Diósgyőr
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Diósgyőr is a historical town in Hungary, today a district of Miskolc, former centre of heavy industry. Its population is around 60,000 (about one third of the city's population.) Its mediaeval castle was a favourite holiday residence of Hungarian kings and queens, today it's a popular tourist attraction. The football team of Miskolc is also named after Diósgyőr; its stadium can be found in the district.
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[edit] Origin of the name
Dió means walnut, referring to the walnut trees. Győr is an archaic version of the word gyűrű, meaning "ring". It probably refers to the rounded shape of the first castle that stood there.
[edit] The history of Diósgyőr and the castle
Main article: Castle of Diósgyőr
The area has been inhabited since ancient times, the remains of an ancient settlement were found near the castle. The name of the town was first mentioned by the anonymous author of Gesta Hungarorum around 1200, as Geuru, which was an archaic spelling for Győr: "after our leader Árpád left Szerencs with his army (...) he gave the land between Tapolca and the river Sajó, called Miskolc, and the town named Győr to Böngér, father of Bors." (see original Latin text | here.)
The first castle was probably built in the 12th century and was destroyed during the Mongol invasion. The castle that stands today was probably built by King Béla IV in the 13th century.
The castle had its prime during the reign of Louis I (Louis the Great). In 1364 the nearby town Miskolc was annexed to the Diósgyőr estate. Diósgyőr lost some of its importance when the personal union between Hungary and Poland ended.
After the Battle of Mezőkeresztes (1596) the Ottomans occupied the area and from this time Diósgyőr was under Turkish occupation and the area was ruled by the Pasha of Eger until 1687 when this part of the country was freed from Turkish rule. By this time the castle lost all of its military importance.
Even though Miskolc and Diósgyőr were connected by a bus line (from 1903) and by tramway (from 1906), a travel guide from 1922 still mentions Diósgyőr as a separate town. On January 1, 1945, the two towns were officially joined, and Greater Miskolc came into existence. At first they were connected only by the new factory that was built between them, but the two former towns soon grew together and today it's hard to tell where were the boundaries of the historical Miskolc and the historical Diósgyőr.
[edit] The Pauline monastery of Diósgyőr
The Pauline monastery was founded by Palatine István in the end of the 13th century. He supported the monastery until his death. The monastery also had a scriptorium, one of the codices made here was copied by a monk named László for the Church on the Avas hill. This codex is now held in the archives of Eger.
In 1526, when Hungary was divided to three parts (the Western territories were occupied by the Habsburgs, Transylvania was an independent state and the rest was under Turkish occupation), Gáspár Serédy, one of the lords loyal to King Ferdinand, ravaged the monastery because the abbot was supposedly a follower of Ferdinand's rival King John Zápolya. In 1549 Zsigmond Balassa, the new owner of the Diósgyőr estate, destroyed the monastery and occupied its estates. In 1700 the Pauline order rebuilt the monastery, but Joseph II dissoluted the religious orders and secularised their wealth. From this time the building of the monastery was used by the Forestry.
In 1973, before the building of a large housing estate began, archaeological excavation was carried out in the area. According to what they found, it seems the monastery was a rectangular building around a rectangular courtyard, with a cloister. The remains of its church hasn't been found, but the archaeologists found a four-room building that was destroyed by fire. According to the mediaeval sources Palatine István built the monastery next to his villa, it is possible that his villa was the building the archaeologists found. The found artifacts can be seen in the museum in the northeastern tower of the castle. The Gothic statue called "the Diósgyőr Madonna" can be seen here too.
[edit] External links
- Aerial view of the castle
- Pictures of the castle and how it looked like in the Middle Ages
- Info and pictures - Northern Hungary, incl. Miskolc, Eger and the surrounding area
- Diósgyőr as "Castle of the Week" at Stronghold Heaven note: the article incorrectly refers to medieval Diósgyőr as Miskolc-Diósgyőr, even though it wasn't called that until 1945. With a downloadable scenario based on the castle for the game Stronghold.
- Aerial view of Diósgyőr in the 1980s
