Pilis

The town was inhabited in prehistoric times, but was abandoned at the end of the Roman rule. Pilis was then first mentioned in 1326. It was destroyed during the Ottoman rule in the 16th century, and was reestablished only in 1711, by János Beleznay, the local landlord. He brought Slovak settlers from Upper Hungary, and built a palace in 1717 for himself and his family. The Beleznay family sold the town and its surroundings in the 19th century to the Nyári family, who renamed the palace to "Beleznay-Nyári palace".

Even though the town's ethnic composition has changed in the last centuries, there is still a sizable Slovak minority which has its own local government that is responsible for keeping the Slovak traditions and memories of Pilis.

The name comes from Slavic Pleš – bald (area or mountain), an area with sparse or missing trees or vegetation.{{cite book |last=Stanislav |first=Ján |author-link=Ján Stanislav |title=Slovenský juh v stredoveku II.| page=353| publisher=Slovenské literárne centrum |year=2004 |language=sk |ISBN=80-88878-89-6}}{{cite book |last=Kiss |first=Lajos |title=Földrajzi nevek etimológiai szótára|location=Budapest |page=513|publisher=Akadémiai |year=1978 |language=hu}}{{cite journal | first = Rudolf | last = Krajčovič | author-link = Rudolf Krajčovič | title = Z lexiky stredovekej slovenčiny s výkladmi názvov obcí a miest (48) | journal = Kultúra slova | year = 2014 | issue = 6 | page = 334| publisher = Vydavateľstvo Matice slovenskej | location = Martin | language = sk}} There are similar names in several Slavic countries including e.g. Pleš, Slovakia (1319 Pilis).

Some point out the similarity between the Lithuanian word "pilis" (meaning castle) and the Hungarian town's name.{{Cite web|last=Matulis|first=Rimantas|date=19 January 2010|title=Geruliai|url=https://on.lt/geruliai#dunojus|access-date=18 September 2020|language=lt}}

• Pál Csernai (1932–2013), football player and manager
• Tibor Csernai (1938–2012), footballer

{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Hungary}}

Pilis is twinned with:{{cite web |title=Testvérvárosaink|url=https://www.pilis.hu/index.php?mid=147|website=pilis.hu|publisher=Pilis|language=hu|access-date=2021-04-10}}

• {{flagicon|ITA}} Piazza al Serchio, Italy

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.pilis.hu/ Official website]
• [http://www.pilis.hu/index.php?mid=194 History of Pilis in English] at the official website
• [http://www.terkepcentrum.hu/index.asp?go=map&tid=9821 Street map] {{in lang|hu}}

{{Pest County}}

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Category:Populated places in Pest County

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