Biatorbágy

Biatorbágy

Biatorbágy is situated in the western part of Pest County, in the region of Transdanubia. It is the most populated settlement in the Zsámbék-basin. The two major parts of the settlement, Bia and Torbágy, used to be separate settlements, but now they have largely merged, but the two former settlement centers are still well separated. Among the town's landmarks is the Parliament Quarry on Sóskúti Street, where the building material for the Parliament was quarried. Nearby is the Nyakas Stone, which is a very popular tourist destination. Biatorbágy has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Bronze Age earthwork remains and 9th century settlement remains have also been found in Bia. The earliest written mention of Bia dates back to 1192, but both villages were abandoned during the Turkish occupation. After the Turks were driven out, mostly Hungarian families settled back. In addition to the Hungarians, other nationalities moved in, so Bia continued as a Hungarian village, while Torbágy was settled by German nationalities. In 1884 the first railway track and the first viaduct were built in Torbágy, and in 1898 the second track and the next viaduct were built. Torbágy was made famous by an assassination attempt on 13 September 1931, when Szilveszter Matuska blew up one of the rails of the viaduct under a high-speed train on the Budapest-Vienna line, which derailed and the steam locomotive and its front carriages fell into the abyss. The explosion killed 22 people. The bombing was the pretext for the political crackdown on illegal communists in the 1930s.