10 Interesting Facts About Szombathely

Facts About Szombathely

Facts About Szombathely

  • The name Szombathely is from Hungarian szombat, “Saturday” and hely, “place”, referring to its status as a market town, and the medieval markets held on Saturday every week. Once a year during August they hold a carnival to remember the history of “Savaria”.
  • Szombathely is the oldest recorded city in Hungary. It was founded by the Romans in 45 AD under the name of Colonia Claudia Savariensum.
  • Szombathely is the administrative centre of Vas county in the west of the country, located near the border with Austria.
  • The city remained inhabited throughout the Middle Ages.
  • James Joyce wrote that the character Virág Rudolf, the father of Leopold Bloom, his Jewish Irish protagonist in Ulysses, was from Szombathely.
  • Szombathely is 209 m above sea level.
  • Szombathely is known as the birthplace of Saint Martin of Tours.
  • Szombathely is twinned with Ferrara, Italy; Hunedoara, Romania; Kaufbeuren, Germany; Kolding, Denmark; Kutaisi, Georgia; Lappeenranta, Finland; Lecco, Italy; Maribor, Slovenia; Tallinn, Estonia; Oberwart, Austria; Ramat Gan, Israel; Santiago do Cacém, Portugal; Trnava, Slovakia; Uzhorod, Ukraine; Yantai, China & Yoshkar-Ola, Russia.
  • Savaria appears in Total War: Attila as a Roman settlement in Pannonia.
Facts About Szombathely
Facts About Szombathely