Szombathely

Szombathely (sôm`bŏt-hā'), Ger. Steinamanger, city (1991 est. pop. 85,700), W Hungary, near the Austrian border. An important railway junction, it produces leather goods, agricultural machinery, textiles, and shoes and is also a market for local farm products. Szombathely has been an episcopal see since the 17th cent. and has a women's college. The city was founded in A.D. 48 by the Roman emperor Claudius and called Sabaria. Septimius Severus was proclaimed (193) emperor there, and St. Martin of Tours was born (c.316) in the city. Szombathely was destroyed (5th cent.) by the Huns but was rebuilt. The city has an 18th-century cathedral, a 17th-century Dominican church, and an episcopal palace with a museum of antiquities. Ruins of a triumphal arch, an amphitheater, and an aqueduct have been excavated nearby.