Balatonfüred
Balatonfüred (German: Bad Plattensee) is a resort town in Veszprém county, in Hungary, with a population of 13,000, situated on the northern shore of Lake Balaton. It is considered to be the capital of the Northern lake shore and is a yachting destination. It is also a location for fishing (carp being the most common catch) although the introduction of eels and other non-indigenous species has caused ecological damage in recent years.
Balatonfüred | |
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Flag Coat of arms | |
Balatonfüred Location of Balatonfüred | |
Coordinates: 46.95651°N 17.88911°E | |
Country | Hungary |
County | Veszprém |
District | Balatonfüred |
Government | |
• Mayor | Dr. István Bóka (Fidesz-KDNP) |
Area | |
• Total | 46.45 km2 (17.93 sq mi) |
Population (2017) | |
• Total | 13,138[1] |
Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
Postal code | 8230 |
Area code | (+36) 87 |
Website | balatonfured |
Description
The town has two marinas, a string of carbonated mineral water springs, listed buildings from the middle of the 18th and the 19th centuries and fine restaurants. It has modern hotels and guest-houses to accommodate about fifty thousand visitors in the summer. The nearest villages around Balatonfüred are Tihany, Aszófő, Balatonszőlős and Csopak, all renowned for their wine, land and beaches. Highway No 71 crosses the town as well as a single track railway line between Budapest and Tapolca. Although a shipyard was once the town's largest employer, now that place has been taken by the State Hospital for Cardiology. The largest industry is catering and providing boarding and other accommodations. The town has a pier, a harbour, a large camping site and several private marinas.
Visitors come for the mild micro-climate, scenery, the local wine, made of Olaszrizling grapes, and sailing and swimming facilities, as well as to revive the two-century-old tradition of socializing around spas, bathing and vacationing. The main events of the two-month-long summer holiday season include a ball for first-time visitors with a beauty contest and a wine-tasting festival, both in August.
Füred (short for Balatonfüred) has six comprehensive schools, three grammar schools, a secondary modern school for viniculture, the Lajos Loczy High School and Janos Ferencsik Music School (conservatory). A number of choirs, bands and sporting clubs are also present. The town has a local TV studio and a monthly newspaper. Füred has a newly built conference and sport centre as well.
There are three churches in the town: a typical red-sandstone Catholic church, a white Protestant church and a modern Evangelist church. A Pentecostal, American type of Christian denomination Faith Church is also active in the former Communist party headquarters.
Balatonfüred has a number of conference halls and a large clinic for heart patients. It also has a number of wine cellars that sell white house wine from the vineyards on the hillside overlooking the town and the lake.
In winter, the lake may freeze over for weeks so that skaters and ice boaters take over near the shore of the town.
State Hospital for Cardiology
With its 429 beds the State Hospital for Cardiology in Balatonfüred boasts the largest cardiac-rehabilitation center in Hungary.[2] The hospital is built on the lake shore and is flanked by the Tagore promenade, named after the Nobel-laureate Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore, who was treated here. Many other patients come here to heal and recuperate year-round thanks to the carbonated springs and baths, which are one of the best-known healing agents in Balatonfüred since the 17th century. The town was officially declared a spa in 1772. The Kossuth Spring and other springs near the hospital supply water containing free and bound carbon dioxide as well as iron, magnesium, potassium, hydrocarbonate, calcium, sodium, sulfur and other minerals. The temperature of the spring waters is 14 to 15 °C (57 to 59 °F) they are collected into a large basin and conducted to the spa building. Then the carbonated water is warmed up to 32 to 34 °C (90 to 93 °F) and used for treatment.
Sights
- A well named after Lajos Kossuth with carbonated drinking water – see gallery below
- Former classicist holiday home of actress Lujza Blaha (1816)
- The resort house of Mór Jókai
- A cave named after geologist Lajos Lóczy[3]
- Tagore promenade
- Sundance Park, set on the site of the former Greek Quarter, it houses many Clubs, bars and restaurants.
Twin towns — sister cities
Balatonfüred is twinned with:
Notable residents
- József Manes Österreicher
- Elek Straub
- Bendegúz Bóka (1993-), handballer
- Gábor Bodó (1941-2011), volleyball player
- János Vörös (1891-1968), Hungarian military officer, politician, Minister of Defence
- Pál Jávor (1902-1959), Hungarian actor
- Sava Babić (1934-2012), Serbian writer, poet, translator and university professor
- Mór Jókai (1825-1904), Hungarian dramatist and novelist
- Zoltán Horváth (1937-), Hungarian retired sabre fencer
- Dr. Rózsa Hoffmann (1948-), is a Hungarian politician, educator, Secretary of State for Education of the Ministry of National Resources (2010-2013), Secretary of State for Public Education (2013-2014)
- Dániel Berzsenyi (1776-1836), Hungarian poet
- Áron Gádorfalvi (1976-), windsurfer
- Diána Detre (1983-), windsurfer
- Sándor Kisfaludy (1772-1844), Hungarian lyric poet
- Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), a Bengali polymath who reshaped Bengali literature and music
- László Passuth (1900-1979), Hungarian author of historical novels and translator
- Kolos Ferenc Vaszary, O.S.B. (1832-1915), cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, longtime archbishop of the prestigious see of Esztergom
Gallery
Sport
- Balatonfüredi FC, association football team
- Balatonfüredi KSE, handball team
References
- Balatonfüred, KSH
- State hospital for Cardiology, Balatonfüred ""
- "Lóczy Cave, Balatonfüred"
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Balatonfüred. |
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Balatonfüred. |
- Official website in Hungarian and English
- Balatonfüred town Web site – in English
- State Hospital for Cardiology in Balatonfüred (in English)
- Tourism + Pictures + sights about Balatonfüred
- Annagora Water Park
- Balatonfüred at funiq.hu