Tarnaszentmária

Tarnaszentmária is a village in Heves County, Hungary, under the Mátra mountain range, beside of the Tarna River. As of 2022 census, it has a population of 227 (see Demographics). The village located 17.6 km from Eger, the capital of the county and beside of the (Nr. 84) Kisterenye–Kál-Kápolna railway line, 15.5 km from the main road 3 and 21.2 km from the M3 motorway. Although the settlement has its own railway stop, public transport on the railway line ceased on . The closest train station with public transport is in Eger 17.9 km away.

==History== The village is first mentioned as Torna in 1325 and then as Szentmária in 1339, in the certificates. The owner of the village is the 16-17th century, the Szentmáriay family owned the village. It was destroyed during the Siege of Eger castle in 1552. The village was presumably inhabited again around 1590, but was depopulated again during the Long Turkish War. István Szentmáriay sold the wasteland in 1656 to Menyhért Ragályi. After Great Turkish War the wasteland was confiscated by the treasury as acquired by arms and sold to János Enczinger in 1696. It was used by for a while during the Rákóczi's War of Independence, and from 1711 Eiczinger was the landlord again. Between 1717 and 1719, the settlement was repopulated. In 1721, it was owned by the city of Eger, from 1722 by Tarródy, then by the Gellén and Csuma families. The population of the village was 192 people in 1746, most of whom spoke Slovak. In the 18th century, the inhabitants lived by burning charcoal, and the arable land was expanded by deforestation. 509 people were registered in the village in 1859, which was owned by the Dózlern, , and Bárczay families from the beginning of the 19th century. In the 1930s, the majority of the village made a living from farming. Their main crops were wheat, barley, oats, green fodder and potatoes. There were several quarries in operation within the boundaries of the village. The village was one of the stone carving centers of the region. In the 20th century, stone was quarried for the construction of large roads and residential buildings, the remains of which can still be seen in the former quarry. Between 1960 and 1966, the settlement had its own agricultural cooperative. Since 1955, it has been a village with an independent council, belonging to the Verpelét District Registry Office.