SZEKESFEHERVAR

German Stuhlweissenburg, town and seat of Fejr megye (county), west central Hungary, on the northeastern fringe of the Bakony Mountains, southwest of Budapest. A Roman settlement, Herculea, superseded an earlier Celtic village on the site; in the 10th century it was chosen by Stephen I, king of Hungary, as capital of the Hungarian kingdom, which it remained until the 16th century. Then known as Alba Regia, it was a strong fortress with a naturally defensible hinterland of large swamps and marshes. It was occupied by the Turks in 1543, who withdrew in 1688 after looting and destroying the cathedral and palace, and for a while Szkesfehrvr was depopulated. From the 18th century the town revived, and a large-scale building program was initiated; but its tragic history was repeated in 1945, when the last German counterattack within Hungary resulted in near-total destruction again. The ruins of the medieval cathedral where many Hungarian kings were crowned are carefully preserved. Some fine Baroque buildings survive, including the bishop's palace. Postwar development has added an extensive industrial base (radio and television assembly, motorcycles, machine tools, aluminum rolling mill, and slaughtering) to the town's continued importance as a market centre for the truck farmers, vine growers, and horse breeders of the area. One of Europe's largest autobus factories is in Szkesfehrvr. It is also a rail and road junction on the main routes between Budapest and the southwest. The Ybl Museum houses a collection of Mikls Ybl, the great Hungarian architect. Pop. (1983 est.) 108,000.