Diósgyor

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.

The history of Diósgyőr and the castle

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, it's likely that it was an earthwork castle and was destroyed during the Mongol invasion (1241–1242.) The castle that stands today was probably built by King Béla IV, who, after the Mongols left the country, ordered that a castle has to be built on every hilltop. In the earliest times the castle was an oval structure with a rounded donjon, surrounded by a polygonal outer wall. In 1316 it was mentioned as "new castle", which confirms the theory that it was built in place of a destroyed castle. Judging from a document listing the taxes paid by towns in 1330 it seems the town around the castle was one of the richest towns of the county.

The castle had its prime during the reign of Louis I (Louis the Great). Its importance lay in standing near the road leading to Poland (the mother of Louis the Great, Elizabeth Lokietkówna, was a Polish princess; Louis himself became King of Poland in 1370.) The king had the castle rebuilt and modernised. Surrounded by several walls, the inner castle was built around a rectangular courtyard, and it had four towers, one on each angle. On the first floor were the storerooms and on the the second floor were the rooms and the Knights' Hall, which was 25 meters long and 13 meters wide. The modernising of the castle was finished under the reign of Louis' daughter Mary. The castle was surrounded by a 4 meters deep moat.

In 1364 the nearby town Miskolc was annexed to the Diósgyőr estate. In 1381 the Peace Treaty of Turin was signed in the castle of Diósgyőr. In the treaty the Italian town of Venice was compelled to raise the flag of the Anjou dynasty on the St. Mark square every Sunday. In the north-eastern tower of the castle there is a waxworks exhibition showing the wax figures of King Louis and the Venetian envoy.

Diósgyőr lost some of its informance when the personal union between Hungary and Poland ended (Louis shared the two countries between his two daughters.) For the next few centuries the castle was a holiday residence for queens. The last queen owning the castle was Mary, wife of Louis II. She gave up the castle formally in 1546 (by this time it has been occupied by the ruling prince of Transylvania.)

When the Turkish army began to occupy the southern territories of Hungary, the castle was fortified. Its owners, the Gyarmati Balassa family turned it into a large fortress, and they had an Italian-style rondelle built to the north-western tower. The slim turrets were replaced by strong bastions. This was the last time the castle was rebuilt; after 1564 the owners changed frequently, and the castle slowly deteriorated. In 1596 the Turkish army occupied the Castle of Eger and defeated the Christian army at Mezőkeresztes. The castle of Diósgyőr fell too; it was built to be a holiday residence and was never intended to be a large fortress that withstands the siege of a foreign army. 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.

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, Transsylvania 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.

Diósgyőr today

The restoration of the castle began in 1953. Originally only the parts threatening with collapsing were restored, but in 1960 the archaeological excavation too. In the northeastern tower (in which the King's room used to be) there is an exhibition of the history of the castle and the Pauline monastery, a weapons exhibition and the waxworks showing the singing of the Torino Peace Treaty. The north-western tower functions as a looking-tower, with a view on Diósgyőr and the surrounding hills; on the ground floor there is a small mint where tourists can make commemorative coins with their own hands. The south-eastern tower (where the Queen's rooms were) cannot be visited, it is mainly used as a dressing room for the actors during the Castle Plays. The south-western tower is in ruins. One of the main tourist attractions of the castle is a larger waxworks exhibition in the outer castle. This exhibition is one of the largest waxworks exhibitions of Central Europe and it shows six scenes of everyday life in mediaeval Diósgyőr.

The Castle Plays are held twice in every year (May and August). Reviving the Middle Ages, the reign of King Louis and events of Hungarian history, tournaments and open air plays are held, and there is a mediaeval fair next to the castle.

Sadly, unlike the castles of Eger and Kőszeg, the castle of Diósgyőr is surrounded by concrete buildings instead of a beautiful historical town, but it is still a popular tourist destination, thanks to the castle plays, the museum, the waxworks exhibitions and Mrs. Déry's House, a small museum dedicated to the popular 19th century actress Róza Széppataki Déry, in the house where she lived.

Trivia

• On the wall of the castle there is a memorial plate commemorating the visit of the famous poet Sándor Petőfi to Diósgyőr on July 8, 1847. He wrote his poem Alkony ("Sunset") here.

• In the museum of the north-eastern tower visitors can see the original of the picture which can be seen on the back of the 200 Forint banknote.

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