MISKOLCZ, capital of the Cis-Tisian county of Borsoo, Hungary (49° 6' N. lat., 20° 49' E. long.), is picturesquely situated in a valley watered by the Szinva, 90 miles northeast from Budapest, with which, as also with Debreczen and Kassa (Kaschau), it is directly connected by railway. Miskolcz is one of the most thriving provincial towns in the kingdom, and has many fine buildings, including Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic, Lutheran, and Calvinist churches and schools, a Minorite convent, synagogue, Hungarian theatre, hospital, royal and circuit courts of law, salt and tax offices, and the administrative bureaus for the county. There are manufactories of snuff, porcelain, boots and shoes, and prepared leather, and both steam and water mills. The trade is chiefly in grain, wheaten flour, wine, fruit, cattle, hides, honey, wax, and the agricultural products of the neighbourhood. The great fairs, held five times a year, are much resorted to by strangers from a distance. Not far from the town are stone quarries and iron mines. At the end of 1880 the (civil) population amounted to 24,343, of whom the majority were Magyars by nationality.

During the 16th and 17th centuries Miskolcz suffered much from the desolating hordes of Ottomans who then ravaged the country, as also from the troops of various Transylvanian princes and leaders, especially those of George RakOczy and Emetic Tokolyi. In 1781, 1843, and 1847 it was devastated by fire, and on the 30th August 1878 a great portion of the town was laid in ruins by a terrific storm. (See )HUNGARY, vol. xii. p. 374.)