Castle of Eger

The Castle of Eger (Hungarian: Egri vár) is a castle in Eger, Hungary. Historically, it is known for repelling the Turkish attack in 1552 during the Siege of Eger.

History

The first castle was built on the high hill named Várhegy at Felsőtárkány near Eger.

During the Mongol invasion in 1241, this castle was ruined, and the bishop of Eger moved it to a rocky hill in the city of Eger. On the hill, a new castle was built, and it developed rapidly. In 1470 a Gothic palace was built. In 1552, a Turkish army of 35,000-40,000 soldiers attacked the castle which had 2,100-2,300 defenders. The siege failed as the Turks suffered heavy casualties. A total of 1,700 of the defenders survived. After that Turks besieged the castle again in 1596, resulting in a Turkish victory. In 1701, the Austrians exploded half of the castle (the Külső vár).

Archaeological excavations only started in 1925 and the castle was used by the army as barracks until 1957.

Museums

There are several museums in the castle:

Eger

Eger (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈɛɡɛr]  listen ; see also other alternative names) is the county seat of Heves, and the second largest city in Northern Hungary (after Miskolc). Eger is best known for its castle, thermal baths, historic buildings (including the northernmost Turkish minaret), dishes and red wines. It has an estimated population of 56,530 as of 2011, which makes it 19th largest city in Hungary. The city is located on the Eger Stream, on the hills of the Bükk Mountains.

Etymology

The origin of its name is still unknown. One suggestion is that the place was named after the elder ("égerfa" in Hungarian) which grew so abundantly along the banks of the Eger Stream. This explanation seems to be correct because the name of the town reflects its ancient natural environment, and also one of its most typical plants, the elder, large areas of which could be found everywhere on the marshy banks of the Stream although they have since disappeared. The German name of the town: Erlau=Erlen-au (elder grove) also speaks in favour of this supposition. And there is another theory which says that Eger's name comes from the Latin word: "ager" (earth). This theory comes from more recent researchers who think that during the 11th and 12th centuries settlers with a Walloon origin ("latins" in Hungarian) moved to this territory. The basin of Eger and the hilly region around it have always been very suitable for human settlements, and there are many archaeological findings from the early ages of history, which support this fact.

Eger (disambiguation)

Eger may refer to:

People

Ohře

The Ohře (pronounced [ˈoɦr̝ɛ]; German: Eger, Czech also: Oharka or Ohara, Celtic: Agara, Polish: Ohrza) is a 316 km long river in Germany (65 km) and the Czech Republic (251 km), left tributary of the Elbe. The catchment area of the river is 6,255 km², of which 5,614 km² is in the Czech Republic and 641 km² in Germany. It is the third biggest river in the Czech Republic.

Several districts in Germany and the Czech Republic have formed an Euroregion initiative named Euregio Egrensis to foster cooperation in the region of Eger/Ohře/Cheb.

Etymology

There is a Czech pun that the Ohře got its name from the river Teplá (meaning "warm" in Czech) - "ohřát" means "to warm up". However the real origin, which also shows in the German name, is Celtic, from Agara (the "Salmon River"). The records show the name as Agara, Agira, Agra in the 9th century, Egire, Egra or Ogra in the 11th century and Eger in 1472. Another theory states that since in Macedonia there exists a Lake Ohrid, the Slavic people who settled in the Balkans, particularly Macedonia around Lake Ohrid, originated from the area of the river Ohře and thus named the lake in south Macedonia "Ohrid".