Szentes () is a town in south-eastern

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 ...

Csongrád county Csongrád (; , archaically also ''Црноград/Crnograd,'' ) is a town in Csongrád County in southern Hungary. History At the time of the Hungarian Conquest (the end of 9th century) the Maros Valley was under Bulgarian control. The fortre ...

, near the

Tisza river The Tisza, Tysa or Tisa (see below) is one of the major rivers of Central and Eastern Europe. It was once called "the most Hungarian river" because it used to flow entirely within the Kingdom of Hungary. Today, it crosses several national bo ...

. The town is a cultural and educational center of the region. It is the third most populous town in Csongrad county after

Szeged Szeged ( , ; see also #Etymology, other alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat ...

and

Hódmezővásárhely Hódmezővásárhely (; also known by other alternative names) is a city with county rights in southeast Hungary, on the Great Hungarian Plain, at the meeting point of the Békés-Csanádi Ridge and the clay grassland surrounding the river Tisz ...

History

The area around Szentes has been inhabited since the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

. The Szegvár-tűzkövesi idol, one of the Neolithic period's only depictions of a male deity, was discovered in the area. During the

barbarian invasions The Migration Period ( 300 to 600 AD), also known as the Barbarian Invasions, was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories ...

, many

ethnic groups An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, rel ...

moved through the region, and there is archeological evidence of hundreds of graves belonging to

Iazyges The Iazyges () were an ancient Sarmatians, Sarmatian tribe that traveled westward in 200BC from Central Asia to the steppes of modern Ukraine. In , they moved into modern-day Hungary and Serbia near the Pannonian steppe between the Danube ...

Sarmatians The Sarmatians (; ; Latin: ) were a large confederation of Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Iranian Eurasian nomads, equestrian nomadic peoples who dominated the Pontic–Caspian steppe, Pontic steppe from about the 5th century BCE to the 4t ...

Gepids The Gepids (; ) were an East Germanic tribes, East Germanic tribe who lived in the area of modern Romania, Hungary, and Serbia, roughly between the Tisza, Sava, and Carpathian Mountains. They were said to share the religion and language of the G ...

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th centuries AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was par ...

, and Avars. According to certain accounts, the legendary camp of Atilla the Hun was found in this area, at the confluence of the

Tisza The Tisza, Tysa or Tisa (see below) is one of the major rivers of Central and Eastern Europe. It was once called "the most Hungarian river" because it used to flow entirely within the Kingdom of Hungary. Today, it crosses several national bo ...

and the

Körös The Körös () or Criș () ( German: ''Kreisch'') is a river in eastern Hungary and western Romania. Its length is from the confluence of its two source rivers Fehér-Körös ('' Crișul Alb'') and Fekete-Körös ('' Crișul Negru'') to its outf ...

rivers. The town was first documented about the land-division in 1332 and called "''Scenthus".'' It was said to be inhabited by descendants of the tribe of Ond, one of the seven tribes of Hungary, and it was also documented as containing a stone church dedicated to

Andrew the Apostle Andrew the Apostle ( ; ; ; ) was an apostle of Jesus. According to the New Testament, he was a fisherman and one of the Apostles in the New Testament, Twelve Apostles chosen by Jesus. The title First-Called () used by the Eastern Orthodox Chu ...

. According to local tradition, Csongrad castle stood on the town's boundaries until the time of the first Mongol invasion. Following the Hungary's defeat by Ottoman forces at the

battle of Mohács The Battle of Mohács (; , ) took place on 29 August 1526 near Mohács, in the Kingdom of Hungary. It was fought between the forces of Hungary, led by King Louis II of Hungary, Louis II, and the invading Ottoman Empire, commanded by Suleima ...

, taxes were levied from Szentes by three different powers, meaning those who were able to leave the area, fled. The region suffered immensely under Ottoman rule, and entire towns were wiped off the map. The region further suffered during the

Long Turkish War The Long Turkish War (, ), Long War (; , ), or Thirteen Years' War was an indecisive land war between the Holy Roman Empire (primarily the Habsburg monarchy) and the Ottoman Empire, primarily over the principalities of Wallachia, Transylvania, ...

, with more towns going extinct, and many of Szentes' inhabitants seeking refuge by dwelling in the nearby

wetlands A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

. In 1647, Ferdinand III was defeated by Ottoman forces outside Szentes, but the Ottoman forces had to withdraw from the region. In 1693, Szentes and the surrounding region was scorched and pillaged by

Crimean Tatars Crimean Tatars (), or simply Crimeans (), are an Eastern European Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group and nation indigenous to Crimea. Their ethnogenesis lasted thousands of years in Crimea and the northern regions along the coast of the Blac ...

looking for food following their failed attempt to capture Gyula. In 1709, the town suffered an outbreak of the Plague, killing over 1000 of its inhabitants. The townsfolk played an active role in 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 ...

, and it was visited by Kossuth Lajos himself to recruit troops. After the

Habsburgs The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

crushed the revolution, many young men were forcibly enlisted in the Imperial Army as punishment, and the mayor was sentenced to

hard labour Penal labour is a term for various kinds of forced labour that prisoners are required to perform, typically manual labour. The work may be light or hard, depending on the context. Forms of sentence involving penal labour have included inv ...

Notable people

* Árpád Balázs (born 1937), classical music composer * János Bácskai 1954. november 27, actor *

János Berkes János is a masculine Hungarian given name. It originates from the Hebrew name Johanan and is thus a variant of the English name John. People Notable people with the name include: * János Aczél (mathematician) (1924–2020), Hungarian-C ...

(born 1946 May 24) opera singer (tenor) * István Bugyi (1898–1981) surgeon - The local hospital named after him * Dóra Dúró (born 1987), politician *Jozsef Gera (born 1937) aircraft engineer, former chief of the Dynamics and Controls Branch at

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

* László Gyimesi (born 1948), pianist * Mihály Horváth (1809–1878), Roman Catholic bishop * Tamás Kecskés (born 1986), footballer * Zsolt Koncz (born 1977), footballer * László Márkus (1881–1948), drama author, director, member of the Hungarian Opera * András Mészáros (born 1941), former cyclist * Ibolya Nagy (1864–1946), actress * Lajos Őze (1935–1984), actor * László Papp (1905–1989), wrestler * István Szelei (born 1960), fencer * Lajos Szilassi (born 1942), mathematician * Konrád Verebélyi (born 1995), footballer * Zséda (born 1974), singer * László Terney (1947–1998) architect * László Ujréti (born 1942) actor, voice actor *Péter Szalay (born 1962), quantum chemist, theoretical chemist

Twin towns – sister cities

Szentes is twinned with: *

Bačka Topola Bačka Topola ( sr-Cyrl, Бачка Топола, ; , ) is a town and municipality located in the North Bačka District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The municipality is composed of 23 local communities and, according to the 202 ...

, Serbia *

Buñol Buñol is a town and municipality in the province of Valencia, Spain. The municipality has an area of some 112 km2, and is situated approximately 38 km west of the provincial and autonomous community capital city, Valencia. It lies alon ...

, Spain * Dumbrăvița, Romania * Hof Ashkelon, Israel *

Kaarina Kaarina (; , i.e. "Catherine of Alexandria, Saint Catherine's") is a town in Finland, located in the region of Southwest Finland. It lies south of the regional capital, Turku. The population of Kaarina is approximately , while the Turku sub-regi ...

, Finland * Markgröningen, Germany *

Sankt Augustin Sankt Augustin (; Ripuarian: ''Sank Aujustin'') is a town in the Rhein-Sieg district in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is named after the patron saint of the Steyler missionaries, Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430). The missionaries estab ...

, Germany * Sfântu Gheorghe, Romania *

Skierniewice Skierniewice () is a city in central Poland with 45,184 inhabitants (2023), situated in the Łódź Voivodeship. It is the capital of Skierniewice County. Through the town runs the small river Łupia, also called Skierniewka. Located in the hist ...

, Poland * Svätuše, Slovakia

Gallery

File:Szentes légifotó1.jpg File:Szentes légifotó2.jpg File:Szentes légifotó3.jpg

References

External links

* in Hungarian, English, German, and Serbian
Városi Visszhang - Szentes

Local Radio Station - Radio 451
Populated places in Csongrád-Csanád County {{Csongrad-geo-stub