Archeological findings shows us that the area already was habited before popular-migrance. The settling hungarians also found the place attractive also but the time exectly when the town was found is unknown.

The tenth collector of Eger already mentioned the place in 1275. It is truth that he mentioned that it was unhabited buti t means that it was habited enough before to take tenth from them. Then later charters mention it as the part of the queen's propery in 1323.

In 1464 King Matyas gave the certificate to be a free agricultural town in gratitude of the soldiers the town gave to help him int he war against the bohemians. After the battle in Mohács it was subjected area but later it became unhabited again. After the end of the Ottoman empire in Hungary Mezökövesd become part of the threas of the king.

In 1860 the railway was built which ran by the town and helped it in the transportation and the development. In these times the habitants of the town doubled in 50 years. The town had enough estate to support the people of the town before but due to the newcomers and the tradition which splits up the estate between the offsprings the people had no more enough land to keep them up. Thank to that fact the people became seasonal workers and mostly away from the town. These workers were called "summás".

Later in the 1940's the number of the habitants of the town reached a peek with 21.000 person. Usually before and after this the number is 18.000-19.000 .

The town is the touristic, economic, cultural, commercial centre of the zone and it is the centre of the vocational training also.

The agricultural work is still the dominant especially ont he fields but after the 1990's many firms and buisnesses were established. Now it is normalized. The number of firms on  the field of the catering trade grown as well but mostly like the others they functionate under family control.

The name "Matyó"
The name Matyó appears in 19. century for the first time. In the begging they called the local people by that name then later the people from Tard and Szentistvan, whose outfit and style of embrodery is different, also. In 1464 King Mathias exalted  Mezew Kewesd to an agricultural town. He visited the town at the day of Saint László in 1472 also and his character stayed popular in the region for a long time. For that reason some originates the name of the ethnical group from the king's nickname. In fact Károly Herkely and other ethnographer belives that this is the way how the people was called who stayed in little catholic islands in a strong reformed surrounding to separate them. With the time it lost its mockery tone. The 3 settlement created remarkable heritage with its folklore and they used this name with great pride.

The Matyo folklore
The blooming of the local embroidery started from the succes at the Millenium Exhibition in 1896. They presented the matyó-wedding here also and 18 years later they made a folk-drama out of it which was starring with Blaha Lujza. The home-made embroidery started to be popular after that the folklore became well-known which means income still to some family. This was significant especially when people didnt have constant jobs. Most of the townspeople took seasonal-jobs even over the borders at those time from the spring until the autum . In contempt of the boorishly lifestyle thier outfit was the most gaudy. The "let it grumble if it shines" phrase was born at that time.

The Matyo Embroidery
The older ones are red-blue colored  where the most typical is the shoe-bird motive on the edge of the sheets. The shoes is the symbol of the boots under the bed and the bird is the symbol of the dawn signal cock or bird. The well-known embroidery first appeard on  the cloth which were made by the furriers then it was used ont he normal textiles. The designs are thick, crowded, they fullfill all the space and strongly colored. The most specific part is the matyo-rose, which has many known type. The most famous matyo "writer-lady" or designer was Kisjankó Bori had the "hundred-rose" name because she created maybe the most variation of the rose. Every 3 year the oldest and the most prestigious embroidery contest is held for her rememberance. The next the 25th one will be in 2007.

Costumes
The folk-costumes of Mezõkövesd are so famous for more than 100 years and this is due to the fact that it is really elegant and emphasize the beauty of the body. Even int he 18th century the upper class liked to wear them and still it is one of  the symbols of the nation, a real hungaricum. The women were wearing tight shirt with lifted shoulderd sleeves, ruffled waist. Their skirts were long and also ruffled. Their pinafore is also long which was fully decorated with embroidery. The headscarf was unique with pom-pom shaped ornaments which lifts the head  straight. The loose long-sleeved white shirt is part of the men's wear which is fully embroidered and often decorated with lace. They wear a high matyo hat which is beautified with a tape. The matyos adorned not only hte textiles but the furnitures also.Without  the painted matyo-chest where the trousseau was kept , no matyo girl got married.

Keeping the heritage
The folk costumes are weared by mostly those fellowship-members who's task is to keep this heritage. But the performances of the Matyó Folkdancegroup are bringing the matyó lifestyle alive again also. They evoke the matyó-wedding often. Our  Hadas district of the town is keeping, and presenting the old structures of architercture.The houses funcionate as workshops for folkartists. The matyo museum is giving the opportunity to all to take a look at the daily lifestyle and traditions. Now it takes place at one of the most beautiful building the old Korona Szálló.It opened in 2005 on the day of the town.

Thermal water
Our town is not only famous because of the rich heritage . Many people associates the Zsóry Thermal Bath when they hear the name of the town. Due to the excellent curative power it is mentioned between the best 3 bathes of Hungary. The name is dedicated to Zsóry Lajos who was main solicitor of the town and the owner of the land where the state ordered to drill for oil in 1939. But under the ground they found the hot water instead of oil which water was proclaimed to curative in 1968. The water's temperature is 72C and it has the highest sulpfur content int he country. More than half million people experiances the health-giving power of the biggest spa of North-Hungary yearly which is coupling with the matyo hospitality.