Gyula, Hungary Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids

Gyula

Town

Gyula Castle

Flag	Coat of arms

Gyula, Hungary

Location in Békés County

Gyula, Hungary

Location in Hungary

Country

Hungary

County

Békés

District

Gyula

Area

• Total

255.8 km² (98.8 sq mi)

Population

(2017)

• Total

30,004

• Density

117.295/km² (303.79/sq mi)

Demonym(s)

gyulai

Population by ethnicity

• Hungarians

83.4%

• Romanians

3.1%

• Germans

3.1%

• Gypsies

0.3%

• Slovaks

0.3%

• Others

0.8%

Population by religion

• Roman Catholic

18.4%

• Greek Catholic

0.4%

• Calvinists

17.9%

• Lutherans

1.6%

• Other

4.5%

• Non-religious

28.2%

• Unknown

29.0%

Time zone

UTC+1 (CET)

• Summer (DST)

UTC+2 (CEST)

Postal code

5700, 5711

Area code

(+36) 66

Downtown of Gyula

Siege of Gyula 1566

Trilingual (Hungarian, Romanian, German) table in Gyula (meaning "social health insurance")

Birth house of Ferenc Erkel, the composer of the Hungarian national anthem

Roman Catholic chapel in Gyula

Gyula (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈɟulɒ]; German: Jula; Romanian: Jula or Giula) is a town in Békés County, Hungary. The town is best known for its medieval castle and a thermal bath. Ferenc Erkel, the composer of the Hungarian national anthem, and Albrecht Dürer the Elder, the father of Albrecht Dürer, were also born in Gyula.

Name
Geography
History
Demographics
Tourist attractions
Sport
Notable people
Twin Towns - Sister Cities
See also

Name

Gyula is named after the medieval Hungarian warlord Gyula III. Gyula was also a title among the Hungarian tribes and still a common male given name.

In Romanian, the town is known as Jula or Giula, in German as Jula and in Turkish as Göle.

Geography

Gyula is located in the Great Hungarian Plain on the River Fehér-Körös, 235 km (146 mi) southeast from Budapest and 5 km (3 mi) from the border with Romania. The (Szeged-)Békéscsaba-Gyula-Kötegyán railway line and Highway 44 also cross the town. Highway 44 is a four-lane expressway between Gyula and the county seat Békéscsaba.

History

The first recorded reference to Gyula was in a document dated 1313 which mentions a monastery called Gyulamonostora (Julamonustra in Latin). By 1332 the settlement around the monastery was called Gyula. The construction of Gyula Castle began in the 14th century but finished only in the mid-16th century. It was the property of the Maróthy family and later John Corvinus, the illegitimate son of Matthias Corvinus.

In the beginning of July 1566, Ottoman army of 30,000 men surrounded the Gyula castle. The city defenders surrendered after 63 days of siege to save the citizens. No other castle in Hungary could hold the besieging Ottoman army for such a long time. Despite the deal, the defenders who withdrew on 2 September were looted and many of them were slaughtered by the Turkish janissaries. Castle captain Kerecsényi was also captured during the retreat. The Turks took him to Belgrade, where he was executed.

From 1566 the town became part of Ottoman Hungary. During Ottoman rule, it was known as Göle and was sanjak centre in Temeşvar Eyalet.

At the end of 1693, Gyula remained the only stronghold of the Ottomans north of the Maros river. In 1694, several Turkish letters sent from the castle were intercepted by the imperial troops, in which they requested the delivery of food from the Turkish army stationed in Temesvár. The Turkish military leadership was unable to deliver food to Gyula. In mid-December 1694, the Turkish castle commander indicated his intention to capitulate. On 21 December, a contract was signed on the surrender of the castle and the free retreat of the guard and the population. Gyula's Turkish guard left the castle on 18 January 1695, and after 129 years, the city was liberated by Christian troops.

Due to the wars, most of the native Hungarian population fled from Gyula and Békés County became near uninhabited. The landowner János Harruckern invited German, Hungarian, and Romanian settlers, who re-established the town in the early 18th century. In 1881, the town had 18,046 inhabitants, of which 12,103 were Hungarians, 2,608 Romanians, 2,124 Germans, 400 Slovaks and 811 of other ethnicities. Gyula became a popular tourist destination in the 20th century. The thermal bath was established in 1942 and expanded in 1959, and the castle was restored in 1962.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census, the population of Gyula was 31,067, of whom there were 25,895 (83.4%) Hungarians, 974 (3.1%) Romanians, 971 (3.1%) Germans and 102 (0.3%) Romani by ethnicity. In Hungary, people can declare more than one ethnicity, so some people declared Hungarian and a minority one together.

Gyula is the center of the small native Romanian community of Hungary. It has its own newspaper published in Gyula, Foaia Românească ("The Romanian Sheet"). Gyula also has a school for its Romanian population, the Nicolae Bălcescu Romanian Gymnasium, Primary School and College, as well as a Research Institute of the Romanians of Hungary seated in the town. Furthermore, the Diocese of Gyula, the Romanian Orthodox diocese serving the Romanians in Hungary, is seated in Gyula. The town itself hosts two Romanian Orthodox churches, the St. Nicholas Romanian Orthodox Cathedral [eo; pl; ro] and the St. Paraskeva Church. There is also a consulate general of Romania in Gyula.

In 2011 there were 5,726 (18.4%) Roman Catholic, 5,560 (17.9%) Hungarian Reformed (Calvinist), 606 (2.0%) Orthodox and 507 (1.6%) Lutheran in Gyula. 8,304 people (26.7%) were irreligious and 453 (1.5%) Atheist, while 9,012 people (29.0%) did not declare their religion.

Tourist attractions

Gyula Castle (Gyulai vár)
Thermal bath (Gyulai gyógyfürdő)
100-year-old confectionery (100 éves cukrászda)
Town hall, 1861 (Városháza)
Birth house of Ferenc Erkel (Erkel Ferenc szülőháza)
Saint Michael Cathedral, 1825 (Szent Miklós katedrális)
Roman Catholic church, 1775-1777 (Római katolikus templom)
Roman Catholic chapel, 1738–1752, (Római katolikus kápolna)

Sport

The Christián László Municipal Sports Complex is a municipal sports complex, consisting of 13 hectares of sports facilities, which includes the Himer Center field with an athletics track and a football pitch surrounded by a motorcycle speedway track. In addition, there are two more full size football pitches, tennis courts, basketball and skateboarding facilities.

Notable people

Born in Gyula

Béla Bánáthy (1919–2003), social scientist and professor
Zoltán Bay (1900–1992), physicist (born in Gyulavári, now part of Gyula)
Imre Bródy (1891–1944), physicist
Albrecht Dürer the Elder (1427–1502), the father of Albrecht Dürer
Ferenc Erkel (1810–1893), composer
Imre König (1901–1992), chess player
László Krasznahorkai (born 1954), novelist and screenwriter
Mihály Mező (born 1978), singer and musician
Moise Nicoară [ro] (1784–1861), Romanian lawyer, professor, translator and writer
George Pomutz (1818–1882), Romanian-American diplomat and general