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Man in history
For those who are interested in the relics of the past, our serves as a museum and regularly hosts Hungarian cultural
county is a table set for them. The castle tours are almost events.
mandatory. Szécsény was placed on the historical map of the country
Nógrád Castle might have been one of the venues of our by Francis Rákóczi II by holding a national assembly here.
King St. Stephen’s state-founding work, and this castle, In 1848-49, among the many heroes of Nógrád, we also
which is perhaps the oldest Hungarian castle, gave its name find the male members of the Madách family. Th e county’s
to the county. For years, it has been welcoming its visitors glory also reached the beginning of the 20th century. In Ja-
with castle tournaments in the summer. nuary 1919, the people of Balassagyarmat took up arms in
Another of our Holy Kings, Ladislaus the Knight King, defence of the town and won the batt le. Th us, Balassa-
left his mark on Szentkút. King Sigismund raised Pásztó to gyarmat remained part of Hungary and was awarded the
town status. One of the greatest heroes of all time, Szondi, honorary title of “The Bravest City”.
sacrificed his life with his soldiers at the Drégely Castle, There are two villages with special history in the neigh-
showing a touching example of the most beautiful patrio- bourhood of Salgótarján, Somoskőújfalu and Somoskő.
tism. Every Hungarian should breathe in the historical air The Villages That Returned Home, or as the parliamen-
of the Drégely Castle at least once. tary resolution states: Pagi ad Patriam reversi. Th ese two
Somoskő Castle – which is still in a relatively good shape villages were brought home from their Trianon exile in
– was sometimes owned by the Losonczy family and the 1924 by the brilliant ear specialist and chief physician Dr.
Balassi family, and other times they just visited it. Salgó Géza Krepuska, with the help of the people’s will adhering
Castle, which inspired Petőfi, stretches into the sky in to justice, and honest English, Japanese, and Hungarian
Somoskő, which is only a cannon shot away from here. military officers, who demarcated the border.
On the other side of the current border, Fülek Castle now
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