Zalakaros is a resort town in the Nagykanizsa district of Zala county, in the area of the Zalaapáti ridge. It is located in the southeastern part of the county, between Keszthely and Nagykanizsa. He is a member of the Association of Hungarian Spa Towns. It is the 7th most popular settlement in Hungary in terms of guest nights spent in commercial accommodation. There is a civil guard in the city.
The settlement was first mentioned in 1254 under the name Korus. At
that time, Hungarian-speaking castle servants who owned land lived in
the village, and then IV. King Béla's wife brought foreign settlers
here.
His church was built in 1430 in the settlement that was
probably part of the Somogy county at that time. The Turkish times put a
heavy burden on the village, as both the Turks and the Végvár soldiers
serving in the Kanizsa castle destroyed the crops of the people living
here. As a result, its population was almost completely depleted.
In the 18th century, the settlement was mentioned as a market town,
but only after the draining of the surrounding marshes at the end of the
19th century, mainly due to the construction of the Southern Railway,
could it begin to develop on a smaller scale. In the 1920s, it became
involved in transport with intercity bus services. The local post office
was also built around this time. After the Second World War, emigration
began, the primary destination of which was the heavily industrialized
Nagykanizsa.
Thermal water was found in the settlement in 1962,
and the spa was opened in 1965, which has been visited by more than 20
million people wanting to relax and heal since its establishment. The
plans for the development and organization of the settlement and the
recreation area were completed in 1969-70 (ZALATERV/Tamás Kiss). Thanks
to the spa, tourism started. Organized development and rapid development
began under the effective management of the Zalakaros Resort Development
Committee. Zalakaros received the status of a large municipality in
1984. In 1987, a new kindergarten and a gas pipeline network were
established, and in 1990 a new school was established. Zalakaros
remained an important tourist center even after the regime change, but
the new spas appearing in the area can represent serious competition for
the settlement, which was granted city status in 1997.
The settlement is easiest to reach on
the north-south road 7522 between Galambok and Zalaapáti, but it is
also connected to Zalakomár by a side road, the road 7521. The 7511
road between Zalakomár and Nagykanizsa runs on a section of the
border of its administrative territory. The main road 7 runs south
of the city, about 5 km away, and the M7 motorway a few km south of
it. The Zalakaros-Zalakomár exit is located on the 191 km section of
the motorway.
There is a bus station in the city, which plays
an important role primarily in long-distance transport. The most
important flights are from Budapest, Hévíz, Keszthely, Marcali,
Nagykanizsa, Veszprém, Zalaegerszeg and Zalakomár.
With 500,000 guest nights (2016), it is the 7th most popular
settlement in Hungary in terms of guest nights spent in commercial
accommodations. Within this, the number of foreign guest nights is
119,000; its largest sending markets are Germany (66,000), Austria
(27,000) and the Czech Republic (15,000).
The Zalakaros Fürdő is
an internationally renowned health resort. It was found in 1962 during
hydrocarbon exploration drilling. Medicinal water: 96 C° coming from a
depth of 2,000 meters. Due to its composition and the size of the water
resources, it is considered one of the most significant. Water
composition: alkaline chloride, hydrogen carbonate healing water, in
which the combined presence of iodine, bromine, sulfur and fluorine
forms a unique water composition in Europe. The chemical elements found
in the water are also potassium and sodium, magnesium, iron, manganese,
metaboric acid, metasilicic acid and free carbonic acid. Its thermal
water: 53°C water produced by 2 wells drilled into the upper Pannonian
layer and owned by the spa, with a composition of sodium chloride and
bicarbonate. It promotes the treatment of chronic gynecological
diseases, periodontal disease, locomotor complaints (chronic
inflammatory joint diseases), surgical locomotor injuries, and treatment
of dermatological problems.
At the time of the 2011 census, the national distribution was as follows: Hungarian 91.8%, German 4.5%, Croatian 1.5%, Gypsy 0.4%. 60.2% identified themselves as Roman Catholic, 2.5% as Reformed, 1.4% as Evangelical, and 5.4% as non-denominational (29.4% did not declare).