Salgotarjan

County seat of Nógrád County, the settlement is an industrial centre. The ruins of castles around the city testify to its ancient history; perhaps the most famous are the remains of the Somoskő Castle.

In the middle of the 19th century, Salgótarján had only 800 residents. It was the discovery of coal that lifted the settlement out of obscurity. The first mines opened during the 1850's. The mining past of the town is evoked by a museum developed in a closed mine.

From 1881 onwards iron processing became significant and the ironworks greatly influenced the look of the town. The foundry and engineering works for one of the oldest stove and hardware factory in Hungary was established here in 1894.

The predecessor of today's blown glass manufacture was founded in 1892. What was to become the sheet and plate glass manufacturing plant was established in Zagyvapálfalva, then outside the city limits, only one year later in 1893.

As a consequence of the 1919 Trianon Peace Treaty, Salgótarján became a strategically significant border town and it received city status in 1922.

It became the seat of Nógrád County in 1950. Salgótarján's architectural reconstruction and the stimulation of its intellectual life are tied to the decades that followed.

The city centre is modern and attractive and Salgótarján was the first settlement to receive the illustrious János Hild memorial award from the Hungarian Urban Studies Association (Magyar Urbanisztikai Társaság) in 1968 for its distinctive town planning and rebuilding.

Located directly on the Hungarian-Slovakian border, Somoskőújfalu, has been one of Salgótarján's suburbs since 1977. It was in that same year that Somoskő, famous for its castle which is over 700 years old, became a part of the county seat.

Salgó Castle also belongs to the city. Together with its mining communites, Zagyvaróna was administratively independent until 1973. In former times it also had a fortress: Zagyvafő Castle once stood on Castle Hill (Várhegy).

Salgótarján is the venue of several large-scale cultural and musical performances held each year.

How to get there:
By rail, take a train to Hatvan from Budapest. There are buses and coaches goint to Salgótarján from other bigger cities such as Eger and Miskolc. By car, take M3 motorway from Budapest, and turn north at Hatvan onto Route 21.