Kál is a large village in

Heves County Heves county (, ) lies in northern Hungary, between the right bank of the river Tisza and the Mátra and Bükk mountains. It shares borders with the Hungarian counties Pest (county), Pest, Nógrád (county), Nógrád, Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén and ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. As of 2022 census, it has a population of 3,392. (see Demographics) In the middle of the village located the "Kál-Kápolna" railway station on the (Nr. 80) Hatvan–Miskolc railway line, what is 3 km far from the M3 motorway and 3 km far from the main road 3.

History

Kál was already an inhabited settlement before the

Hungarian conquest The Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin, also known as the Hungarian conquest or the Hungarian land-taking (), was a series of historical events ending with the settlement of the Hungarians in Central Europe in the late 9th and early 10t ...

. This is proven by the Scythian graves found during archaeological research. The first documented mention of the village dates from 1331. On June 25 in 1603, the Chapter of

Eger Eger ( , ; ; also known by other #Names and etymology, alternative names) is the county seat of Heves County, and the second largest city in Northern Hungary (after Miskolc). A city with county rights, Eger is best known for Castle of Eger, its ...

ceremoniously installed Kál in the

Ónod Ónod is a village in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County in northeastern Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to th ...

castle as part of the accessories of the Ónod and Debrő castles. By this time, the population of the village had decreased again, presumably during the battles related to the Siege of Eger Castle in 1596 and its capture by the Ottomans. In 1597 only twelve serfs lived there. The 1701 census reports that the village was inhabited by six hereditary serfs and five immigrants, the latter of whom came here from Bod, Alatka, Nagyút, and Tófalu. During the

Rákóczi's War of Independence Rákóczi's War of Independence (1703–1711) was the first significant attempt to topple the rule of the Habsburgs over Royal Hungary, Hungary. The war was conducted by a group of noblemen, wealthy and high-ranking progressives and was led by F ...

, Kál was destroyed twice. At the end of 1706, one or two newcomers settled again. In 1741, the estate of Debrő was transferred to Count Antal Grassalkovich, who issued the settlement contract for the settlement of the Kál wasteland with serfs. The

Josephinian Land Survey The Josephinian Land Survey () was the first comprehensive land survey and mapping of the Habsburg Empire. The survey was ordered by Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa after Austria's defeat in the Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 ...

can be considered one of the most important wellheads of Kál in the 18th century. The

Hungarian Revolution of 1848 The Hungarian Revolution of 1848, also known in Hungary as Hungarian Revolution and War of Independence of 1848–1849 () was one of many Revolutions of 1848, European Revolutions of 1848 and was closely linked to other revolutions of 1848 in ...

also had a great impact on the people of Kál. The

Battle of Kápolna A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and forc ...

fought on February 26-27, 1849, also extended to this village. In 1896, there was a national agricultural census in Hungary, from the material of which it emerges that there were 514 farms in the territory of the settlement.

Demographics

According the 2022 census, 88.4% of the population were of Hungarian ethnicity, 4.3% were

Gypsies {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , ...

, and 11.6% were did not wish to answer. The religious distribution was as follows: 33.8%

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, 1.9%

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

, 16.7% non-denominational, and 43.5% did not wish to answer. The

have a local nationality government. 3378 inhabitants live in the village and 45 in farms. Population by years:

Politics

''Mayors since 1990'': * 1990–2010: Vilmos Tompa (independent) * 2010–: János Morvai (independent)

References

External links

Populated places in Heves County {{Heves-geo-stub