Main sights of Eger

Memento of the heroic deeds of the Eger warriors

The Castle of Eger

St. Stephen founded an episcopate in Eger between 1001 and 1009 A.D., and a stone castle was built from 1248 for its protection. To replace the ruined Roman style church on the Castle Hill, a Gothic, later a late Gothic cathedral was built. The episcopal seat in the Castle was in its glory in the fifteenth century. In the sixteenth century Turkish conquests reached Hungary, when the capital also fell. The Turkish army turned against Eger in 1552. The defending army of 2000 soldiers defended the Castle against a forty-fold superiority, in a siege that lasted for five weeks. This heroic resistence is an outstanding event of Hungarian history, and with the help of Géza Gárdonyi’s novel it is known in every part of Europe.

The heart of Eger

Dobó square

Once a large, unbuilt wetland was at the place of the present town centre. Water from the surrounding hills flowed down here, forming an island-like area, which later became a marketplace, even later an important space for the public life of Eger.

There were fairs held in the square even back in the Middle Ages. Moreover, some time slave trade took place here, as well.

Today Dobó square is the biggest square of Eger, situated in the very heart of the town.

Where the Offi House is standing…

The Bridge and the Little Dobó square

Until 1807 the district beyond Eger creek belonged to Borsod County, so if someone wanted to cross the creek had to pay a toll in the customs house at the left side of the bridge. In 1731 the town replaced the wooden bridge with a huge, domed, so called Minorites’ Bridge decorated with statues of saints. It was built by the Giovanni Baptista Carlone, the noted Italian architect. A great flood in 1878 ruined it so much that it had to be unbuilt. The present bridge was constructed in 1948. Today the square beyond the creek is unofficially called „Little Dobó square”.

A Baroque pearl

Minorite church

To replace their earlier, flood-damaged creekside church the Minorites began to build a new church in 1758, next to the Town Hall, which was donated to the convent by a settled and converted Turkish squire, Ferenc Noszvaj, lord of Noszvaj village. The church, which was built for 9 years, is a pearl of the Hungarian Baroque achitecture. The monumental building, which distinctly bulges on its facade, has a masterpiece interior design as well. Its outstandingly rich furnishing is due to the donations from the citizens and the squires of the county. The main altarpiece was made by János Lukács Kracker.