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Eger

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Template:Infobox Hungarian settlement

Eger - Dobó square and the castle.
Eger is also the German name for the Czech town Cheb and the Ohře river.

Eger (Serbian and Croatian: Jegar / Јегар or Jegra / Јегра; Czech: Jager; Slovak: Jáger; Polish: Jagier; Turkish: Eğri; German: Erlau; Latin: Agria) is a city in northern Hungary, the county capital of Heves, east of Mátra mountains. Eger is mostly known for its castle, thermal baths, historical buildings (including the northernmost Turkish minaret), and for the best Hungarian red wines.

History

Eger has been inhabited since the Stone Age. During the early Middle Ages the area was inhabited by German, Avar, and Slavonic tribes. Hungarians occupied the area in the 10th century. Stephen the Saint (997–1038), the first Christian king of Hungary founded an episcopate in Eger. The first cathedral of Eger was built on the Castle Hill, where now the castle of Eger stands. The town was built around the cathedral, which doesn't exist any more, but Eger has been an important religious centre of Hungary ever since its founding.

The 14-16th centuries were an age of prosperity for Eger. Winegrowing, for which the town is famous, began to be important at that time. During the reign of King Matthias (1458-1490) when Renaissance culture began to affect Hungary, bishops of Eger had beautiful buildings built.

During the Turkish occupation of Hungary, Eger became an important border fortress. Under the command of Captain István Dobó the defenders of the castle (less than 2,100 people, including women and children) successfully fought back the Turkish army of 80,000 soldiers. For most Hungarians, the story of the siege is known from the novel "Stars over Eger," (English title: "Eclipse of the Crescent Moon") by famous 19th century Hungarian writer Géza Gárdonyi.

Eger minaret

In 1596 a bigger army of the Turks attacked Eger, and after a siege of 6 days Captain Nyáry surrendered the castle. Eger fell under Turkish rule for more than eighty years and became the capital of a Turkish vilayet (administrative division). The Turks had rebuilt the castle, transformed the churches into mosques, and built several other buildings including public baths and minarets.

After the Turks attempted to occupy Vienna, the Habsburgs, who controlled the rest of Hungary which wasn't under Turkish rule, thought the time had come to chase the Turks out of the country. The Christian army led by Charles of Lorraine occupied the castle of Buda in 1686 and starved the castle of Eger into surrender in 1687.

Eger began to prosper again. The bishops reclaimed the town, causing many of the Protestant inhabitants to leave. During the 1703-1711 war of independence against the Habsburgs, the town supported the Hungarian leader Prince Francis II Rákóczi, but the Imperial army defeated the Hungarians, and soon after that Eger suffered from a plague. During the 1700s many people immigrated to Eger, and between 1725 and 1750 the population has risen from 6000 to 10,000. New buildings were built in Baroque (and later in Zopf) style, including the cathedral, the Episcopal Palace, the county hall, the college (now called Eszterházy College after its founder) and several churches. Also the mosques were transformed into Catholic churches.

The 19th century began with disasters: a fire destroyed half of the town in 1800, and the southern wall of the castle collapsed in 1801, ruining several houses. Eger became archiepiscopacy in 1804. The town struggled to be free from the archbishop's rule, but the Church was stronger so the archbishop remained the owner of the town. In 1827 a fire burnt most of the town centre again, and four years later an epidemic killed more than 200 people.

The Basilica of Eger.

The inhabitants of Eger took an active part in the revolution in 1848. Even though the revolution was suppressed, the age of landowners and bondsmen was gone forever, and Eger became free from the archbishop's rule in 1854. Sadly the building of the railway network was already done when it happened so Eger was left off the main railway line between Miskolc and Budapest, leaving the role of railway junction to the nearby smalltown Füzesabony.

After World War I the economic life started slowly, but from 1925 the construction of new buildings has begun. Gárdonyi's "Eclipse of the Crescent Moon" (1899) made Eger popular as a tourist attraction, and the archeological excavation of the castle began. World War II, the retreating German army, and the occupying Soviet troops all had their effects on the town, but there were no bombings.

Today's Eger is a prospering town and an internationally popular tourist destination with a charming Baroque town centre.

Districts of Eger

  • Almagyar - This hill in the Eastern part of the town is one of the posh areas of Eger, near to the castle. Its southern part gives place to some buildings of the Eszterházy College.
  • Almár - The northernmost part of the town, mostly weekend cottages can be found here.
  • Belváros (Downtown) - The centre of Eger is often called "the Baroque Pearl of Europe". Here are located the Dobó square, the main square of the historical town, surrounded by Baroque houses and the St. Anthony Church. Other historical buildings include the Cathedral and the Lyceum.
  • Berva housing estate
  • Castle of Eger - The oldest and most famous part of Eger.
  • Cifra hóstya - North from downtown, this part of the town is full of small houses and narrow one-way streets. You can find the Firefighter Museum here.
  • Csákó - Garden town area with larger houses, east of the train station.
  • Érsekkert (Bishop's Garden) - The largest park of Eger with sport facilities, a small lake, and a fountain.
  • Felnémet - This village was annexed to Eger in the second half of the 20th century and still preserves the characteristics of a village.
  • Felsőváros (Upper Town, former Cheboksary Housing Estate) - The largest housing estate of Eger is full of four- and ten-storied concrete buildings, providing homes for one third of the town's population. Three secondary schools can be found in this district.
Aerial photography of part of the town
  • Hajdúhegy - Garden town area similar to that in Almagyar Hill.
  • Hatvani hóstya - The district is divided by the Highway No. 25. Eger's stadium and Protestant church can be found here.
  • Industrial zone - Many multinational companies settled here, east from Lajosváros.
  • Károlyváros (Charles Town) - One of the largest districts of Eger, Károlyváros is west from downtown. The Tobacco Factory, the High School for Health Professions, and the Dobó István Garrison can be found here.
  • Lajosváros (Louis Town) - This district is in the southern part of the town. Many high schools and student hostels can be found here. Detached homes make up most of the district.
  • Maklári hóstya, Tihamér - This district is one of the fastest developing parts of the town. Public swimming pools can be found here.
  • Pásztorvölgy - A garden town area.
  • Rácz hóstya - Another garden town area west from Upper Town.
  • Szépasszonyvölgy ("Valley of the Beautiful Women") - One of the most famous areas of Eger and the Eger wine districts, Szépasszonyvölgy is mostly known for its wine cellars.
  • Tetemvár - Another garden town area. According to the legend, the dead Turkish soldiers were buried here in 1552, hence the district's name ("Dead Bodies Castle".)
  • Vécseyvölgy - A garden town area with a small unpaved airport that's used for sport purposes only.

Main sights

File:EgerCathedral.jpg
The cathedral at night
  • Castle of Eger
  • The Cathedral
  • Minaret (northernmost minaret of Europe and one of only three existing minarets in Hungary)
  • Szépasszonyvölgy (The Valley of Beautiful Woman - location of many of the wine cellars in the area
  • Dobó Square
  • Teacher's training college (A camera obscura in the top of the building reflects images of the entire city on a table in front of you.)

Twin towns

Trivia

Eger is one of only four Hungarian municipalities which have a Mars crater named after them (in 1976). The other three are Paks, Bak and Igal.


Wikimedia Commons has media related to Eger.
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