Beloiannisz

Infobox Settlement
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = HUN
timezone=CET
utc_offset=+1
timezone_DST=CEST
utc_offset_DST=+2
pushpin_

pushpin_label_position =
pushpin_map_caption =Location of Beloiannisz
pushpin_mapsize =

official_name=Beloiannisz
Μπελογιάννης


subdivision_type1=County
subdivision_name1=Fejér
area_total_km2=4.54
population_total=1207
population_as_of=2001
population_density_km2=266
postal_code_type=Postal code
postal_code=2455
area_code=25
latd=47.18353
longd=18.82413

Beloiannisz ( _el. Μπελογιάννης) is a village in Fejér county, Hungary. It was founded by Communist Greek refugees who left Greece after the civil war, and was named after Nikos Beloyannis (Beloiannisz is the Hungarian spelling of his name).

Location

Beloiannisz is close to the railway station of Iváncsa, which is on the Budapest–Pusztaszabolcs railway line. On paved road the village can be reached through a convert|1|km|mi|0|abbr=on long access road which links the village to the Iváncsa–Besnyő road. Most of the buses connecting Besnyő and Dunaújváros stop at the village, but the railway plays a more important role.

History

The village is among the newest in the county; its construction was started on May 6, 1950. The village was built by volunteers; within a short time, 418 houses, a school, a kindergarten, a library, a community hall, a doctor's office and a town hall were built. On April 3, 1952 the village (previously called "Görögfalva", "Greek Village") took the name of Nikos Beloyannis, the Communist leader and resistance fighter, who had been executed 4 days earlier in Greece by the Greek regime. The village had 1850 inhabitants then.

Starting in 1954, several Greeks left the village and went back to Greece, but many of them (especially the younger people) stayed in Hungary. Now the majority of the population works in the nearby cities of Budapest, Százhalombatta and Dunaújváros. Many people still maintain their Greek identity. According to the 2001 census it had 1,185 inhabitants, 23.4% of them considered themselves Greek, 81.4% Hungarian. Religions: 25.5% Roman Catholic, 14.3% Greek Orthodox, 5.7% Calvinist. Majority of the population are Atheist.

A Greek Orthodox church was built in 1996.

Tourist sights

* Greek Orthodox church (1996)
* village library; main square

External links

* [http://www.bgko.hu/ Community of Beloiannisz Homepage]
* [http://www.oswego.edu/~baloglou/misc/hungary.html A post-communist Greek village in Hungary]