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Székesfehérvár is a city in central Hungary, located around 65 km southwest of Budapest. It is inhabited by 104,059 people (2001), with 138,995 in the direct vicinity, and is the centre of the Fejér county.
Etymology of the name
Its name means "royal white chair/throne/castle", and its translation to other related languages (German Stuhlweißenburg, Croatian Stolni Biograd, Turkish Istolni Belgrád) means "the white city of/with the chair/table/castle". The word szék meaning chair is related to its important role in the first centuries of Hungary: székhely means a capital of something, székel means (for a king) to reside somewhere. The first kings of Hungary were crowned and buried here, so Székesfehérvár was a capital city of the country. The other capital was Esztergom.
History
The place was inhabited since Roman times, the settlements were called Gorsium and Herculia. In the Middle Ages, its Latin name was Alba Regalis/Alba Regia.
It is historically famous as the ancient coronation and burial place of the kings of Hungary.
Twin towns
Since 1991 it has been twinned with Chorley, which is in Lancashire, England.
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