Cegléd
Encyclopedia
Cegléd is a city
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...

 in Pest county, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

, approximately 70 km (43 mi) southeast of the Hungarian capital, Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...

.

Name

There are discussions going on about the origin of the name of the town. One version says that the name has its origins in the word "szeglet" (meaning "corner") because of its being a junction point of many important routes, while another one argues that the name is originated from a proper name
Noun
In linguistics, a noun is a member of a large, open lexical category whose members can occur as the main word in the subject of a clause, the object of a verb, or the object of a preposition .Lexical categories are defined in terms of how their members combine with other kinds of...

, i. e. from the name of a man called "Cegléd" or close to it.
Nevertheless, the most possible explanation may be the one according to which the name of the town takes its origins from the word "cigle", which was the ancient name of a rivercoast willow
Willow
Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...

.

History

Its area has been inhabited since the Copper Age
Copper Age
The Chalcolithic |stone]]") period or Copper Age, also known as the Eneolithic/Æneolithic , is a phase of the Bronze Age in which the addition of tin to copper to form bronze during smelting remained yet unknown by the metallurgists of the times...

. It was first mentioned in 1290 in a decree by Ladislaus IV of Hungary. The town prospered under the Árpád dynasty
Árpád dynasty
The Árpáds or Arpads was the ruling dynasty of the federation of the Hungarian tribes and of the Kingdom of Hungary . The dynasty was named after Grand Prince Árpád who was the head of the tribal federation when the Magyars occupied the Carpathian Basin, circa 895...

 until the 13th century Mongol
Mongols
Mongols ) are a Central-East Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in the countries of Mongolia, China, and Russia. In China, ethnic Mongols can be found mainly in the central north region of China such as Inner Mongolia...

 invasion of Hungary left it in ruins.

It was reinhabitated later, and on May 8, 1364 Louis I of Hungary relieved the town from paying customs
Customs
Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting and safeguarding customs duties and for controlling the flow of goods including animals, transports, personal effects and hazardous items in and out of a country...

. The king gave the town to his queen, Elisabeth, who ceded it to the Clarissa-sisters.

During the 1514 György Dózsa
György Dózsa
György Dózsa was a Székely Hungarian man-at-arms from Transylvania, Kingdom of Hungary who led a peasants' revolt against the kingdom's landed nobility...

 peasant uprising, Cegléd was a very important hive for rebellions, and one of the biggest supporters of them. After the catastrophe of Mohács (1526) Cegléd came under the reign of Bálint Török of Enying. The reformation rapidly spread through the town, and the Calvinists owned the old temple of the Clarissa-sisters till 1687, when the Turks were forced out.

At the beginning of the 18th century, Cegléd supported the fight for freedom led by Ferenc Rákóczi
Francis II Rákóczi
Francis II Rákóczi Hungarian aristocrat, he was the leader of the Hungarian uprising against the Habsburgs in 1703-11 as the prince of the Estates Confederated for Liberty of the Kingdom of Hungary. He was also Prince of Transylvania, an Imperial Prince, and a member of the Order of the Golden...

, although inhabitants were several times forced by Habsburg troops to flee.

After the Treat of Tolerance, they were allowed to construct a church for themselves and the reformed community. This church was doomed by the Great 1834 Fire. By the next year a new construction was started under the plans of József Hild. The church was finished at 1870, and became the symbol of the town.

The other symbol of Cegléd is Lajos Kossuth. During his 1848 conscription tour, he told his famous speech in the Market Place
Market square
The market square is a feature of many European and colonial towns. It is an open area where market stalls are traditionally set out for trading, commonly on one particular day of the week known as market day....

 of Cegléd. By his words more than 5000 men joined his army for the victory. Later Kossuth's son, Ferenc Kossuth became the deputy of Cegléd in the Hungarian parliament. During the 1848-1849 war of independence
Revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas
From March 1848 through July 1849, the Habsburg Austrian Empire was threatened by revolutionary movements. Much of the revolutionary activity was of a nationalist character: the empire, ruled from Vienna, included Austrian Germans, Hungarians, Slovenes, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Ruthenians,...

, one battle passed next to Cegléd, in Bede (today one of the outskirts of the town), when the revolutionary troops of Mór Perczel
Mór Perczel
Sir Mór Perczel de Bonyhád , was a Hungarian landholder, general, and one of the leaders of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848.- Life before 1848 :...

 defeated the Habsburgs, led by Ottinger. In July 1849, due to the political situation, Cegléd was the seat of the Hungarian revolutionary government for a week.

The golden age of the town were the last years of the 19th and the first ones of the 20th century. The town went through a quick urbanisation, got a secondary school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

 and many important public facilities were built. Cegléd also saw the organisation of the first-ever Hungarian collective farm in 1902 (based on free will
Free will
"To make my own decisions whether I am successful or not due to uncontrollable forces" -Troy MorrisonA pragmatic definition of free willFree will is the ability of agents to make choices free from certain kinds of constraints. The existence of free will and its exact nature and definition have long...

 back then).

In the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 the Cegléd train station
Train station
A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...

 was bombed by allied troops
Allies
In everyday English usage, allies are people, groups, or nations that have joined together in an association for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out between them...

, which caused severe damages to the town. However, parks and streets were fairly quickly rebuilt, thanks to the inhabitants.

During the 1956 revolution, for a couple of days Cegléd was governed by revolutionary forces, organised mainly by pupils of the local Kossuth Lajos Secondary School.

During the socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...

 regime, agriculture and light industry
Light industry
Light industry is usually less capital intensive than heavy industry, and is more consumer-oriented than business-oriented...

 were made priorities, and after the fall of the regime, these features started to decline, and many of the inhabitants moved to bigger towns. Today, however, the town seems to have refound itself on the base of tourism and its thermal
Thermal
A thermal column is a column of rising air in the lower altitudes of the Earth's atmosphere. Thermals are created by the uneven heating of the Earth's surface from solar radiation, and are an example of convection. The sun warms the ground, which in turn warms the air directly above it...

 water.

Geography

Cegléd is situated between the Duna and Tisza rivers, north of Kiskunság, at the western part of the Great Hungarian Plain
Great Hungarian Plain
The Great Hungarian Plain is a plain occupying the southern and eastern part of Hungary, some parts of the Eastern Slovak Lowland, southwestern Ukraine, the Transcarpathian Lowland , western Romania , northern Serbia , and eastern Croatia...

. Due to its location, it is often called "the gate of the Great Plain". A shoulder of the Gödöllő
Gödöllo
Gödöllő is a town situated in Pest county, Budapest metropolitan area, Hungary, about northeast from the outskirts of Budapest. Its population is about 31,000 according to the 2001 census. It can be easily reached from Budapest with the suburban railway . Gödöllő is home to the Szent István...

 hills runs along the western part of the town.

The Gerje stream crosses the southern part of Cegléd.

The town is surrounded by farmland, and some of the finest agricultural land in Hungary can be found in this area.

Features and places of interest

The land is known for producing yellow peppers that are particularly rich in flavor.

One of the other famous features of Cegléd is its richness in thermal
Thermal
A thermal column is a column of rising air in the lower altitudes of the Earth's atmosphere. Thermals are created by the uneven heating of the Earth's surface from solar radiation, and are an example of convection. The sun warms the ground, which in turn warms the air directly above it...

 water. At the outskirts of the town, there is a newly built thermal spa
Thermal bath
A thermal bath is a warm body of water. It is often referred to as a spa, which is traditionally used to mean a place where the water is believed to have special health-giving properties, though note that many spas offer cold water or mineral water treatments.A thermal bath may be part of a...

, featuring also an aqua park, a hotel and a camping place. Best Western Hotel Aquarell Cegled is located near the city’s Thermal Bath and Aquapark.

Cegléd has also the biggest Calvinist
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...

 church in Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...

. Although disputes have been going on whether the Debrecen
Debrecen
Debrecen , is the second largest city in Hungary after Budapest. Debrecen is the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar county.- Name :...

 one is bigger, the Cegléd church seems to be the bigger one, regarding its volume.

In the downtown, at Szabadság tér (Liberty Square) stands a statue of Lajos Kossuth
Lajos Kossuth
Lajos Kossuth de Udvard et Kossuthfalva was a Hungarian lawyer, journalist, politician and Regent-President of Hungary in 1849. He was widely honored during his lifetime, including in the United Kingdom and the United States, as a freedom fighter and bellwether of democracy in Europe.-Family:Lajos...

, the replica of which can be found in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. At the same square, there is the Museum of Drums, Cegléd being a town with vivid jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 life, featuring also the annual Drum and Percussion Gala, that attracts interest from all over Hungary and even from abroad.

The memory of Lajos Kossuth is also conserved by the Kossuth Museum, as well as the so-called Kossuth's Balcony - that is the balcony of the former Green Tree hotel in Bratislava
Bratislava
Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...

, where Kossuth made a famous speech from, and which is today standing next to the Calvinist church of Cegléd.

The city hall is constructed in an eclectic
Eclecticism in art
Eclecticism is a kind of mixed style in the fine arts: "the borrowing of a variety of styles from different sources and combining them" . Significantly, Eclecticism hardly ever constituted a specific style in art: it is characterized by the fact that it was not a particular style...

 style, reflecting the taste of the early 20th century.

The Lutheran church is built in neogothic style, while the Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

 (Church of the Blessing of the Holy Cross) is a classicist one.

Cegléd has five secondary schools:
József Bem
Józef Bem
Józef Zachariasz Bem was a Polish general, an Ottoman Pasha and a national hero of Poland and Hungary, and a figure intertwined with other European nationalisms...

 Polytechnic Vocational High School,
László Ungvári High School of Commerce and Tourism,
Lajos Kossuth
Lajos Kossuth
Lajos Kossuth de Udvard et Kossuthfalva was a Hungarian lawyer, journalist, politician and Regent-President of Hungary in 1849. He was widely honored during his lifetime, including in the United Kingdom and the United States, as a freedom fighter and bellwether of democracy in Europe.-Family:Lajos...

 Secondary Grammar School,
János Török Vocational High School of Health Care
Health care
Health care is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans. Health care is delivered by practitioners in medicine, chiropractic, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, allied health, and other care providers...

 and Agriculture, and
Cegléd High School of Informatics and Economics

As well as the Ferenc Erkel conservatory.

Cultural life and local media

Cegléd has a community cultural centre called Cultural Palace or Kossuth Community Centre
Community centre
Community centres or community centers or jumping recreation centers are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole community or for a specialised group within...

, originally built by the Cegléd Craftsmen's Union in eclectic style
Eclecticism in art
Eclecticism is a kind of mixed style in the fine arts: "the borrowing of a variety of styles from different sources and combining them" . Significantly, Eclecticism hardly ever constituted a specific style in art: it is characterized by the fact that it was not a particular style...

. The centre has a theater, where many acting companies have played. Cegléd also has its own acting company and acting school named after the famous actress Irma Patkós
Irma Patkós
Irma Patkós was a Hungarian film actress. She appeared in 40 films between 1957 and 1994.-Selected filmography:* A Strange Role * My Father's Happy Years * Cserepek...

, who lived in Cegléd. The centre gives place to the Cegléd Gallery, where mainly photos and paintings of local artists can be seen.

The town features the annual Drum and Percussion Gala, which is a jazz event, as well as numerous jazz concerts throughout every year.

Members of the popular Hungarian rock
Hungarian rock
Hungarian rock has been a part of the popular music of Hungary since the early 1960s. The first major bands were Illés, Metró and Omega. At the time, rock was not approved of by the Hungarian Communist authorities. In the 1970s, the Communists cracked down on rock, and Illés was banned from...

 band Zanzibár are from Cegléd. Therefore, the band is very popular among locals.

The musical life of the town is also made colourful by the Ferenc Erkel conservatory and the Mihály Táncsics
Mihály Táncsics
Táncsics Mihály was a Hungarian writer, journalist and politician.Mihály Táncsics was born as a son of Croatian father and Slovak mother.- References :...

 Primary School
Primary education
A primary school is an institution in which children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as primary or elementary education. Primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth Nations, and in most publications of the United Nations Educational,...

, where the teaching of music and singing is done by the Kodály
Zoltán Kodály
Zoltán Kodály was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. He is best known internationally as the creator of the Kodály Method.-Life:Born in Kecskemét, Kodály learned to play the violin as a child....

-method.

The town has two local television
Television channel
A television channel is a physical or virtual channel over which a television station or television network is distributed. For example, in North America, "channel 2" refers to the broadcast or cable band of 54 to 60 MHz, with carrier frequencies of 55.25 MHz for NTSC analog video and...

 channels, Cegléd TV is backed by the local authority, while Club TV is a commercial one. There is also a popular local radio channel called "Rádió 88".

As for the printed media
Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...

, Cegléd has a weekly local paper called Kék Újság (Blue Newspaper), as well as a newly founded magazine, Ceglédi Panoráma (Panorama of Cegléd). A periodical cultural review also appears, under the name "Gerjepart" (Bank of the Gerje).

Transport

The main road number 4 passes Cegléd towards Budapest to the Northwest, and Debrecen to the East, while the road number 441 connects the town with Kecskemét
Kecskemét
Kecskemét is a city in the central part of Hungary. It is the 8th largest city of the country, and the county seat of Bács-Kiskun.Kecskemét lies halfway between the capital Budapest and the country's third-largest city, Szeged, 86 kilometres from both of them and almost equal distance from the two...

. The closest connection to a highway can be reached near Albertirsa
Albertirsa
Albertirsa is a town in Ceglédi kistérség, Pest megye, and the middle of the Great Hungarian Plain. Although it has got its town status in 2003, still has its village-scent that is so common for most of the inhabitations in the region.- History :Initially Albertirsa was two separate inhabitations:...

, some 15 km Northwest of Cegléd, where the highway M5 passes.

The town features a direct connection to Budapest via train, also being a junction point of the Nyíregyháza
Nyíregyháza
- Tourist sights :Nyíregyháza also has several museums and exhibitions, showing the city's rich cultural heritage.* Collection of the International Medallion Art and Small Sculpture Creative Community of Nyíregyháza-Sóstó – periodic exhibitions of works of contemporary artists-Twin towns — Sister...

 and Szeged
Szeged
' is the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county town of Csongrád county. The University of Szeged is one of the most distinguished universities in Hungary....

lines.

External links

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