Mátraballa

Mátraballa is a village in Heves County, Hungary, under the Mátra mountain range, beside of the Balla creek. As of 2022 census, it has a population of 668 (see Demographics). The village located 18.8 km from the main road 21 and 40.8 km from the M25 expressway. The (Nr. 84) Kisterenye–Kál-Kápolna railway line going across the village. Although the settlement has its own railway station, public transport on the railway line ceased on. The closest train station with public transport is in Bátonyterenye 18.9 km away.

History
The first documented mention of the settlement was in the form of Ballya, in 1447 it was already known as Barla. Due to the destruction by the Ottomans, it became depopulated in the 16th century. The owner of the village was, then , and then the crown. King Maximilian pledged it in 1575 to the chief captain of Eger, Baron Christoph von Ungnad. His widow donated it to her second husband, Count Sigismund Forgách, and then in 1603 Baron Sigismund Rákóczi bought it. After several changes of ownership, the other part of the village was sold by Count Ferenc Wesselényi to György Semsey in 1654, who obtained a royal donation for it. The settlement's church was built of stone in 1696. Count Antal Grassalkovich acquired the right of ownership over the village from 1730. The built the clergy house in 1806, which still stands today as a listed building. became the new owner of the village in 1847. The settlement also created a Palóc folk museum, which preserves the objects of daily use in the village. The writer spent his childhood in the settlement, who wrote several works about the everyday life of Palóc people. The monument to the Millennium Deer was built in 2000, the work of Róbert Király was built on a 30-ton stone.

Demographics
According the 2022 census, 93.0% of the population were of Hungarian ethnicity, 0.6% were Gypsies and 7.0% were did not wish to answer. The religious distribution was as follows: 58.9% Roman Catholic, 3.6% Calvinist, 8.9% non-denominational, and 25.9% did not wish to answer. 670 people live in the village and only one person in farm.

Population by years:

Politics
Mayors since 1990:
 * 1990–1994: János Bíró (independent)
 * 1994–2014: János László Forgó (independent)
 * 2014–2019: Róbert Dudás (Jobbik)
 * 2019–: Henriett Gyuricza, Mrs. Pádár (independent)