Marcali is a town in Somogy county, the seat of the Marcali
district. It is located 14 km south of Lake Balaton, next to the
main road 68 and the Somogyszob – Balatonszentgyörgy railway wing
line No. 37. (Passenger traffic on the line has been suspended since
13 December 2009.)
Prior to December 2014, Main Road 68
passed through downtown, but since then, the main road has been
avoiding populated areas from the east; the old route through the
city has since been numbered 682 as a secondary main road.
From the east, from the direction of the Lengyeltót catchment area
(from Öreglak-Nikla) the road 6704 leads to the city, towards the
Nagykanizsa catchment area (Zalakomár and Galambok) the road 6805
starts from here, and its western neighbor, Somogysámson ) is
available on road 6818.
From the point of view of viticulture
and winemaking, the settlement is part of the Balatonboglár wine
region.
Marcali was the ancient property of the Marczali
family from the Péc clan. His name was first mentioned in a Latin
charter dated 1274. Between 1332 and 1337 it was also mentioned in
the papal tithe register, so it was already a church place, in 1455
the parish church dedicated to St. Aniamus and the Pauline monastery
built in honor of St. Dominic in addition to the city were mentioned
in the diplomas. In 1448 he could already enjoy city privileges, and
in 1494 he also had a school.
In 1488, after the death of
László Marczali, the settlement became the property of the Báthori
family.
It was the district seat during the Turkish
occupation, but the fortress here fell into Turkish hands only after
the fall of Szigetvár in 1566. The Turkish treasury tax register of
1563 then listed 35 houses here, followed by 1573–1574. The head tax
register of 2006 included the following parts of the city: Újfalu 33
houses, Felső-utcza or Benács-utcza 18 houses, Alsó-utcza 19 houses,
Felső-utcza 5 houses. Eresznek (Érsek-utcza) 10 houses.
In
the Hungarian royal tax register between 1598 and 1599 it belonged
to the castle of Babócsa, and in 1626–1627 it was already mentioned
as the property of Pál Nádasdy.
In 1660, he was already
mentioned in the Pannonhalma Archabbey's tithe ransom register as an
accessory of St. George's Castle.
In 1677, Archbishop György
Széchenyi of Kalocsa won a donation from the king, and between 1715
and 1733 it became the property of Count Zsigmond Széchenyi.
On August 24, 1772, he was granted a patent for holding national
fairs, and on April 28, 1820, for holding weekly fairs.
Its
first pharmacy was founded in 1797 by János Duliczky (1769–1823), a
pharmacist from Duliczi, under the name "Trinity". János Duliczky's
reputation as a selfless future was known: "his noble act, according
to which, once upon a time in the said (Somogy) County and Locality,
he was desirous of all the Medicines for the ailing army, was
motivated by his neighbor's love. , mod exaggerated by the fact that
Somogyvár, located in the said N. County, provided to the
inhabitants of Helyscg, in fact, all the desirable Medicines, full
of patriotic zeal, 's' physical pity on the needy, without money'. After his death, in 1825, his son, Gábor Kiss
(1794–1863), a pharmacist from Nemeskér, took over. The husband of
Franciska Duliczi Duliczky (1809–1888) ran the pharmacy until 1863,
when their child, István Kiss (1833–1884), a pharmacist from
Nemeskéri, became the new owner. István Kiss, on the other hand,
sold it to Viktor Kőrös in 1873, and then established a pharmacy
called the Savior of Nemesvid.
During the War of Independence
and the liberation of serfs in 1848–49, the bilingual population of
the settlement joined the ranks of the military team led by Gáspár
Noszlopy.
On October 20, 1861, in a great fire, two-thirds of
the settlement burned down, and in 1902, in another fire, an entire
sheer cremation with 42 buildings.
At the beginning of the
20th century, it belonged to the Marcali district of Somogy county.
In 1910, out of 4,588 inhabitants, 4,559 were Hungarians. Of
these, 4,127 were Roman Catholics, 54 were Reformed, and 379 were
Israelis. During the Soviet Republic, it was one of the centers of
the organization of the revolution.
In 1926, the neighboring
village of Nagygomba was added.
Developments that began after
World War II made it possible for him to regain his privileges
centuries ago. In 1977, it was given the status of a city again,
when the neighboring villages of Bize, Boronka and Horvátkút were
added.
Within the walls of the settlement, nationally
renowned scientists and artists were born and worked. Among others
are Henrik Marczali, József Lengyel, Aurél Bernáth.
Marcali
was once a military town. It also boasted two barracks. The inner
János Hunyadi Barracks and the outer Sándor Petőfi Barracks.
Construction of the inner barracks in Marcali began in 1949 and was
handed over in August 1951. The barracks was spread over 11 acres in
the center of the town and was closed in 1990. There are currently
shops, residential buildings and a market on the site of the
barracks, and the Local Guard Club operates in the former officer's
canteen.
Construction of the outer barracks began in 1950,
into which the first military formations moved a year later. The
barracks spread over nearly 38 hectares in 1980, with a capacity of
1,500 people. The last military organization moved out of the
barracks on March 31, 2001. On this date, the Army ceased to exist
in the former garrison.
On December 29, 2014, a new
8-kilometer-long, 2 × 1-lane section of Highway 68 bypassing the
city to the east was handed over.