Eger tourist information
Eger is one of the most wonderful baroque towns in Hungary. It can boast a 1000-year-old bishop’s seat (it is an archdiocese today), a glorious past and valuable groups of monuments.
It was István Dobó who made it the town of patriotism. In 1552 he and his small troop resisted the Turkish army (a force 20 times as large) for more than a month. An immortal novel “The Stars of Eger” by Géza Gárdonyi (1863-1922) is about the town of patriotism.
Eger is more than a town of thermal baths and students; it is also a town of wine: the excellent red and white wines of its famous and historic wine-producing region are measured in several hundred-year-old cellars.
The second largest church in Hungary is the classicist Archbishop’s Cathedral (Eszterházy Square). It has the country’s biggest organ. On the first floor of the late-baroque Lyceum – a teachers college today - we can find one of the most famous libraries in the country, with ornamental carvings and wonderful ceiling-frescos. The Main Bishopric Library has 130,000 volumes, including the first book printed in Hungary (in 1473), and a letter written by Mozart. In the tower we can find the country’s first astronomical museum, the Spekula Observatory. The most interesting device in this state-of-the-art (in 1776) observatory is the periscope, which projects the real image of the town on a white board in the darkened room.
The residence of the bishops of Eger is the Bishop’s Palace (Széchenyi Street 1-3). The carefully-guarded treasure of the Bishop’s Collection Centre (Széchenyi u. 5.), recalling the town’s 250-year history, is the crowning pall of Habsburg Empress Maria Theresia.
On Kossuth Lajos Street there are baroque and rococo palaces ornamented with tilted iron balconies: the Minor Provost’s residence (4.), the Major Provost’s residence (16.), Canon Vagner’s house (6.), the Franciscan monastery and church built in baroque style (14.) and one of the oldest buildings in the town, the Buttler house (26.).
In the doorway of the County Hall (9.), the uniquely wonderful tilted iron gates of Henrik Fazola captivate the tourists. The exhibition “Heves County and Eger in the 18th and 19th Centuries” and the Sports Museum are in the former prison building, today used as an archive.
Within the grounds of the Mediaeval Egri Castle (Vár Street 1) - the victorious, fortified castle of the “Turkish Age” - archaeologists have excavated the remains of the cathedral from the 13th century and restored the Gothic Bishop’s Palace from the 15th century. The Dobó István Castle Museum, which exhibits the common history of the castle and the town, is located here (Vár 1). We can see Dobó István’s grave in the Heroes’ Hall, and the Stone Repertory in the underground casemates. The Prison Museum, the Waxworks, the Mint and the Gallery (with paintings from the 16th to the18th centuries) evoke historical times. The grave of Géza Gárdonyi, who recorded the heroic deeds of the defenders of the castle, can be found in the yard of the castle. A memorial museum was established in his former house. (Gárdonyi Géza Street 28).
The 40-meter-high Minaret with 93 stairs stretches high over the town (Knézich Street 17). It’s a Turkish structure that lies awfully far north for Ottoman architecture. The baroque Minims Church is located at Dobó Square 4-6; the slogan on its arch-stone (by Saint Anthony of Padova) is: "Nothing is sufficient to be done for God."
The “Palóc” Folk Art Exhibition (Dobó Square 6) gives an overall view of the ethnography of the area with the help of folk-weavings, embroideries, furrier’s works, ceramics and festive wedding clothes.
The pedestrian precinct, along Széchenyi Street, has a pleasant atmosphere with restaurants, pubs and confectioneries with outdoor seating. The exquisite iconostasis of the Greek/Serbian Church (Vitkovics Street 30) was built in 1789. The Turkish Bath (Fürdő Street 1) is a monument from the Turkish conquest (1526-1686). Its water is good for diseases of the locomotor system and rheumatism. It has seven pools and is open throughout the year (Petőfi square 2).
Eger is also the home of fiery red wines: in the centuries-old cellars built into the tufa rock, we can taste the renowned Egri Bikavér (Bull’s Blood). One last site not to miss is the geyser at the borders of Egerszalók.
Eger aerial map
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