Pilisszentkereszt

Infobox Settlement


image_caption = The ruins of the Benedictine abbey from the air
settlement_type =
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = HUN

latd= |latm= |lats= |latNS=N
longd= |longm= |longs= |longEW=E

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timezone=CET
utc_offset=+1
timezone_DST=CEST
utc_offset_DST=+2|official_name=Pilisszentkereszt
_Mlynky
subdivision_type1=County
subdivision_name1=Pest
area_total_km2=17.21
population_as_of=2007
population_total=2275
population_density_km2=124.8
postal_code_type=Postal code
postal_code=2098
area_code=26

Pilisszentkereszt ( _sk. Mlynky) is a village in Pest county, Budapest metropolitan area, Hungary, some 20km from Budapest in the Pilis Mountains.

History

The territory of Pilisszentkereszt and the surrounding lands were inhabited in the prehistoric times, living in the nearby caves, but later they left the area. During the Roman times logging was common in the nearby woods.

The village was established by Hungarians in the 12th century around a Benedictine abbey, which itself was established at May 27, 1184. The abbey, as well as the village was destroyed during the Turkish occupation of the region, in an attack at September 7, 1526. Some Benedictines may have lived here after the attack, until about 1541, when they finally left the uttering Turkish rule. After the reconquista of Ottoman Hungary, in 1747, a group of Slovak migrants arrived at the scene to reestablish it, from neighbouring Pilisszántó. Later more Slovaks arrived from all around the Kingdom of Hungary, but many left in 1782. To fill the gaps, some German (mainly Swabian) settlers arrived in 1785.

Not long before the reestablishment, a controversy broke out between the Benedictine and Paulist orders about the ruins of the abbey, that whether it was Paulist or Benedictine. While it was later proved that it was a Benedictine one and was wrongly identified as a Paulinist, named "Saint Cross", at that time the then future town and its surroundings were granted to the Paulinist order. They gave the name Sancta Crux ( _en. Saint Cross, _hu. Szent kereszt) to the place, which is still in its Hungarian name (as "-szentkereszt"), with the prefix "Pilis-", referring to the surrounding Pilis Hills, to distinguish it from the other places which has "szentkereszt" in their names. (for example from Szentkereszt, which now bears the same name but in its Slovak translation). The Paulists started building the settlement and they called in the settlers whom arrived at 1747.

In January 11 1945, at the close of World War II, the village was the site of bitter fighting during Operation Konrad II, an unsuccessful offensive by the SS Wiking Division to relieve German troops occupying Budapest.

In the 2001 census 54,6% of the total population or approximately 1170 people claimed themselves as ethnic Slovaks [cite web|title=Ombudsman finds irregularities in ethnic Slovak village|publisher="The Budapest Times"|url=http://www.budapesttimes.hu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6693&Itemid=159|date=2008-04-01|accessdate=2008-04-22] [cite web | publisher = "Pravda" |language=Slovak |url = http://spravy.pravda.sk/mlynky-nenapadna-rozbuska-dcy-/sk_svet.asp?c=A080327_173017_sk_svet_p12 | title = "Mlynky? Nenápadná rozbuška" | date = March 27, 2008 |accessmonthday = April 22 | accessyear = 2008] , being the only settlement in Hungary where ethnic Slovaks are forming a majority.

The Slovak name "Mlynky" (meaning "Mills") is referring to the many lumber mills and by that the long tradition of logging from the surrounding woods, which tradition can be traced back to the Roman times. There is a Mlynky in Slovakia as well.

Famous people

Queen Gertrude of Merania (d. 1213) is buried in the graveyard of Pilisszentkereszt Abbey. [cite web|title=Andechs-Meran, Gertrude|publisher="Find a grave"|url=http://www.findagrave.com/php/famous.php?page=cem&FScemeteryid=1966297|accessdate=2008-04-23]

References

* [http://www.budapesttimes.hu/index.php?art=387 Third Reich’s last offensive was a bid to keep Hungarian oil in its hands] at "Budapest Times"

External links

* [http://www.pilisszentkereszt.hu/ Official website] (in Hungarian)