Székesfehérvár, city in central Hungary and capital of Fejér County, on the Gaja River, in the marshy Sárrét region near Budapest. The city is a transportation and trade center of the Mezföld (“little plains”) region, which grows tobacco, market vegetables, and grapes. Industries include aluminum-rolling mills, wineries, distilleries, tanneries, engineering works, and plants manufacturing telecommunications equipment, textiles, shoes, and soap. Of interest are a museum containing Roman artifacts; an 18th-century cathedral on the site of an 11th-century church founded by Stephen I, king of Hungary; monasteries; and mineral springs.
Known to the Romans as Alba Regia, the city was the site of coronation of the Hungarian kings from 1027 to 1527 and the capital of the country until the 14th century. From 1543 to 1686 it was under Turkish rule, and later it passed to Austria-Hungary. Rebuilt in the 18th century, it was called Stuhlweissenburg. Population (1999 estimate) 105,293.Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001
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