Abaújszántó is a settlement at the meeting of two regions, Abaúj and Zemplén, it came into existence along the commercial road connecting Tokaj and Kassa, Debrecen and Cracow. It has been for centuries the economic, cultural centre of the land. The settlement had a church probably by the time of St.Stephan, the first written memorial dates from 1275. Through its prosperous position started its embourgeoisement early and it became to a market-town in the 15th century. At this time it was the third biggest town after Kassa and Gone in Abauj county, with a significant craftsmen and merchant stratum. Its excellent wines also got to abroad. Its development slowed down at the Turkish time. The land became a centre of the spreading reformation. The clericals of Abaújszántó took part in the Bible-translation of Gáspár Károli. The town belonged for a long time to the Rákóczi family, after 1711 German settlers were invited beside the diminished population. The town has its golden age in the second half of the 19th century. Then it was the second most important town in the county after Kassa. The events at the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century influenced its development: the vine-pest epidemic, lost of the city-rank (1902), Trianon. In 1962 it stopped to be a district seat. However, it preserved its central function in the land, and thanks to the mature settlement developments it got again the city-rank in 2004.