Gönc

Gönc (Slovak: Gynec) is a town in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County and the capital of Gönc District. It is the northernmost town in Hungary.

It is located about 65 kilometres northeast of Miskolc, close to the Slovak border, in the left bank of the Hernád river.

The immediate bordering settlements are: Zsujta to the north, Telkibánya to the east, Fony to the southeast, Göncruszka to the south, Hernádszurdok to the west, and Hidasnémeti and Tornyosnémeti to the northwest.

Near its western edge, but on the other side of the Hernád River, run the region’s two most important roads: Highway 3 and the M30 motorway. These are the easiest ways to reach the area from farther parts of the country. However, only smaller roads touch its populated areas: from the south, through Abaújkér and Vizsoly, you can use Road 3713; from Hidasnémeti or Telkibánya, Road 3708; and from Zsujta, Road 3709.

Gönc has been lived in since the Hungarians arrived in Hungary. In the Middle Ages, it was a royal land and a key market town. Between 1570 and 1647, it was the center of Abaúj County, which helped it grow into a bigger market town. Even though Hungarian landlords owned the nearby lands, Gönc belonged to the crown. In the 13th century, the royal court invited German craftsmen to live in Gönc, like in many other places. This made the village more and more shaped by these new settlers.

During the Reformation, Gönc became a cultural hub. Gáspár Károli, who first translated the Bible into Hungarian in 1590, worked here as a minister. A statue of him stands in front of the Reformed church. In 1687, the Protestant college from Sárospatak moved to Gönc for a short time.

After the Treaty of Trianon, Hungary lost its northern areas, and Gönc ended up near the new border, losing its role in trade. Gönc became a town again in 2001.

• 1990–1994: László Kozmáry (Fidesz - KDNP) ^[1]
• 1994–1998: Zoltán Meskó (independent) ^[2]
• 1998–2002: János Molnár (independent) ^[3]
• 2002–2006: János Molnár (independent) ^[4]
• 2006–2010: János Molnár (Fidesz - KDNP) ^[5]
• 2010–2011: Éva Szepesi Bánszkyné (independent) ^[6]
• 2011–2014: János Sivák (independent) ^[7]
• 2014–2019: János Sivák (independent) ^[8]
• 2019–2024: István Vinter (independent) ^[9]
• 2024– : János Sivák (independent) ^[10]

In 2022, 87.5% of the population identified as Hungarian, 7.5% as Roma, 4.5% as Slovak, 0.3% as German, 0.1% each as Rusyn, Ukrainian, Romanian and Serbian, and 0.9% as other non-local nationalities (9.5% did not respond; due to dual identities, the total may exceed 100%). Regarding religion, 33.4% were Roman Catholic, 23.2% Reformed, 1.5% Greek Catholic, 0.8% other Christian, 0.1% Lutheran, 0.1% Orthodox, and 3.1% non-religious (37.2% did not answer).

The population of Gönc was 3,086 in 1960 and 2,752 in 1970, while in 1980 it was 2,757. After that, the town’s population kept decreasing, dropping to 2,371 in 1990 and then to 2,059 by 2001.^[11][12]

• Hussite House
• Pálffy Castle
• Statue of Saint Emeric
• Old Jewish cemetery
• Gáspár Károlyi Museum and Bible Exhibition
• Thermarium Municipal Swimming Pool
• Pauline Monastery

• Gönc barrel
• Gönc apricot pálinka

• Gönc city website
• The website of the Károlyi Gáspár Primary School and Kindergarten in Gönc
• MapArchived 2005-04-08 at the Wayback Machine with date April 8 at the Wayback Machine
• Béla Iványi: The history of the patented market town of Göncz ; Kertész Ny. , Karcag, 1926 ( Publications of the National Recognition Committee of the Debrecen Tisza István Scientific Society )
• II. Ferenc Rákóczi's charter of privilege for Gönc in Hajdúváros, 1706 ; text problem. , in. Csaba Csorba; BAZ County Archives, Miskolc, 1988 ( Document Archive )
• Béla Iványi: The history of the patented market town of Göncz ; Gönc Commune Joint Council Championship, Gönc, 1988
• János Pecze: Gönc, monuments ; TKM Association, Bp. , 1990 ( Small library of landscapes, eras, museums )
• János Pecze: Gönc, crafts ; TKM Association, Bp. , 1995 ( Small library of landscapes, eras, museums )
• Peter Szalipszki: Gönc ; ed. Albert Porkoláb; Hundred Hungarian Village Bookstores Co., Ltd. , Budapest. , 2001 ( Bookhouses of a Hundred Hungarian Villages )
• Gönc market town minutes, 1552–1850 ; under press order. Tamás Bodnár; Municipality, Gönc, 2015
• Gáspár Károlyi Museum and Bible Exhibition ; Hernád, Sárospatak, 2016

• György Györffy: Historical Geography of Hungary in the Árpád Era. I–IV. Budapest. , 1963–1998.