Miskolcz

Miskolcz, capital of the county of Borsod, Hungary, 113 m. N.E. of Budapest by rail. Pop. (1900), 40,833. It is situated in a valley watered by the Szinva in the east of the Biikk mountains, and opens towards the south to the plain of the Sajo, an affluent of the Hernad. Miskolcz is a thriving town, and among its buildings are a Roman Catholic church of the 13th century in Late Gothic style, a Minorite convent, and Greek Catholic, Lutheran and Calvinist churches. It manufactures snuff, porcelain, boots and shoes, and prepared leather, and has both steam and water mills. It trades in grain, flour, wine, fruit, cattle, hides, honey, wax and agricultural products, while four wellattended fairs are held annually. About 5 m. west of the town in the Szinva valley is Diosgyor (pop. 11,520), which possesses important iron-works, and the ruined castle of Diosgydr, formerly a shooting residence of the kings of Hungary. About 4 m. to the south-west of Miskolcz are the baths of Tapolcza, containing warm springs. To the south-west of the town lies Onod (pop. 2087), to the south of which, on the banks of the Sajo, is the heath of Mohi or Muhi, famous as the scene of the great defeat of the Hungarians by the Mongols in 1241. About 85,000 Hungarians fell, and the whole country was devastated for the next two years by the Mongolian hordes. During the 16th and 17th centuries Miskolcz suffered much from the Ottomans, and from the troops of George Rakoczy and Emeric Tdkdlyi. In 1781, 1843 and 1847 it was devastated by fire, and on the 30th of August 1878 a great portion of the town was ruined by a terrific storm.