Somogy county

Somogy county lies in south-western Hungary, on the border with Croatia. It stretches between the river Drave and the southern shore of Lake Balaton. It shares borders with the Hungarian counties Zala, Veszprém, Fejér, Tolna and Baranya. It is the most sparsely populated county in Hungary. The capital of Somogy county is Kaposvár. Its area is 6036 km2.

History

Somogy was the name of a historic administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory, which was slightly larger than that of present Somogy county, is presently in south-western Hungary. The capital of the county was Kaposvár.

Somogy county arose as one of the first comitatus of the Kingdom of Hungary, in the 11th century. The city Siófok, which used to be in Somogy county before the 1850s, went back from Veszprém county to Somogy county before World War II. After World War II the district of Szigetvár went to Baranya county.

According to legend, Kaposvár was founded on seven hills like Rome. The area had been inhabited already 5000 years BCE. Around 400 BCE Celtic tribes inhabited the area. In 1749 Kaposvár became the county seat. During the 1800s the city developed considerably, due to the importance of the railway line between Budapest and Zagreb. Kaposvár became an important industrial city.

Geography

Somogy county shared borders with the Hungarian counties Zala, Veszprém, Tolna, Baranya, Verőce and Belovár-Körös (the latter two part of Croatia-Slavonia).

It covered the southern shore of Lake Balaton and the region south of the lake. The river Drave formed most of its southern border. Its area was 6530 km2 around 1910.

Towns (ordered by population)

Kaposvár - county seat (67 954), Siófok (23 460) Balatonlelle (5002) Marcali (12 575) Tab (4914) Barcs (12 343) Nagybajom (3598) Nagyatád (12 065) Lengyeltóti (3443) Balatonboglár (6076) Kadarkút (2791) Csurgó (5788) Balatonföldvár (2108) Fonyód (5296)

Villages

See settlements

Tourist sights

• Kaposvár Town Hall
• Rippl-Rónai Museum
• Csiky Gergely Theatre
• Dorottya house (18th century)
• Vaszary Gallery (former Gallery of Somogy)
• St. Donat Chapel (Baroque, early 18th century)
• Ruins of Benedictine Monastery of Kaposszentjakab (Romanesque and Gothic)

Wikipedia