Békésszentandrás

Coat of arms

Békésszentandrás

Coordinates: 46°52′N 20°29′E / 46.867°N 20.483°E

Country

Hungary

County

Békés

Area

• Total

77.45 km² (29.90 sq mi)

Population (2015)

• Total

3,608

• Density

46.6/km² (121/sq mi)

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

• Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

Postal code

5561

Area code(s)

Békésszentandrás is a village in Békés county, in the Southern Great Plain region of south-east Hungary.

Békésszentandrás, the western gate of Békés county, lies along the left bank of the Hármas-Körös River. The territory of the village is divided by the M44 road. The village is situated 150 km from Budapest, the capital city, and 50 km away from the town of Békéscsaba. It covers an area of 77.45 km² and has a population of 3608 people (2015).

The area has many prehistoric tumuli, known locally as kunhalom ('Cumanian Barrow'). The largest is Gödény-halom with a height of over 12 metres.

After the Hungarian conquest nearly seventy settlements were founded in the region of the Körös rivers. Archaeological research indicates there were a number of smaller settlements in this region which later were depopulated during the Mongol invasion. The first written reference about Békésszentandrás – as we now know is from 1297. The name of the village was mentioned for the first time in a controversial issue in 1329. Its autonomy was recognised on 18 April 1330 and became the property of the Úzvásári family under the name of Zenthandreas. Almost a hundred years later the settlement became the Crown's property again. Around 1436 King Sigismund donated it to his Knight János Hunyadi. The construction and flourishing of the Szentandrási estate began in that period. Around 1460 the estate received market town rights. After the death of János Hunyadi, his wife Erzsébet Szilágyi managed the estate. She was followed by János Corvin and András Dánfy. Under the leadership of the Dánfy family the estate fell into pieces, lost its integrated management and market town rights. The four parts of the village were shared by Miklós Nagyfalusi Toldy, Anna Dánfy, the Paksy and Patócsi family. The number of people living in Szentandrás under the Turkish rule often changed. Many of them left the settlement during the fighting at Gyula and just slowly drifted back to their village. Due to the high tax burden lots of people escaped to the free counties.

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Wikipedia