Hungary, Debrecen

Debrecen is the second largest city in Hungary after Budapest. Debrecen is the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the capital of Hajdú-Bihar county.

History

Before Hungarians occupied present-day Hungary, a number of different tribes lived in the area. The town came into existence by the merging of the small villages of the area, and was mentioned by the name "Debrezun" first in 1235. The name possibly comes from Slavic dobre zliem ("good soil".) Other theories say the name is of Kuman origin.

In 1361 King Louis the Great granted the citizens of Debrecen the right to choose the town's judge and council.

During the Ottoman period being close to the border and having no castle or city walls, Debrecen often found itself in difficult situations and the town was saved only by the diplomatic skills of its leaders.

During World War II Debrecen was almost completely destroyed, 70% of the buildings suffered damage, 50% of them were completely destroyed.

Education

Debrecen is home to a large university, University of Debrecen, it is listed as the 1300th university, whose main building is a widely recognized work of architecture.

Sports

The city has a famous football club, Debreceni VSC. Nowadays it's one of the best teams in Hungary, won the national championship in the consecutive seasons of 2004/2005, 2005/2006 and 2006/2007.

The city has hosted several international sporting events in the last years, for example in July 2001 the second World Youth Championships in Athletics and in October 2006 hosted the first IAAF World Road Running Championships and also the 2007 European SC Swimming Championships.

The city was officially an applicant city to host the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in 2010.