Boldogkőváralja

Boldogkőváralja is a village in Gönc District in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County, Hungary. In 2024, 1,007 people lived there.

It is in the western part of the Zemplén Hills, at the edge of the Hernád valley, 52 kilometers northeast of Miskolc, the county seat. The nearby villages are Arka to the north, Baskó to the east, Boldogkőújfalu to the south, Abaújkér to the southwest, and Hernádcéce to the northwest. It is just 2 km from Boldogkőújfalu, 3 km from Arka, 5 km from Hernádcéce, 7 km from Abaújkér, and 8 km from Vizsoly; the closest towns are Abaújszántó (9 km) and Encs (14 km).

The village is named after the Boldogkő Castle, which is on a rock called Bodókő. The village's history is tied to the castle's. The first written mention of Boldogkőváralja is from 1282, calling it Castrum Boldua. The castle was built after the Tatar invasion as a key fort in the Hernád Valley. It was named Bolduaku in 1300, Buldo ku in 1301, Bulduakev in 1331, Boldolken in 1332, and Buldwakw in 1335. Over the years, many noble families owned the castle. In the 17th century, it lost military value and was partly destroyed by Lipót II but was later restored in neo-Gothic style by the Péchy family. By the early 19th century, Boldogkőváralja was a market town and could hold fairs.

In 2022, 82% of people said they were Hungarian, 11.5% were Gypsy, 0.2% were Slovak, 0.2% were Romanian, 0.1% were Ukrainian, 0.1% were German, and 1.5% identified as other nationalities (17.9% did not say; the total may be over 100% because of mixed identities). In terms of religion, 46.4% were Roman Catholic, 5.8% were Reformed, 7.5% were Greek Catholic, 1% were other Christians, 5.6% had no specific religion (33.8% did not answer).^[1]