Akasztó

[
thumb|right|300px|Location_of_Bács-Kiskuncounty in the Hungary] Akasztó is a village and municipality in Bács-Kiskun county, in the Southern Great Plain region of southern Hungary. It is surrounded by several areas of the Kiskunság National Park.

Geography

Akasztó covering an area of 64.88 km² lies in the northern edge of the Little Cumania region. Its closest neighbor is Kiskőrös, about 10 km away.

History

According to local tales, the name of the town comes from the Hungarian word "akasztani" which means "to hang" in English. The area was known for its muddy roads that "hanged" the wheels of a coach. Others says the town was named Akasztó because of its often exercised right to hang people.

Akasztó was first mentioned in 1278 as "Akazthow". It was the center of royal tax-collectors. During the Ottoman Conquest it lost much of its population. In the early 1700s Slovak farmers settled in the region.