Szuha is a village in

Nógrád County Nógrád (, ; ) is a counties of Hungary, county () of Hungary. It sits on the northern edge of Hungary and borders Slovakia. Description Nógrád county lies in northern Hungary. It shares borders with Slovakia and the Hungarian counties Pest ( ...

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 ...

, in the

Mátra The Mátra () is a mountain range in northern Hungary, between the towns Gyöngyös and Eger. The country's highest peak, Kékestető (1014 m), belongs to this mountain range. Formation Pre-volcanic formations The formation of the Mátra ...

mountain range, the bottom of the north side of the

Galya-tető Galya-tető () is the second highest mountain (altitude: 965 m) in Hungary and in the Mátra mountain range (after Kékes). Galya-tető is a resort place of the village of Mátraszentimre in Heves County. The territory of Galyatető have an own ...

peak, beside the Galya creek. As of 2022 census, it has a population of 550 (see Demographics). The village is located 3.4 km from (Nr. 84) Kisterenye–Kál-Kápolna railway line, 11.3 km from the main road 21 and 51.7 km from the M25 expressway. Although the

Mátramindszent Mátramindszent is a village in Nógrád County, Hungary, in the Mátra mountain range, at the bottom of the north side of the Galya-tető peak. The Mindszenti creek flows through the settlement. As of 2022 census, it has a population of 707 (see ...

railway station is the closest, but public transport on the railway line ceased on . The closest train station with public transport in

Bátonyterenye Bátonyterenye is a town in Nógrád County, Hungary, under the Mátra mountain range, beside of the Zagyva river. As of 2022 census, it has a population of 11,296 (see Demographics). The town located beside of the (Nr. 81) Hatvan–Fiľakovo ra ...

11.3 km away.

History

The settlement was first mentioned in writing in 1441 in the form ''Zoha'', what comes from the

Slavic Slavic, Slav or Slavonic may refer to: Peoples * Slavic peoples, an ethno-linguistic group living in Europe and Asia ** East Slavic peoples, eastern group of Slavic peoples ** South Slavic peoples, southern group of Slavic peoples ** West Slav ...

word ''suchá'' (dry). The settlement used to be located further north, but during the Ottoman rule, the population moved up into the forest. In the southeastern part of the village, on a 382 m high hill, there are the remains of a

rampart Rampart may refer to: * Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement Rampart may also refer to: * LAPD Rampart Division, a division of the Los Angeles Police Department ** Rampart scandal, a blanket ter ...

, but the castle is not mentioned in any documents. During the excavations, 12-14. century objects were found. The

Nativity of Mary The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Nativity of Mary, Marymas or the Birth of the Virgin Mary, refers to a Christian feast day celebrating the birth of Mary, mother of Jesus. The modern Biblical canon does not record Mary's birth. The ...

Church was rebuilt in

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

style in 1768. The

belfry The belfry /ˈbɛlfri/ is a structure enclosing bells for ringing as part of a building, usually as part of a bell tower or steeple. It can also refer to the entire tower or building, particularly in continental Europe for such a tower attached ...

was erected by the judge András Lajgut in 1868, which was renovated in 1907. The village's

folk museum A folk museum is a museum that deals with folk culture and heritage. Such museums cover local life in rural communities. A folk museum typically displays historical objects that were used as part of the people's everyday lives. Examples of such ...

was opened in September 2003, where the furniture related to the

Palóc The Palóc are a subgroup of Hungarians in Northern Hungary and southern Slovakia. While the Palóc have retained distinctive traditions, including a very divergent dialect of Hungarian, the Palóc are also ethnic Hungarians by general consensu ...

ethnic group, weaving and spinning tools that can be tried out. The resting place at the border of the village is the Gombás

fish pond A fish pond or fishpond is a controlled pond, small artificial lake or retention basin that is stocked with fish and is used in aquaculture for fish farming, for recreational fishing, or for ornamental purposes. Fish ponds are a classical g ...

. Szuha is located in a narrow valley, so it has only one street.
A glass huta was built south of the settlement at the foot of

in 1777, which was the joint property of the people of Szuha. The 4 families who settled here created Mátraalmás, originally called ''Szuhahuta''. The population was of mixed

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

and Slovak origin, they were engaged in glass and

potash Potash ( ) includes various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water- soluble form.

production, wood extraction and processing. After the closure of the glass huta in 1830, the

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

began to be fired and bricks were produced. They traded in wooden tools, agricultural implements and furnitures. A school operated in Szuhahuta in two halls between 1914 and 1972. Within the framework of the

Czechoslovak–Hungarian population exchange The Czechoslovak–Hungarian population exchange was the exchange of inhabitants between Czechoslovakia and Hungary after World War II. Between 45,000 and 120,000 Hungarians were forcibly transferred from Czechoslovakia to Hungary, and their propert ...

agreement, 70% of the Slovak population was displaced from Szuhahuta in 1947. The Dorogháza

coal mine Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

, located 8.3 km away, provided employment opportunities for the population from 1949. Szuhahuta was renamed ''Mátraalmás'' in 1962. The 4.5 km road connecting ''Mátraalmás'' with

is closed to car traffic and can only be used by bicycle or on foot.

Demographics

According the 2022 census, 93.2% of the population were of Hungarian ethnicity, 4.8% were Slovakian, 1.0% were

and 6.8% were did not wish to answer. The religious distribution was as follows: 51.5%

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 ...

, 2.4%

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 ...

, 0.6%

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 ...

, 11.0% non-denominational, and 32.3% did not wish to answer. The Slovakian have a local nationality government. 67 people live in Mátraalmás and 7 beside of the Gombás lake recreation area 5.8 and 4.3 km far from the village centre, these places are other inner areas. Another 13 people are living in 2 farms. Population by years:

Politics

''Mayors since 1990'': * 1990–1998: József Bata (independent) * 1998–2010: Mrs. Tibor Kun (independent) * 2010–: Zoltán István Tóth (

Fidesz–KDNP Fidesz–KDNP Party Alliance (), formerly also known as the Alliance of Hungarian Solidarity (), is a right-wing national conservative political alliance of two political parties in Hungary, the Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance (Fidesz) and ...

)

References

Populated places in Nógrád County {{Nograd-geo-stub