Historical geography and settlement morphology of Salgótarján

Abstract

The centre of Nógrád County, Salgótarján differs from most of the other Hungarian cities in many respects. The reasons for this are the particular historical development of the city (turning into an industrial city from a small peasant village almost overnight) and its extraordinary physical geographical features (landscape very rich in coal and very much fragmented). These determined the unmatched image of the city, its building up and above all its functional structure. The only cities resembling Salgótarján in this respect are Ajka, Komló and Ózd. The city reaches far to the north and the south along the Tarján stream; it structure is mosaic-like and not compact.