Šurany

Šurany
Nagysurány
Town
Church of St. Stephen the protomartyr
Flag
Coat of arms
Country Slovakia
Region Nitra
District Nové Zámky
River Nitra
Elevation 123 m (404 ft)
Coordinates SK 48°05′14″N 18°11′10″E / 48.08722°N 18.18611°E / 48.08722; 18.18611Coordinates: SK 48°05′14″N 18°11′10″E / 48.08722°N 18.18611°E / 48.08722; 18.18611
Area 59.812 km2 (23 sq mi)
Population 10,460 (31 December 2006)
Density 175 / km2 (453 / sq mi)
First mentioned 1138
Mayor Marek Oremus
Timezone CET (UTC+1)
 - summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 942 01
Phone prefix 421-35
Car plate NZ
Location in Slovakia
Location in the Nitra Region
Wikimedia Commons: Šurany
Statistics: MOŠ/MIS
Website: http://www.surany.sk

Šurany (until 1927, Veľké Šurany; Hungarian: Nagysurány; German: Schuran; Turkish: Şuran) is a town and a railroad hub in the Nové Zámky District, Nitra Region, southern Slovakia.

Alongside the main settlement, it has the boroughs of Kostolný Sek and Nitriansky Hrádok, both annexed 1976.

History

Archaeological discoveries show that the site of the present-day town was inhabited in the Neolithic. The town was first mentioned under name villa Suran in a document of Hungarian king Béla II in 1138. There was a castle existing since the second half of the 15th century. The town was occupied by the Turks in 1663–84. The castle was torn down in 1725. In 1832 the town was made a royal town with market rights. A sugar factory was established in 1854 (closed in 2000).[1] The town was part of Hungary until 1920 and in 1938–45 as a consequence of the First Vienna Award.

Geography

Šurany lies at an altitude of 123 metres (404 ft) above sea level and covers an area of 59.812 square kilometres (23.1 sq mi).[2] It is located in the Danubian Lowland near the Nitra River, 13 kilometres (8 mi) away from Nové Zámky and around 100 kilometres (62 mi) from Bratislava.

Demographics

According to the 2001 census, the town had 10,491 inhabitants. 97.28% of inhabitants were Slovaks, 1.12% Hungarians, 0.64% Czechs. The religious make-up was 80.02% Roman Catholics, 14.76% people with no religious affiliation, and 1.19% Lutherans.[2]

People

Šurany featured in an episode of Who Do You Think You Are? featuring Stephen Fry. Fry was tracing his Jewish ancestry in the town, from where his maternal grandparents originated in 1926 before immigrating to Bury St Edmunds, England. His grandfather was a manager at the Šurany sugar factory and was recruited to work in the burgeoning sugar industry in Bury St Edmunds.[3]

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, December 07, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.