria". Basilica News Agency (in Romanian). 11 June 2010.
  16. ^ "Ziua Europei sărbătorită la Gyula" (in Romanian). Agenția de presă RADOR. 18 May 2023.
  17. ^ "Gyula Város".
  18. ^ "id. Christián László Városi Sporttelep". Gyula Sport. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  19. ^ "Gyula, id. Christián László Városi Sporttelep". Magyar Futball. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  20. ^ "Barna Robi – Abszolút Magyar Bajnok". Body.Builder.hu – A Testépítő Hírportál (in Hungarian). Archived from the original on 2018-04-01. Retrieved February 3, 2021.

Further reading

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gyula.
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