Tapolca (; german: Toppoltz) is a town in
Veszprém County
Veszprém ( hu, Veszprém megye, ; german: Komitat Wesprim (Weißbrunn)) is an administrative county (''megye'') in Hungary. Veszprém is also the name of the capital city of Veszprém county.
Veszprém county
Veszprém county lies in western ...
,
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croa ...
, close to
Lake Balaton
Lake Balaton () is a freshwater lake in the Transdanubian region of Hungary. It is the largest lake in Central Europe, and one of the region's foremost tourist destinations. The Zala River provides the largest inflow of water to the lake, and ...
. It is located at around .
The town has an outer
suburb,
Tapolca-Diszel, approximately 5 km to the East.
Etymology
The origin of ''Tapolca'' is disputed, originating either from the
Hungarian ''Tapolcza'', meaning "high place", or from the
Slavic ''Toplica''/''Teplica'' meaning "hot springs". It was also known as ''Turul'' or ''Turultapolca'' at some points in the Middle Ages.
Notable sights
The Lake Cave
This 3 km long lake cave system is situated in the heart of the town. It was opened to the public in 1912, ten years after its discovery. Small boats can be hired to explore the cave system.
At 15–20 m below the town, a 5 km long cave system criss-crosses the Miocene limestone layers. This includes the 3.3 km long Lake Cave, which is mostly filled with
karst water. The cave was discovered in 1903 during well digging. Thanks to these explorations, round boat trips were made possible from 1937. Because of its special origin and unique formations, it was designated a protected area in 1942 and placed under strict protection in 1982.
The mixture of the cold karst water flowing there and the thermal water up-surging from the deep dissolves limestone. Initially narrow passages, then smaller and larger niches were formed. Over a very long period, these widened into spacious chambers and passages.
Dripstones have not developed in the cave, as several metre thick clay deposits prevents infiltration from the surface. Only calcareous formations (
cave corals and
aragonite
Aragonite is a carbonate mineral, one of the three most common naturally occurring crystal forms of calcium carbonate, (the other forms being the minerals calcite and vaterite). It is formed by biological and physical processes, including pre ...
crystals) occur at some places, having precipitated from the cave air. Bats cannot enter the closed spaces, so the largest vertebrate is a 10 cm long fish, the
Common minnow (''Phoxinus phoxinus'' L.), which probably swims in through the wet passages from the Malom-tó (Mill Pond). The cave air, with nearly 100% humidity, a high calcium content and a constant temperature of 20 °C, is used to cure respiratory diseases in the branches under the town hospital that are in close proximity with the cave. The
radon
Radon is a chemical element with the symbol Rn and atomic number 86. It is a radioactive, colourless, odourless, tasteless noble gas. It occurs naturally in minute quantities as an intermediate step in the normal radioactive decay chains through ...
content of the cave air is too low to have any effect on the visitors.
Mill Pond
A romantic part of the town is the Mill Pond (Malom-tó). The Upper Pond can be reached from the Main Square through a small backyard where the "Four Seasons", a sculpture by László Marton, is situated.
Garden of Ruins
The Church Hill is the medieval centre of Tapolca. The church was built in the 13th century in Roman style, during the 14th century it was finished as Gothic church. After the
Ottoman invasion
Ottoman is the Turkish spelling of the Arabic masculine given name Uthman ( ar, عُثْمان, ‘uthmān). It may refer to:
Governments and dynasties
* Ottoman Caliphate, an Islamic caliphate from 1517 to 1924
* Ottoman Empire, in existence fr ...
, it was rebuilt in Baroque style in 1756.
School Museum
The School Museum is located in the former cantor house. The greatest pedagogic collection of the
Transdanubian region can be found there.
Main Square
The former marketplace of the town, the Main Square, functioned as a trade centre from ancient times. The
statue
A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...
of Holy Trinity was erected in the middle of the square in 1757. Another masterpiece, the Little Princess, is located there too.
Notable inhabitants
*
János Batsányi
János Batsányi (9 May 1763 in Tapolca – 12 May 1845 in Linz) was a Hungarian poet.
In 1785, he published his first work, a patriotic poem, "The Valour of the Magyars". In the same year he obtained a job as clerk in the treasury of the Hung ...
(1763–1845), poet, philosopher
* József Cserhát, poet, writer, editor
* László Marton (1925–2008), sculptor
* József Csermák (1932–2001) athlete, (hammer-throwing gold medal 1952. Helsinki)
*
István Péter Németh (born 1960), poet,
literary historian
The history of literature is the historical development of writings in prose or poetry that attempt to provide entertainment, enlightenment, or instruction to the reader/listener/observer, as well as the development of the literary techniques ...
*
Pál Sümegi (born 1960),
associate professor
Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''.
Overview
In the '' North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is ...
*
Gábor Boczkó
Gábor Boczkó (born 1 April 1977) is a Hungarian fencer, who won a silver medal in the team Épée competition at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens together with Krisztián Kulcsár, Géza Imre and Iván Kovács.
Boczkó took up fencing afte ...
(born 1977),
fencer
*
Vera Tóth
Vera may refer to:
Names
* Vera (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name)
*Vera (given name), a given name (including a list of people and fictional characters with the name)
**Vera (), archbishop of the archdiocese of Tarr ...
(born 1985), singer, the winner of the Hungarian Megasztár 2004
*
Gabi Tóth (born 1988), singer, younger sister of Vera Tóth
Twin towns – sister cities
Tapolca is
twinned
Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to:
* In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so;
* Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning
* Twinning inst ...
with:
*
Este
Este may refer to:
Geography
* Este (woreda), a district in Ethiopia
* Este, Veneto, a town in Italy
* Este (Málaga), a district in Spain
* Este (river), a river in Germany
* Este (São Pedro), a parish in Portugal
* Este (São Mamede), a par ...
, Italy
*
Lempäälä
Lempäälä (; Swedish also ) is a municipality in the Pirkanmaa region of Finland with inhabitants (). Lempäälä is located south of the city of Tampere. The municipality covers an area of of which is water. The population density is .
The ...
, Finland
*
Ružinov (Bratislava), Slovakia
*
Stadthagen, Germany
*
Sümeg
Sümeg (german: Schimeck) is a town in Veszprém county, Hungary. Sümeg is mostly known for Sümeg Castle. It is north of Lake Balaton.
Twin towns – sister cities
Sümeg is twinned with:
* Aichtal, Germany
* Sovata, Romania
* Tapolca, Hunga ...
, Hungary
*
Zăbala, Romania
Gallery
File:R. k. templom (10451. számú műemlék) 4.jpg, Roman Catholic Church
File:Vízi malom együttes (10455. számú műemlék).jpg, The Lake Malom
File:Tapolca, Gabriella szálloda (-3282. számú műemlék) 6.jpg, The Watermill of Tapolca
File:Nagyboldogasszony Római Katolikus Általános Iskola DK, 2011 Tapolca.jpg, Parish house
File:Lake Cave,Tapolca 1.jpg, View of Lake Cave
References
External links
Tapolcai kirándulás képekkel– www.élet-mód.hu
Tapolca – Cave Lake
{{Authority control
Populated places in Veszprém County