Nagykanizsa

City

Coat of arms

Nagykanizsa

Location of Nagykanizsa in Hungary

Coordinates: 46°27′N 16°59′E / 46.45°N 16.98°E

Country

Government

• Mayor

Sándor Dénes (FIDESZ-KDNP)

Area

• Total

148.40 km² (57.30 sq mi)

Population (2012)

• Total

50,101

• Density

340/km² (870/sq mi)

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

• Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

Area code

+36

Website

nagykanizsa.hu

Nagykanizsa (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈnɒckɒniʒɒ]; Croatian: Kan(j)iža, Velika Kan(j)iža; German: Großkirchen, Groß-Kanizsa, Italian: Canissa, Slovene: Velika Kaniža, Turkish: Kanije) is a medium-sized city in Zala County in southwestern Hungary. It is also known in Hungarian as Kanizsa.

It lies not far from Lake Balaton at the meeting point of five routes. For centuries the town has been a connecting link. Goods from Slavonia were transported to Graz via Nagykanizsa, and the town played an important role in the trade from the Adriatic Sea to the Alpine region, Vienna, and Budapest.

The city's oldest Roman era ruins were uncovered in the 1960s. Later, during the Middle Ages, it became one of the most important strongholds of the Hungarian Kingdom. The fortress had a significant role in the southern shield line of Hungary, keeping the whole of Western Europe safe from the attacks of the Ottoman Empire. Instead of conquerors, today Nagykanizsa attracts thousands of dental tourists as the modern age's invaders. The name Kanizsa is of Slavic origin (Knysa), and means "belonging to a prince". It refers to the fact that the region was the property of an .

The name Kanizsa was first mentioned in a document in 1245. The Kanizsai family continued building the castle and constructed a rectangular castle with an enclosed back yard on an islet in the River Kanizsa. The town and the castle were in their prime in the first half of the 16th century, when Kanizsa became a centre of trade with Italy and Styria.

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Wikipedia