Town in Komarom-Esztergom, Hungary
Oroszlany
(
German
:
Ohreslahn
) is a city in
Hungary
,
Komarom-Esztergom
county,
Central Transdanubia
region, located on the north-west flanks of the
Vertes Mountains
. The city has a population of 20.487. The main tourist attraction of the town is the 18th-century
Camaldolese
monastery of
Majk
.
Etymology
[
edit
]
![[icon]](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg/20px-Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg.png) | This section
needs expansion
. You can help by
adding to it
.
(
April 2013
)
|
The town derives its name from the lion (
Hungarian
:
oroszlan
) on the coat of arms of the
Csak
family that founded it.
History
[
edit
]
There was a settlement in
Kornye
near the town already during the Roman era (Quirinum), but there are also traces from even earlier from the
Avar
people whose presence is attested by the cemetery remains found in 1957 and 1973.
Its first mention is from 1383 when the name
Oroszlankew
(modern Hungarian:
oroszlank?
meaning lion/lion's stone) appears and then it is mentioned in a 15th-century deed as
Possesio Orozlankew
of the Csak family.
In 1536 the "Castle of Oroszlank?" is mentioned and then it is not mentioned any more among the populated settlements during the time of Turkish occupation. What is certain is that the Turks set to fire the castles of
Tata
, Gesztes and Vitany in their 1543 campaign so the castle of Oroszlank? may also have shared their fate.
In the second half of the 16th and in the 17th century the castle and its surroundings are totally uninhabited that is the contemporary name
Pusztaoroszlank?
(=barren lion's stone). The area was repopulated by the then lords of the area, the
Esterhazys
who settled Slovaks from the Pozsony (today Bratislava), Nitra and Trencin counties to the empty land. At this time, the ruins of the castle were still there but they were carried away piece by piece for building houses.
After the fall of the
Rakoczi's War for Independence
, the lord of the land, Antal Esterhazy followed his ruler to exile so his land fell in the hands of the Jozsef Esterhazy, who was loyal to the Habsburg court. At this time there were only 20 peasant families which increased to 598 living in about 200 houses by the 1820s.
After the revolutions in 1848?49, despite the abolishing serfdom the peasants had to continue to work for and serve the nearby estate of the Esterhazys. Due to the dire circumstances hundreds of people migrated from the region which was deteriorated by the following World Wars.
During the communist era, the emphasis shifted towards the coalfields surrounding the town (the traces of mineral charcoal had already been discovered at the beginning of the 20th century). As a result of rapid industrialization, the city status was awarded in 1954 and the area of Oroszlany became one of the most important coal mining regions of the country. However it came to an end, all the mines have been closed down with the exception of the only running Markushegy coal mine in
Pusztavam
.
On January 29, 2011 a moderate earthquake struck only a few km from Oroszlany. 26 damage cases have been reported. It was essentially light damage like cracks in walls and fallen chimneys. The earthquake had a magnitude of 4.3 at a shallow focal depth of 5 km. The epicenter of the earthquake was located in Vertessomlo, a few km from Oroszlany. The earthquake was well felt in Budapest.
Attractions in the area
[
edit
]
- Majk
- Vertesszentkereszt Abbley
- Gerencser Castle
- Vitany Castle
- Gesztesi Castle
- Oroszlank? Castle
Sport
[
edit
]
Twin towns ? sister cities
[
edit
]
Oroszlany is
twinned
with:
[1]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Oroszlany
.
|
|---|
| City with county rights
| | |
|---|
| Towns
| |
|---|
| Large villages
| |
|---|
| Villages
| |
|---|
| Other topics
| |
|---|
47°29′N
18°19′E
/
47.483°N 18.317°E
/
47.483; 18.317