[4] The first recorded reference to Gyula was in a document dated 1313 which mentions a monastery called Gyulamonostora (Julamonustra in Latin).

[3] In the beginning of July 1566, an Ottoman army of 27,000–30,000 men led by Pertev Mehmed Pasha [tr] surrounded the 2,000-strong Gyula castle and laid siege to it.

On 21 December, a contract was signed on the surrender of the castle and the free retreat of the guard and the population.

Gyula's Turkish guard left the castle on 18 January 1695, and after 129 years, the city was liberated by Christian troops.

[3] Due to the wars, most of the native Hungarian population fled from Gyula and Békés County became near uninhabited.

[5] The landowner János Harruckern invited German, Hungarian, and Romanian settlers, who re-established the town in the early 18th century.

[3] According to the 2011 census, the population of Gyula was 31,067, of whom there were 25,895 (83.4%) Hungarians, 974 (3.1%) Romanians, 971 (3.1%) Germans and 102 (0.3%) Romani by ethnicity.

The local Municipal Assembly has 14+1 members divided into this political parties and alliances:[17] The Christián László Municipal Sports Complex is a municipal sports complex, consisting of 13 hectares of sports facilities, which includes the Himer Center field with an athletics track and a football pitch surrounded by a motorcycle speedway track.

In addition, there are two more full size football pitches, tennis courts, basketball and skateboarding facilities.