Szekszárd (Hungarian:[ˈsɛksaːrd]ⓘ, formerly alsoSzegzárd;Croatian:Seksar;German:Sechshard orSechsard;Serbian:Сексард) is a small city in southernHungary and the capital ofTolna County. By population, Szekszárd is the smallest county capital in Hungary; by area, it is the second-smallest (afterTatabánya).
The Etymological Dictionary of Geographical Names, somewhat differently from the above, derives the name of the locality from the old Hungarian colour name szegszár (sötétsárga, brownish yellow), which could have become a personal name with the diminutive -d and thus could have been a predecessor of the town name.[1]
Town hallCity centreTrinity statue and the catholic church.Babits Memorial House
Szekszárd was first mentioned in 1015. TheBenedictine monastery of the town was founded by KingBéla I in 1061.
During the reign ofKing Matthias, Szekszárd was the estate of Bishop John, who was involved in a conspiracy against the king. Because of this, King Matthias ordered the castle of Szekszárd to be demolished.
In 1485, Szekszárd was already a significant town, holding five market days a year, but during theTurkish ascendancy of Hungary, the town became deserted and the monastery was destroyed.
By the 18th century, Szekszárd was again a significant town, it became a county seat (of Tolna), and got a coat of arms. The town was destroyed by a fire in 1794, but it could not stop the town's development. Most of the important buildings—including thetown hall, theCounty Hall and severalchurches—were built during the 19th century. By this time, Szekszárd already had 14,000 residents.
Mihály Babits, an important Hungarianpoet was born in Szekszárd in 1883.
In 1994, Szekszárd was granted the rank of city with county rights, in accordance with a new law stating that all county seats are cities with county rights. (Previously only cities with a population over 50,000 were granted county rights, and Szekszárd was one of only two county seats that had a smaller population than 50,000; the other wasSalgótarján).
Szekszárd lies on arailway lineRétszilas -Bátaszék and on a junction of main roads No. 6, 56, 63 and 65. MotorwaysM6 and M9 cross each other near the city. There also are local bus lines for city transportation operated by Volánbusz.
