"My Hometown Kiskõrös in Hungary" a Kiskoros Travel Page by Sajt

</BR><a href="http://kiskoros.grunwald.hu">MORE INFORMATION ABOUT KISÕRÖS</a></BR></BR>

Kiskõrös is the sixth largest settlement in the Country of Bács-Kiskun, regarding its population. It is 110 km south of Budapest and 22 km east of the River Duna. It can easily be reached by road and rail. Main Road 53 goes throught it and provides connection whith the nearby border station. It is situated on the western edge of the sand range between the River Danube and the River Tisza. It is the largest sand region in Hungary. In the 1950 when drilling for oil, salty-iodous-brominous medicinal thermal water of 56 °C was found. The town has a continental climate and has a high number of hours of sunchine.

The average temperature is between 21 °C and 22 °C and in June between 1 °C and 2 °C below zero in January. The yearly average mean temperature is between 10 °C and 11 °C. The distribution of precipitation is unbalanced. There is a tendency for draught in summer and there is hardly any snow in winter. 2-3 km north of the town lies the nature reserve area of Szücsi Forest as part of the Kiskunság National Park. The previous bogwood of alder and elm trees has been replaced by oak, ash and elm trees, thus providing a pleasant environment for the town. In the south acacia and pine woods embrace the town as far as the Danube-Valley Main Canal.

The area is teeming with smaller animals. Mostly butterflyes catch the eye, but there are some valuable species of snakes and frog. Most of the birds of the registered 98 species are songbirds that coexist with birds of prey like kestrels, sparrow-hawks and hobbies. The flora includes 300 species, not counting the weeds. A special species of orchid blossoms here in April. But each season has its unique beauty in this wonderful world of plant kingdom. Kiskõrös should deserve more attention than it presently receives.

Relics of the very first human settlement in the area originate from the New Stone Age (6th millenium B.C.). Eleven graves of a cemetery in the Bronze Age were excavated in 1930. Celtic coins from the Late Iron Age (4th century B.C.) have also been found. At the end of the 1th cntury B.C. Romans conquered Pannonia. Jazigs and Sarmatians (Iranian mounted people) were settled here to protect the "limes", i.e. the border region.

In the graves of a Jazig-Sarmatian cemetery a necklace of pearls in gold setting and other rare polished jewellery were found. The furnaces, dishes, household goods, ploughs and animal bones prove that series of Sarmatian settlements existed in the region from the 4th to the 1th century B.C. They also had connections with roman provinces. Less items have been found from the Huns.

Nine Avar cemeteries have been dug so far. Their characteristic metal buckles with a griffin fitting are strikingly similar to those found in the Caucasus and along the River Volga. The most beautiful findings of all, a necklace of 5 oval almandine pendants in gold setting and 6 gold pendants were uncovered in a princes's grave.

There have been no findings so far from the Slavs and Bulgars living in the area: neither have there been any relics excavated from the conquering Hungarians. The name of Kiskõrös was probably first recorded in a charter from 1277 issued by the "Kuman" László IV. Peaceful life ended with the coming of the Turks in 1292 and Kiskõrös became a puszta. In 1702 documents show that the area was not fully uninhabited.

The resettlement of Kiskõrös was due to Wattay Family who were prominent personalities in the history of Hungary. The contact of the settlement is worth analyzing as it details the rights and duties of the 700 Lutheran Slovaks who came to life in Kiskõrös. It also cared about the woods and the natural environment. It was no surprise, therefore, that the number of inhabitants increased so rapidly that in 1785 there were 5000 people living in the village. The mostly Slovak population took the names of their home villages, e.g. Szonohradszki, Rakoncai, Csõvári.

As Kiskõrös prospered rapidly, Leopold II granted the rank of market town in 1785. Their life in the 18th century was determined by animal husbandry but gradually peasant commodity production developed. This entirely Slovak settlement loyally supported the cause of the Revolution of 1848-49 and did what any Hungarian would have done. After the surrender at Világos, many soldiers found refuge in Kiskõrös. The town was proud of its native, Sándor Petõfi, who grew up in a Slovak family, although he was to become one of the greathest Hungarian poets.

During the Bach autocracy prosperity ended and many people left to find work in Transdanubia. After the Compromise in 1867 development started. Railway lines were constructed, and trade and handicraft industry boomed. In 1867 it ceased to be a market town but became a district seat with a district court and an increasing number of offices, e.g. banks, cultural associations and other institutions. Kiskõrös had 13000 inhabitants at that time. most of its income came from vine and fruit production. In WWI 320 and in WWII 119 men from Kiskõrös were killed, Moreover, during the years of the Great Depression the economy of the village suffered greatly.

After WWII the traditional methods of viniculture could not easily be replaced by a large-scale farming method. By 1977, however, there was one great cooperative. In 1990 it was dissolved. Local industry was based on a mechanical, a telephone and a canning factory. In 1973 Kiskõrös became a town again. in the 1970s it began to develop rapidly and infrastructure, educational, healthcare and welfare institutions were buildt. After the social and economic changes a new political structure was set up. most of the privatized and production declined.