It has always been, and probably will be so, that people seek to embellish their past, to make it, let's say, somewhat greater than it really was. Cause? Well, let's put it this way, the lack of culture … in “popular culture”, let's put it this way. The Strugatsky brothers say well about this in the story "It's Difficult to Be God" that, they say, all peoples and at all times have "and will always have kings, more or less cruel, barons, more or less wild, and there will always be an ignorant people who has admiration for his oppressors and hatred for his liberator. And all because the slave understands his master much better, even the most cruel one, than his liberator, because every slave perfectly represents himself in the place of the master, but few imagine himself in the place of the disinterested liberator. " Now, of course, not the Middle Ages and something in society has changed, but for our common past this is just right for everyone. But there were also examples of selflessness and self-sacrifice, there were examples of selfless service to the Fatherland and it was they who made people people and … it is not surprising that they dream of having in their past such examples more, and less of all kinds of "black spots".
And just the Hungarians (as, indeed, many others, here they are nothing particularly better than all the others) have an example of real courage and courage in the face of a threat from the enemy. Moreover, it also happens that there is a threat, but courageous people are in a completely different place. Or there is courage, but not enough intelligence. Finally, there is both, but little gunpowder. Or a lot of gunpowder, but the whole thing was ruined by a traitor. In a word - you never know what happens that nullifies any heroism. But in the case of the Eger fortress, everything came together so that it became for the Hungarians a real example and an inexhaustible source of pride for centuries!
Aerial view of the Eger fortress. The main gate is clearly visible at the bottom right, and behind them is the inner gate and the round bastion - one of the main strongholds of the defense.
The same view, but now we went down lower … The restored buildings of the fortress, the foundation of the never-restored Gothic cathedral, are clearly visible.
The history of the Eger Fortress itself (Hungarian Egri vár) is as follows. It was built in the XIII century on the initiative of the local bishop right after it was destroyed by the Tatar-Mongol conquerors. In the XIV-XV centuries, the fortress was upset, several stone buildings were built in it, including a large Gothic episcopal palace and a cathedral with two towers, which, alas, has not survived to this day. At the beginning of the 16th century, the fortress was rebuilt again, which is why it acquired its modern shape. Today it is located surrounded by city buildings almost in the very center of the city on the Fortress Hill and is the main city attraction. But this is today … And in that 16th century far from us, people who lived here had to look at it not at all as a monument of antiquity and city income from tourism, but as their last hope to save their lives. Indeed, a large Turkish army moved on a campaign against the Hungarians, and it was very, very difficult for the Turks to resist at that time.
Now let's take a short tour of the city of Eger, a photo tour, and look at it through the eyes of a bus tourist. For example, this photo shows the houses of one of the villages, not far from the city. Differences from Polish houses from the material "Europe through the bus window", of course, are immediately noticeable. But all the houses look very neat and well-groomed.
They dropped us off at the main cathedral of the city, built in 1837 - the basilicas of St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, St. Michael and the Immaculate Conception. And then Eger was a small city, but what a majestic cathedral was built in it!
Inside it was empty, solemn and surprisingly light.
And here is the pulpit from which the Catholic priest addresses the flock during the Mass.
The altar part.
Dome.
And it so happened that in 1552 the Turkish army of about 40 thousand people (although there are other, large numbers of their numbers, in my opinion, and this number is quite enough) besieged the fortress, in which there were about two thousand defenders (there is information, that there were 2,100 people), commanded by Captain Istvan Dobo. Despite the absolute superiority of the enemy in numbers, the Turks were never able to take it and, after a five-week siege, retreated in disgrace. Moreover, the defenders of the fortress inflicted heavy losses on them. And this fact was, of course, known, but … only after the defense of the Eger Fortress was described in the pages of Geza Gardoni's famous novel "The Stars of Eger", published in 1899. They started talking about it as an event of a truly national scale.
One of the city streets …
Monument to Istvan Dobo. The author of the monument is the famous Hungarian sculptor Alayos Strobl (1856 - 1926), who also sculpted the equestrian statue of Saint Stephen I and the fountain of King Matthias in the Fortress Quarter of Buda.
This is how it looks up close.
One of the streets, and above it you can see the towers of the fortress-museum.
Monument to G. Gardoni. It is possible that this is exactly what he looked like when he pondered the plots of his historical novels.
This is how this monument looks on Eger Street.
Well, in 1968 the film of the same name was filmed based on it, directed by Zoltan Varconi. It is interesting that in 2002 the novel "Stars of Eger" by viewers of the TV show "Big Read" (in Hungary - "A Nagy Könyv") was called "the most popular Hungarian novel", that is, for them it is the same as for the Russian reader the novels War and Peace "by L. Tolstoy or" Eugene Onegin "by A. Pushkin. But back to military affairs …
We can say that this is "historical photography". People watch the final match of the World Cup on a plasma screen against the backdrop of the bastions and towers of the Eger Fortress. It is unlikely that you will see this again …
“And now the Turks are already here. They are approaching like a terrible judgment of God, like a scorching fire, like a bloody whirlwind. One hundred and fifty thousand tigers in human form, wild beasts that devastate everything around. Most of them from a young age are accustomed to shooting a bow and a gun, climbing walls, enduring the hardships of a camp life. Their sabers are made in Damascus, their shells are made of Derbent steel, their spears are the work of skilled Hindustan blacksmiths, the cannons are cast by the best craftsmen of Europe; gunpowder, cannonballs, cannons, guns, they have a dark, darkening darkness.
And they themselves are bloodthirsty devils. And what is it that opposes them?
A small fortress, six pitiful old cannons and cast-iron pipes - squeaks, which were also called cannons. " - this is what G. Gordoni wrote about the difficult days of the defense of the fortress in his novel "The Stars of Eger".
The sculptural composition "Border Garrison" and football fans are also sitting on it. This is already a modern sculpture, put in 1968 on the central square of Istvan Dobo in Eger, next to the Minorite Church. It depicts the battle of a Hungarian equestrian warrior with two Turks with all the details, and it does not even smell of any tolerance, on the contrary, everything is very lively, energetic, and historically reliable. Although not in everything. The handle of the pistol from the Magyar's holster sticks out backwards, and it should have been facing forward so that in one place, sitting in the saddle, it would not accidentally stumble upon it! The author of the composition is Zsigmond Kishfaludi-Strobl.
We are approaching the fortress. There are towers overhanging this quiet street.
And these are the ruins of Turkish baths not far from the main gate of the fortress. Well, we washed here during the time of the Turks and washed. It was and passed. No one is now feeling complex about the fact that the fortress was handed over to the Turks after 44 years.
It is known that on September 17, 1552, the Turks began a decisive assault on the fortress with a powerful artillery preparation. They managed to destroy part of the walls, after which an infantry attack was launched. The Turks managed to capture both towers of the main gate and part of one of the bastions. Ladders were pushed up to the walls, along which the janissaries climbed. Even the women in the fortress entered the battle. They delivered the famous Hungarian goulash to the fighters and … poured it over the heads of the besiegers, and then began pouring boiling water and molten resin. Even the lead roof of the cathedral was used. It was also melted and poured over the heads of the storming men! However, despite all this, the Turks continued to storm the fortress. The situation seemed already hopeless, and then Istvan Dobo ordered to fire from guns at the fortifications of the fortress captured by the Turks. The walls, already shaken by the blows of Turkish cannonballs, collapsed and buried many Turkish soldiers under them. The Janissaries had to retreat, and they suffered heavy losses and were simply shocked by the courage of Eger's defenders. And they urgently began to strengthen the destroyed walls and by morning they restored them so that the Turks refused to re-assault and lifted the siege from the fortress.
View of the main gate to the fortress.
A bas-relief on the right at the gate, depicting the women of Eger pouring boiling water over Turkish soldiers. By the way, Eger's Stars are his women and girls!
However, the shame of defeat under the walls of Eger demanded revenge, and after 44 years the Turks were again under its walls. But now her siege still led to her fall, although the garrison there was large, and there were also more cannons, but … they were mostly mercenaries, and they did not have Captain Dobo either. After that, Eger became part of the Ottoman Empire, and was in it until 1687, when the Austrian army drove the Turks away. True, in 1701, during the uprising of the Kuruts, led by Ferenc Rakoczi, the Austrians blew up part of the fortress walls, but they were later restored.
This is how the Eger Fortress could look like in 1552. Well, today it is an extensive museum complex. Thus, the building of the episcopal palace houses the Istvan Dobo Museum and an art gallery. Tourists can explore the fortress bastions and its underground casemates. The writer Geza Gardoni is also buried in the fortress.
Well, now it is worth paying tribute to the memory of Istvan Dobo himself, a man, by the way, of a very interesting fate. He came from a noble family from the north of Hungary. He was one of the six children of Domokosh Dobo and Zofia (Sofia) Tsekei. Of these six, four - Ferenc, Laszlo, Istvan and Domokosh were boys, and two were girls - Anna and Katalina. In 1526 - shortly after the battle of Mohacs, unfortunate for the Hungarians - Domokosh Sr. was awarded the Serednyansky castle in Subcarpathian Rus for military services. And Domokosh Dobo rebuilt and fortified this castle. Istvan was then already quite an adult, he was about 24-25 years old.
And this is how the defenders of the fortress could have looked in 1552.
Soon after Mohacs, a civil war broke out in the country, in which Istvan Dobo, in the struggle for the throne of St. Stephen, supported Ferdinand I (king of Bohemia and Hungary since 1526) against Janos I Zapolyai, the Transylvanian governor of Transylvania, a vassal of the Ottoman Empire.
In 1549, Dobo was appointed captain (head of the garrison) of the Eger fortress. After that, on October 17, 1550, he married Shara Shuyok. They had two children: son Ferenc and daughter Christina …
As a reward for the defense of the fortress, Ferdinand I granted Captain Dobo two castles in Transylvania: Deva (now Deva in Romania) and Samoshuivar (now Gerla also in Romania). In 1553 he already became the governor of Transylvania. But in 1556, Transylvania separated from Hungary, and then Dobo, in the form of compensation for the lost castles, Deva and Samosujvar, took possession of the Leva castle (today Levice in Slovakia).
Tourists in the casemates of the fortress are guided by people dressed in medieval costumes, but … with the help of a modern computer and computer animation.
And then, as was often the case at that turbulent time, Dobo was accused of treason to the king, so that for several years Eger's hero was imprisoned in Pozoni (now the capital of Slovakia - Bratislava). The prison years did not affect his health in the best way. Therefore, after his release, he settled in the Serednyansky castle, on the lands of Subcarpathian Rus, where he died at the age of 72. They buried him in the village of Ruska, not far from the castle. But later, all the same, his ashes were reburied in the Eger fortress.
Hungarian fashion of the 16th century!
In 1907, a monument to Captain Istvan Dobo was finally opened in the city of Eger, and it has survived to this day. This is a beautiful sculptural group, in which Dobo himself is depicted standing with a naked saber in his hand, and other defenders of the fortress are standing around him. The monument is located on a high marble base and looks very solemn. It adorns the main town square, which also bears the name of Istvan Dobo.
At the same time, active archaeological and restoration work began on the territory of the fortress itself, as a result of which the territory of the fortress and the buildings located on it turned into an interesting museum. The episcopal palace was restored, on the first floor of which the "Fortress Museum of Istvan Dobo" was located. There is also the Hall of Heroes, where you can see Dobo's grave, and a list of the names of the defenders of the fortress, as well as exhibits associated with the 33-day siege. On the second floor there is a collection of paintings by the Eger Art Gallery with canvases by Dutch, Italian, Austrian and Hungarian artists.
In October, the "Days of the Eger Fortress" are held annually on the territory of the fortress, during which knightly tournaments, concerts, exhibitions and costume performances are organized here. Their participants look very colorful, don't they ?!
In memory of the famous captain, on January 9, 2014 in the Transcarpathian village of Srednee, a memorial plaque in honor of the Dobo family with a bilingual inscription was unveiled by the Transcarpathian sculptor Mykhailo Beleni, as part of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry's project “Preserving Hungarian Memorable Sites”. It is also planned to open the Istvan Dobo Museum in Sredny.
And in Eger, just opposite the monument to Istvan Dobo, there is the Minorite Church, which is recognized … as one of the most beautiful Baroque churches not only in Hungary itself, but throughout Central Europe and which is a unique monument of architecture and history of the country. The church was built in 1773 by the Minorite Franciscans and consecrated in honor of St. Anthony of Padua. This is an excellent example of the Baroque style: the facade of the building is decorated with two tall bell towers with a clock that rings three times a day.
While walking around the city with a guide, you will definitely be shown this one (and its steam room, but with a different pattern) forged lattice near the former courthouse. Both are true works of art!
Second lattice.
Well, the visit to Eger ends with a visit to the Valley of Beauties, where there is a tasting of wines and, first of all, such wines as "Bull's Blood". You can and should go there, there is a beautiful sculpture of a girl with a garter, which everyone photographs, but … I would not recommend eating and drinking "grouping". Everything is the same, but you can get it faster and cheaper in any local "tavern". Well, and such a colorful violinist will play for you.
Interestingly, during the siege, the Turks lost many soldiers, not only killed and wounded, but also flattened! So, as a result, Dobo had several thousand (!) Turkish prisoners in his hands. And Dobo found a worthy use for them, forcing with pickaxes to hollow out the cellars in the Middle (Serednyanskiy) castle of the fortress, for which they were called "Turkish" for a long time. The construction of these cellars was completed in 1557, and their total length was 4.5 km. At first, these dungeons were used as a refuge for enemies. But then they lost their military purpose and turned into an excellent wine storage.
P. S. Of course, it would be worth living in Eger for at least two days. This is advice to those who go there in their own car, but in one day you can see a lot of interesting things there.
