Paks is a small town in

Tolna county Tolna (, ; ) is an administrative county (Comitatus (Kingdom of Hungary), comitatus or vármegye) in present-day Hungary as it was in the former Kingdom of Hungary. It lies in central Hungary, on the west bank of the river Danube. It shares borde ...

, in the south of

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 ...

, on the right bank of the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

River, 100 km south of

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. Paks as a former agricultural settlement is now the home of the only Hungarian

nuclear power plant A nuclear power plant (NPP), also known as a nuclear power station (NPS), nuclear generating station (NGS) or atomic power station (APS) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power st ...

, which provides about 40% of the country's electricity consumption.

History

The settlement was already inhabited in ancient times. It has played a role in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

times and during

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 ...

. The

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 ...

and the

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

churches were built in 1775 and 1884 respectively. In the 19th century, several mansions were built in the center of the old town, such as those in Szent István Tér, the main square of the town. The

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

three-isled,

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

style Sacred Heart church was consecrated in 1901. There is a tablet in the wall of the baroque Szeniczey mansion to commemorate Ferenc Deák, 'the Sage of the Country'. The Town Museum is housed in the former Cseh-Vigyázó mansion. A

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

gold hoard of jewelry was found between Paks and Dunaföldvár on the right bank of the

in the 19th century. The treasure is now in the collections of the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

. The Catholic Holy Spirit church, built according to the design of Imre Makovecz is considered to be an outstanding work of 20th-century architecture. There is a hundred-year-old

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Description ...

alley lining the walkway on the

Danube River The Danube ( ; see also other names) is the second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest south into the Black Sea. A large and historically important riv ...

bank. The town hosts the Spring Festival at Whitsuntide and the International Festival of Blues, Jazz, Rock and Gastronomy. In the final stages of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Soviet troops occupied the town at great cost in the Budapest Offensive. This was followed by four decades of communist rule. Meanwhile, it was famous for its cannery, wine and fish soup. The Paks Nuclear Power Plant was built in the town in the 1980s, the final decade of Soviet rule within the country.

Climate

Paks's climate is classified as

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Cfb'') closely bordering on a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(

''Cfa''). The annual average temperature is , the hottest month in July is , and the coldest month is in January. The annual precipitation is , of which July is the wettest with , while January is the driest with only . The extreme temperature throughout the year ranged from on 25 December 2001 to on 20 July 2007.

Sport

Paksi FC is a Hungarian football club based in Paks. Atomerőmű SE is a Hungarian basketball club based in Paks.

Twin towns – sister cities

Paks is twinned with: * Galanta, Slovakia * Gornji Vakuf-Uskoplje, Bosnia and Herzegovina *

Loviisa Loviisa (; ; formerly Degerby) is a town in Finland, located on the southern coast of the country. Loviisa is situated in the eastern part of the Uusimaa region. The population of Loviisa is approximately , while the Loviisa sub-region, sub-regi ...

, Finland * Novovoronezh, Russia * Reichertshofen, Germany * Târgu Secuiesc Romania *

Vyshkovo Vyshkovo (; ) is a Populated places in Ukraine#Rural settlements, rural settlement in Khust Raion, Zakarpattia Oblast, western Ukraine. It is first mentioned in the year 1281. The town's population was 8,142 as of the Ukrainian Census (2001), 20 ...

, Ukraine

References

External links