Tapolca (; ) is a town in
Veszprém County
Veszprém (, ; ) is an administrative county (''vármegye'') in Hungary. Veszprém is also the name of the capital city of Veszprém county.
Veszprém county
Veszprém county lies in western Hungary. It covers the Bakony hills and the norther ...
,
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 ...
, close to
Lake Balaton
Lake Balaton () is a freshwater rift lake in the Transdanubian region of Hungary. It is the List of largest lakes of Europe, largest lake in Central Europe, and one of the region's foremost tourist destinations. The Zala River provides the larges ...
. It is located at around .
The town has an outer
suburb
A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...
,
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
Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...
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 and one of the three most common naturally occurring crystal forms of calcium carbonate (), the others being calcite and vaterite. It is formed by biological and physical processes, including precipitation fr ...
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'' (known colloquially as the Eurasian minnow, minnow, Channel minnow, or common minnow) is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Leuciscidae, which includes the daces, minnows and related fishes. It i ...
(''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; it has symbol Rn and atomic number 86. It is a radioactive noble gas and is colorless and odorless. Of the three naturally occurring radon isotopes, only Rn has a sufficiently long half-life (3.825 days) for it to b ...
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, 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 Casting (metalworking), cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to ...
of Holy Trinity was erected in the middle of the square in 1757. Another masterpiece, the Little Princess, is located there too.
Population
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text:inhabitants of Tapolca
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 Hu ...
(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 or education to the reader, as well as the development of the literary techniques used in the communication of these pie ...
*
Pál Sümegi
Pál Sümegi (born 11 May 1960 in Tapolca) is a Hungarian geoarchaeologist at the University of Szeged.
Work
* ''The geohistory of Bátorliget Marshland : an example for the reconstruction of late Quaternary environmental changes and past h ...
(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''.
In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...
*
Gábor Boczkó (born 1977),
fencer
*
Vera Tóth (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 with:
*
Este, Italy
*
Lempäälä
Lempäälä () is a municipality in Finland, located in the Pirkanmaa region. It lies south of the regional capital, Tampere. The population of Lempäälä is approximately , while the Tampere metropolitan area, metropolitan area has a population ...
, Finland
*
Ružinov (Bratislava), Slovakia
*
Stadthagen, Germany
*
Sümeg, 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