PHOTOS: There is a secret Hungarian village in the heart of Türkiye, close to Antalya

First, Magyar Nemzet, a Hungarian daily, wrote about a secret Hungarian village in the heart of Türkiye where locals believe they are the descendants of the Hungarians and their village’s name is simple: Hungarian village.

Magyar Nemzet Magazine wrote about the secret history of Macarköy (Gebiz). At the 1976 Istanbul conference on the Turkish-Hungarian relationship, a map showed only eight villages of Hungarian origins in Türkiye. Three Macarlar, two Macar, two Macaroglu and one Macara. They are on the shores of the Black Sea or Anatolia. But there was no Macarköy.

Here it is on a map:

But Ferenc Ispay found it later and published an article about his findings in 1981. He travelled to Istanbul to find a church in Galata where II. Rákóczi Ferenc’s earthly remains waited to be transported back to Hungary in 1906. But he found a new Hungarian village.

Some locals told him their ancestors came 420 years ago from Hungary to Gebze, close to Istanbul. Unsolvable troubles arose with the nearby Circassian village, so they moved away and founded Macarköy. Others believed their ancestors were Hungarian refugees who escaped from the Habsburg oppression or the Russian invaders in 1849.

But the local cemetery bears the name Hungarian cemetery, and there is a Szekler-Hungarian traditional gate in the village. The inscription says Biz Kardesim, we are brothers. HERE and HERE you may find some photos.

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