Šurany

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.

Šurany

Nagysurány
Town
Church of St. Stephen the protomartyr
Flag
Coat of arms
Šurany
Location in Nitra Region
Šurany
Location in Slovakia
Coordinates: 48°05′14″N 18°11′10″E
Country Slovakia
RegionNitra
DistrictNové Zámky
First mentioned1138
Government
 • MayorMarek Oremus
Area
 • Total59.812 km2 (23.094 sq mi)
Elevation
123 m (404 ft)
Population
 (2018-12-31[1])
 • Total9,782
 • Density160/km2 (420/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
942 01
Area code(s)421-35
Car plateNZ
Websitewww.surany.sk

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

Etymology

The town name comes from Slavic šur-, šurý (curved, in a wider sense hilly) + the suffix -any referring to people. Šurany: "people from hills", the opposite of Rovňany: "people from plains".[2]

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. Between 1568 and 1581, the town was the seat of the Captaincy of Lower Hungary. The settlement 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).[3] 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).[4] 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.[4]

People

Šurany featured in a 2006 episode of Who Do You Think You Are? featuring Stephen Fry. Fry was tracing his Jewish ancestry in the town, where his maternal grandfather Martin Neumann was a manager at the Šurany sugar factory and was recruited to work in the burgeoning sugar industry in Bury St Edmunds, England.[5] Neumann and his wife Rosa Braun Neumann immigrated to Bury in 1926.

gollark: Scale comparison.
gollark: Wait, Jupiter-sized super earth? I don't think you could have a rocky planet that size.
gollark: Universe Sandbox ².
gollark: By "my" I mean one I happen to have bought.
gollark: Probably depends on how it collides. I can try it in my highly advanced ~~computer game~~ space simulation.

References
  1. "Population and migration". Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic. Retrieved 2019-04-16.
  2. Stanislav, Ján (2004). Slovenský juh v stredoveku II (in Slovak). Literárne informa4n0 centrum. pp. 438, 521. ISBN 80-88878-89-6.
  3. :: Vítajte na stránkach mesta Šurany ::. .:: www.surany.sk ::
  4. "Municipal Statistics". Statistical Office of the Slovak republic. Archived from the original on 2008-02-08. Retrieved 2008-02-10.
  5. ""Who Do You Think You Are?", Series Two: Celebrity Gallery".
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