Tata, Hungary

Tata
Coat of arms
Tata Location of Tata in Hungary
Coordinates: 47.6526°N 18.3238°E / 47.6526; 18.3238
Country	Hungary
County	Komárom-Esztergom
Government
• Mayor	József Michl (Fidesz-KDNP)
Area
• Total	78.17 km2 (30.18 sq mi)
Population (2015)
��� Total	23,613
• Density	309/km2 (800/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	2890
Area code(s)	34

Aerialphotography of the fortress

Esterházy palace

Belfry of Tata

Tata (German: Totis), (Latin: Dotis) is a town in Komárom-Esztergom county, northwestern Hungary, 9 km (6 mi) northwest of the county town Tatabánya.

Location

Tata is located in the valley between the Gerecse Mountains and Vértes Mountains, some 70 km (43 mi) from Budapest, the Hungarian capital city. By virtue of its location, it is a railway and road junction. Motorway M1 (E60, E75) from Vienna to Budapest passes through the outer city limits, and the railway line Budapest–Vienna goes 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% Slovaks 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.

The first known mention of Tata is from 1221. Its castle was built by the Lackfi family and had its prime under Matthias Corvinus, who had it rebuilt in a Renaissance style.

In 1526 when the disastrous battle with the Turks happened and Louis II died in the battlefield, Count György Cseszneky was the castellan of the Castle Tata. The plundering Ottoman army ransacked the area, but Cseszneky successfully defended the castle.

During the Ottoman occupation, the castle of Tata was an important fortress. It was captured in 1543 by the Turks. During this period the castle had many different owners until it was burned down by the Habsburgs in retaliation for the Rákóczi's War of Independence.

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 in 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 including 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 of Tóváros was annexed to 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

Notable people

See also: Category:People from Tata, Hungary

• Móric Fischer de Farkasházy (1799–1880), porcelain-manufacturer, one of the founders of the Herend Porcelain manufactory in 1839
• Csilla Földi (born 1968), retired weightlifter
• Lívia Járóka (born 1974), politician (Fidesz), first Romani woman to be elected to the European Parliament
• Dávid Korányi, political adviser
• Dóra Lőwy (born 1977), former team handball player and Olympic medalist
• Joci Pápai (born 1981), singer, representative for Hungary at the Eurovision Song Contest 2017
• Zsófia Tóth (born 1989), triathlete
• Slavko Wolf (1862–1936), Croatian lawyer, chess player and writer.

Twin towns — Sister cities

Main article: List of twin towns and sister cities in Hungary

Tata, Hungary is twinned with:

• Alkmaar, Netherlands, since 1985
• Gerlingen, Germany, since 1987
• Dammarie-lès-Lys, France, since 1993
• Arenzano, Italy, since 1994
• Svodín, Slovakia, since 1997
• Montebelluna, Italy, since 2000
• Sovata, Romania, since 2002
• Pińczów, Poland, since 2004

Notes

• Neal Bedford and Lisa Dunford. Lonely Planet, 2009, p. 159-162.

External links

• Media related to Tata at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website
• Tata photo gallery
• Tata at funiq.hu