Page 7 - SZABOLCS-SZATMÁR-BEREG MEGYE 2022

Szabolcs

Szabolcs was the procession terrain for the Ott oman The time travel can be continued if we visit the estate of

army. As a result, various memories of the Ott oman rule the Kállay family in Kállósemjén, reminiscent of the 1920s
can be found in the county. The population decreased and 1930s. The ancient Hungarian noble family played a

partly because of the Ottoman invasion, and the plague significant role in the history of Hungary. Th e baroque
of 1793 also decimated the county’s population, as almost Kállay mansion was built by the architect of the former
a quarter of the people died. At the same time, a labour county hall. History has left its mark on the building, and

force was needed on the fields, so the landowners invited it was not spared by barbaric hands either. Today, however,

mainly Germans, and Romanians from Transylvania, as a beautifully renovated building and castle park welcome
well as Slovak and Ukrainian serfs from the north to sett le tourists and help them to remember the Kállay family and
here. They assimilated, and we can say that a population the former prime minister, Miklós Kállay. Our journey

remarkably mixed in terms of ethnicity, language and re- is continued in Máriapócs, a site visited by thousands of
ligion lived here, who did not forget their history, which pilgrims every year. Many believers are pleading for help
can still be found in traces. from the Virgin Mary in the Church of the Intercession,
The largest region of Szabolcs is the Nyírség. On its “histor- the former site of the Pope’s visit. The world-famous Na-

ical main street” from Nyíregyháza to Carei (Nagykároly), tional Shrine of Máriapócs is a Greek Catholic pilgrimage
many memorial sites help the visitors understand the past. site; it is visited by many pilgrims because its two icons

The oldest monument of Nyíregyháza, the county seat, cried tears at three diff erent times.

is the monumental baroque-style and recently renovated The shrine has three important church days:
Lutheran large church, which was built from the small do- • St. Elijah’s Day – 20th July
nations of the hard-working “Tirpák” people, who lived • Day of the Assumption of Virgin Mary - 15th August
from agriculture, during the late 1700s and early 1800s. • Day of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary - 8th
September

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