Tata, Hungary

Infobox Settlement
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = HUN
timezone=CET
utc_offset=+1
timezone_DST=CEST
utc_offset_DST=+2
pushpin_

pushpin_label_position =
pushpin_map_caption =Location of Tata, Hungary
pushpin_mapsize =

official_name = Tata

subdivision_type1=County
subdivision_name1=Komárom-Esztergom
area_total_km2=78.17
date=2001
population_total=24123|population_footnotes=
population_year| =
population_density_km2=309| postal_code_type=Postal code
postal_code=2890
area_code=34
latd = 47.38
longd = 18.18

Tata ( _la. Dotis) is a town in north-western Hungary, Komárom-Esztergom county, convert|9|km|mi|0|abbr=on northwest from county seat Tatabánya.

Location

Tata is located in the valley between the Gerecse and Vértes Mountains, some convert|70|km|mi|0|abbr=on from the capital. By the virtue of its location, the city is a railway and road junction. Motorway M1 (E60, E75) from Vienna to Budapest passes through the outer city limits, the railway line Budapest–Vienna go through the city.

Demographics

According to the 2001 census the town has 23,937 inhabitants: 93.3% Hungarians, 1.6% Germans, 0.6% Roma, 0.2% Slovakians and 6.5% other.

History

The area has been inhabited since prehistoric times; archaeological findings date back to 50,000 BCE. Later it was a Roman settlement.

Tata was first mentioned in 1221. Its castle was built by the Lackfi family and had its prime under Matthias I, who had it rebuilt in Renaissance style.

In 1526 when the disastrous battle with the Turks happened and Louis II died in the battlefield, Baron György Cseszneky was the chatelain of the Castle Tata. In the struggle for the throne of Hungary between Voivode John Zapolya and Archduke Ferdinand of Habsburg, he supported Ferdinand's claim. However, when Zápolya's commander Gáspár Ráskai laid siege to the Castle of Tata, Cseszneky unwillingly yielded to the superior force and handed the castle over.

During the Ottoman occupation the castle of Tata was an important fortress. It was captured in 1529 and had lots of different owners in the next decades until it was burnt down by the Habsburgs in retaliation for the Rákóczi revolution.

In 1727 Count József Esterházy bought Tata and the surrounding villages. The town prospered, in 1765 it already had a secondary school.

According to the article of the Pallas Lexicon about Tata in 1851 the town was a "pretty and developing village in the Tata district of Komárom comitatus; 895 buildings, 6925 mostly Hungarian residents (3633 Roman Catholics, 2518 Lutherans and 673 Israelites), centre of the district, with secondary school, railway station, post office. Tata and the adjoining village Tóváros (4257 residents) are built around a large lake, Tata on the hillside, Tóváros on the plain. Between them there is the Esterházy mansion and an old castle with archive and gallery incl. a painting of Leonardo da Vinci. The theatre was built in 1889. The mansion is surrounded by the beautiful English garden (140 hectares)."In 1938 the village Tóváros was annexed to the Tata which was renamed "Tatatóváros" for a short while; one year later it was named Tata again. It was granted town status in 1954.

Main sights

* Castle next to the "Öreg-tó" (Old Lake)
* The Esterházy Palace
* Heroes' Square with World War I monument and synagogue
* Kossuth square with town hall
* The parish church of Tata
* The Capuchin church
* Calvary Hill
* Lookout tower
* Water mills
* Belfry
* The English Park
* False ruins
* Fényes Bath

Twin towns

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External links

* [http://www.tata.hu Official website]
* [http://www.erasmuspc.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=188&Itemid=83 LoveLocks in Tata]