National and historical symbols of Hungary

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Tápióság

(Pest County)

Tápióság bears: heater erect azure, the village’s Roman Catholic church palewise, in dexter chief three ears of wheat, in sinister chief a bee-eater volant, all or.

The church symbolises historical continuity, the foundation of the Hungarian state by King St Stephen, Hungarian culture and our national identity. The wheat is the sign of farming and the agricultural character of the village, whereas the bee-eater symbolises the protection of nature.

Tápióság is one of the most beautifully located settlements of the Tápió region, situated between Jászság and Kiskunság. Its central (inhabited) part lies by the banks of the Alsó-Tápió, on the border of the Gödöllő hills. Within its administrative area the wet and drying marshland, the sedgy meadowland and the willow groves evoke the atmosphere of the plains, whereas the pastures on the hillsides running down to the streams show a character typical of the hilly countryside. Since the land is an ideal place for the growth and breeding of rare species of the flora and fauna, it includes protected parts belonging to the Tápió-Hajta Landscape Protection Area. This richness in natural resources is represented in the coat of arms by the bee-eater.

As proven by the prehistoric finds excavated in the area, the settlement looks back on a very long history. The tools and what remained from old castles dating from various ages give evidence of the fact that there were settlements in the area as early as 5000 BC. The first documented mention of Ság dates from 1263. It is a proven fact that in the area of the present village three more or less independent settlements emerged, by their current names Zsiger, Saag and Saag-Újfalu. Until the end of the 1600s Zsiger was a flourishing village but during the wars that drove the Turks out of the country it got devastated and became a puszta. Situated on the left bank of the Tápió, Saag-Újfalu became a flourishing village dwelt by serfs

during the resettlement of the 1700s. Although the three settlements formed one single administrative unit, until the end of World War II all of them kept their independence.

Most villagers made their living out of the growing of crops, which usually had a yield four times as much as the seed planted. They also had vineyards and fruit trees. The pastures were important for animal husbandry, while the other pieces of land played a role in subsistence farming. The villagers were not tied to the demesne; they were freemen who could choose their landlord at their own discretion.

Similarly to the other parts of the country, in the second half of the 19th century economic growth accelerated here as well. This also resulted in a growth of the population. Farming became more efficient, there was some improvement in health care, and more people were involved in public education. On the other hand, the villagers have always had to fight the disadvantages resulting from the isolation of the settlement, because Tápióság lies a long way from trunk roads and the railway. This relative isolatedness still has a negative effect on our development.

The number of permanent inhabitants is 2,652. The great majority of the workforce commute to Budapest, while another major group are employed in the neighbouring settlements. In the village itself the major employer is the local authority, which employs 68 people. Several people work for the local bakery called Tápiósági Pékség, which supplies several settlements with good quality bread. Tölgy plc mostly works for export and so does Continuitas Ltd, which produces synthetic goods. The other enterprises only employ a few people.

The settlement has four day-nurseries, an eight-grade primary school, a district nurse, a district GP, a district dentist, a pharmacy, a post office, community centre, a culture centre, seven foodstores, seven eateries and pubs, three fodder shops, a confectioner’s shop, a toy shop, an electrical goods shop, a clothes shop and a flower shop.

The infrastructure is good. It is only the sewer that is still under construction. The water main was constructed in 1989, the gas pipe was built in 1993 and the telephone and cable television network have also been installed. 90 per cent of the roads are paved, the sidewalks in every street are also paved (at least on one of the sides), and surface draining has been built as well.

In the cultural life of the settlement an important role is played by the Pensioners’ Club, which is devoted to preserving the relics and traditions of folk culture. Many people are also actively engaged in sports; soccer has great traditions and the Taekwon-do Club has also achieved good results recently.

All the inhabitants are proud of the village’s great son, Dr Károly Papp, professor of geology and denominator of the local school, who was first secretary and then chairman of the Hungarian Geological Society. His activity as a cartographic geologist is especially related to Transylvania. It was he who explored the earth gas at Kissármás, which for a long time ranked as Europe’s most significant earth gas site. From among his literary works the most important is a book of nearly 1,000 pages titled The Iron Ore and Coal Reserve of the Hungarian Empire. He also published Hungary’s geological map, in which he saved the material compiled by Lajos Lóczy for several decades.

The great majority of Tápióság’s inhabitants are Hungarians; other nationalities include nine Gypsies, four Rumanians, three Slovaks, one Slovenian and one Ukrainian. As regards religion, there are 1,999 Roman Catholics, 20 Greek Catholics, 178 Calvinists, 23 Lutherans, 3 Jews and 23 people belonging to other denominations.