Concept

Szombathely

Summary
Szombathely (ˈsombɒthɛj; Steinamanger, ʃtaɪ̯naˈmaŋɐ; see also other alternative names) is the 10th largest city in Hungary. It is the administrative centre of Vas county in the west of the country, located near the border with Austria. Szombathely lies by the streams Perint and Gyöngyös (literally "pearly"), where the Alpokalja (Lower Alps) mountains meet the Little Hungarian Plain. The oldest city in Hungary, it is known as the birthplace of Saint Martin of Tours. The name Szombathely is from the 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". The Latin name Savaria or Sabaria comes from Sibaris, the Latin name of the river Gyöngyös (German Güns). The root of the word is the Proto-Indo-European word *seu, meaning "wet". The Austrian overflowing of the Gyöngyös/Güns is called Zöbern, most probably a derivation of its Latin name. The city is known in Croatian as Sambotel, in Slovene as Sombotel and in Yiddish as סאמבאטהעלי (Sombathely). The German name, Steinamanger, means "stone on the green" (Stein am Anger). The name was coined by German settlers who encountered the ruins of the Roman city of Savaria. The Slovak name, Kamenec, also stems from the root 'stone' (kameň = stone), similar to the German variant. Szombathely is the oldest recorded city in Hungary. It was founded by the Romans in 45 AD under the name of Colonia Claudia Savariensum (Claudius' Colony of Savarians), and it was the capital of the Pannonia Superior province of the Roman Empire. It lay close to the important "Amber Road" trade route. The city had an imperial residence, a public bath and an amphitheatre. In 2008, remains of a mithraeum were discovered. Emperor Constantine the Great visited Savaria several times. He ended the persecution of Christians, which previously claimed the lives of many people in the area, including Bishop St. Quirinus and St. Rutilus.
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