Garden town of 6,200 inhabitants, 25% of its territory is built up, with all public utilities. It is the international town of grapes and wine, the professional centre of the Balatonboglár Wine Region. The hills near the town are covered with nicely-maintained vineyards. The South-Balaton Wine Route association is responsible for organized wine tourism. The area of Balatonboglár has been populated for 6,000 years, it was first mentioned in Hungarian documents in 1211. The town was depopulated in the Turkish times but it revived in 1752 and the ferry between Boglár and Révfülöp started to function again. Balaton of 6 tons of displacement was the first screw steamer ship between Boglár and Révfülöp; its regular service was commenced in 1872. The first bathing association was established in 1904, Boglár was declared as medicinal bath in 1912, construction of the new port in the neighbourhood of the railway station was completed at that time. Construction of a church and a cultural centre had been initiated by Béla Varga, the young parson of the city, later chairman of the national assembly. High-school of Polish refugees worked in the cultural centre during the years of World War II. Besides Polish, the city gave shelter to French, too. The Catholic church in the centre of the city was built in 1932. Castle Hill above the church is a nature conservation area planted with Austrian pines. The János Xantus global look-out tower, the symbol of the city on the top of the hill is lighted at night. There is a wonderful view of the lake from the look-out tower. Outworks of an ancient earthwork are on the edge of the hill. Two chapels on the neighbouring Cemetery Hill can be seen close to each other. The blue chapel was built in 1856, the red one in 1892. Great exhibitions of fine arts have been organized in the two chapels in summer since 1970 as well as in the cellar gallery next to the Lutheran church. There is a beach football field, a handball and a basketball court, which are suitable for organization of international competitions. The Platán square has been renewed and has become one of the prides of the town. Next to the square 14 tennis courts can be rented for the pleasure of the 100-year-old tennis association and the visitors. In Elisabeth street, opposite the Town Hall you can find the Fischl House, which houses the exhibition of archaelogy 'Balatonboglár 6.000 years ago' and the exhibition of local history 'Old Workshops', as well as the memorial exhibiton of painter Bertalan Bagó. Museum of Viniculture in the mansion of Szőlőskislak close to the city, introducing the development and means of South-Balaton viniculture. Another sight in this part of the town is the Légli pottery manufacture and manor. The summer season in Boglár is opened by the Méta Festival of children folk dance groups of Transdanubia at Whitsuntide. Various cultural and sports programmes await visitors in Platán beach during the whole summer. The Fish soup cooking competition, the national beach football, beach handball and beach volleyball championships are becoming more and more popular. The Contest of Swimming Across Balaton between Révfülöp and Balatonboglár is the biggest amateur fresh-water swimming contest. It is held on the last Saturday of July. Today about ten thousand people perform the distance of 5,2 km every year. In 2004 a sports and leisure centre is to be built with a sports hall and a swimming pool, next to the outdoor courts which have already been completed. The most beautiful sailing port and camping site of the southern beach can be found in Balatonboglár. The successful one-week event called the Festival of Jazz and Wine is held in the second half of July. The Vintage Festival of Boglár, one of the largest events of this kind in Hungary, has been organized for three decades as part of the celebration of 20 August. The town of joy awaits visitors returning every year with free beaches and shady parking lot