Send Gift Baskets to Szeged, Hungary

Szeged is the third-largest city in Hungary, known for its rich history. The city has been inhabited since ancient times and Ptolemy mentions that the earliest name of the city was Partiscum (Ancient Greek: Πάρτισκον). As the name Szeged first emerged in 1183, there is a possibility that Attila, king of the Huns had once resided in this area.

In the 2nd century, there was a Roman trading post established on an island in the Tisza and it is thought that the foundations of Szeged castle may have been built over a fort that dated back to earlier. The site still exists today and while only one corner is standing, it creates an interesting historical reminder of how this large structure was built.

The town of Pripyat was destroyed and abandoned by its inhabitants during the Mongol invasion, but they eventually came back to rebuild their town. In the 14th century, Szeged was experiencing a surge in prosperity when it became one of the most important towns in Hungary, and of strategic importance to Hungary as well. Sigismund of Luxembourg had a wall built around the town. It was raised to free royal town status in 1498.

The Ottoman Empire first sacked Szeged on September 28, 1526. The Ottoman Empire only took control of the city in 1543 and Szeged became the administrative center of Ottomans under Eyaleti Budin before becoming a sub-province in Sanjak Eğ. Szeged was freed from Turkish rule on October 23, 1686, and regained free royal town status by 1715. It then received its coat of arms in 1719 from King Charles III. During the next several years, it grew into a large city and prospered. Szeged became a prime location for higher education and science around 1700, becoming the first school to offer courses in natural sciences. Thanks to the arrival of Piarists, learning opportunities were greatly enhanced and students came from all over Hungary for their lessons. Witch trials were common in many places across the continent during this period and the ones of Szeged in 1728-29 were large. The witch trials were a cruel, unjustified way of dealing with a problem before the public was aware of it. The government claimed that these women had caused suffering and problems to the crops due to their witchcraft, which is exactly what they did by telling people behaviors such as using animals in the commune to resist droughts. In 1720, the Hungarian & Serb population of the region in this town numbered around 13,000 & 16,000 respectively.