Sopron

City

Flag

Coat of arms

Nickname(s): Civitas Fidelissima (Most Loyal City/Citizenry)

Sopron

Location of Sopron

Coordinates: 47°41′06″N 16°34′59″E / 47.68489°N 16.58305°ECoordinates: 47°41′06″N 16°34′59″E / 47.68489°N 16.58305°E

Government

• Mayor

Tamás Fodor (Fidesz-KDNP)

Area

• Total

169.01 km² (65.26 sq mi)

Population (2012)

• Total

61,390

• Rank

18th

• Density

353.04/km² (914.4/sq mi)

Population by ethnicity

• Hungarians

92.8%

• Germans

3.5%

• Croats

1.7%

• Others

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

• Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

Postal code

9400

Area code(s)

Sopron (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈʃopron]; German: Ödenburg, Slovene: Šopron, Latin: Scarbantia) is a city in Hungary on the Austrian border, near the Lake Neusiedl/Lake Fertő.

When the area that is today Western Hungary was a province of the Roman Empire, a city called Scarbantia stood here. Its forum was located where the main square of Sopron can be found today.

During the Migration Period, Scarbantia was believed to be deserted. By the time Hungarians arrived in the area, it was in ruins. In the 9th–11th centuries, Hungarians strengthened the old Roman city walls and built a castle. The town was named in Hungarian after a castle steward named Suprun. In 1153, it was mentioned as an important town.

In 1273, King Otakar II of Bohemia occupied the castle. Even though he took the children of Sopron's nobility with him as hostages, the city opened its gates when the armies of King Ladislaus IV of Hungary arrived. The king rewarded Sopron by elevating it to the rank of free royal town.

During the Ottoman occupation of Hungary, the Ottoman Turks ravaged the city in 1529, but did not occupy it. Many Hungarians fled from the occupied areas to Sopron, and the city's importance grew.

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Wikipedia