Gyöngyös () is a town in Heves county in Hungary, east of Budapest. Situated at the foot of the Sár-hegy and Mátra mountains, it is the home of numerous food production plants, including milk production and sausage factories. It is also the home of many vineyards on the slopes of the Sárhegy. The Art-Nouveau and Baroque buildings around the main square were reconstructed after a disastrous fire started in the local hospital in 1917, destroying a number of buildings housing important Jewish institutions and leaving in all around 8,000 homeless. Name The meaning of the town's name is "Made of Pearls"; Croats from Hungary call this city Đunđuš . The 16/17th-century historian Miklós Istvánffy wrote that the name of the town comes from the Hungarian word for mistletoe (fagyöngy literally "wood-pearl"), which is abundant in the local woods. History Gyöngyös was home to a large Jewish community before World War II. In 1942, anti-Jewish laws were adopted in the province, affecting the Jews of the town. Following the occupation of Hungary by the German army in March 1944, 1800 Jews were locked in a ghetto. Some were saved by Hungarian Righteous Among the Nations personnel but most of them were deported to Auschwitz where they were murdered. Sights to visit There are many monuments and places of interest in the town, such as the Orczy mansion, home of the Mátra Museum, Saint Bartholomew's Church (Saint Bartholomew Church, Gyöngyös, Hungary) in the center of town, and its Treasury. Notable residents Gyöngyi Horváth, sociologist, conference organiser Rudolph Ritter von Brudermann (1851–1941), general of Austria-Hungary during the First World War Béla Kerékjártó (1898–1946), mathematician Sandor Kenyeres (born 1949), property developer, scientific philanthropist, and cultural visionary Gedeon Richter (1872–1944), pharmacist, business magnate, philanthropist, founder of Gedeon Richter plc, pioneer of the Hungarian pharmaceutical industry Soma Visontai (1854–?), lawyer, deputy Paul Vay de Vaya (1735–1800), Major General (1794), Feldmarschall-leutnant (1799–1800) Margit Gréczi (born 1941), painter Zita Pataki (born 1973), weather presenter Politics Gábor Vona (born 1978), politician, leader of the political party Jobbik Gábor Fodor (born 1962), jurist, politician, leader of the Hungarian Liberal Party Pál Almásy (1818–1882), lawyer, politician, Speaker of the House of Representatives (1849) Károly Kamermayer (1829–1897), jurist, councillor, the first mayor of Budapest (1873–1896) József Balázs (born 1965), politician Gabor Horváth, (born 1963) brigadier general, army carrier officer, promoter of NATO and EU membership, commander Sports Viktor Szabó (born 1986), footballer