Everyone's hungry for a piece
Eger
A beautifully preserved baroque town, Eger has a relaxed, Mediterranean feel. Flanked by two of the Northern Uplands&undefined; splendid hill ranges and home to the celebrated Egri Bikavér (Eger Bull&undefined;s Blood) wine, there&undefined;s no doubt Eger is worth that long daytrip from Budapest.
Weather Overview
Situated in the Northern Uplands, Eger&undefined;s climate has more extreme seasonal differences than the more western and southern regions of Hungary. Winters are cold and windy, although the region gets more sun in autumn and winter than any other part of Hungary. Summers are hot and quite wet early in the season, although late summer and autumn are quite dry. Pack for all seasons!
Pre 20th Century History
The story of the Turkish attempt to take Eger Castle is the stuff of legend. Under the command of István Dobó, a mixed bag of 2000 soldiers held out against more than 100,000 Turks for a month in 1552. As every Hungarian kid in short trousers can tell you, the women of Eger played a crucial role in the battle, pouring boiling oil and pitch on the invaders from the ramparts.
However, the Turks came back to Eger in 1596 and this time captured the city, turning it into a provincial capital and erecting several mosques and other buildings until they were driven out at the end of the 17th century. All that remains of this architectural legacy is a lonely little minaret pointing its long finger towards the heavens in indignation.
Eger played a central role in Ferenc Rákóczi II&undefined;s attempt to overthrow the Habsburgs early in the 18th century, and it was then that a large part of the castle was razed by the Austrians. Having enjoyed the status of an episcopate since the time of King Stephen in the 11th century, Eger flourished in the 18th and 19th centuries, when the city acquired most of its wonderful baroque architecture.
When Hungary again erupted into revolutionary fever in the mid-19th century, Eger&undefined;s citizens were once again at the forefront. However, construction of a railway underway at the time had bypassed the town, and it subsequently fell into a kind of slumber for several generations, reverting to the status of a quiet agricultural backwater.
Modern History
The publication of novelist Geza Gárdonyi&undefined;s Eclipse of the Crescent Moon in 1899 was a turning point in the city&undefined;s modern history. The book, a historical saga about a 16th-century Hungarian national hero, was set in the town and put it on the tourist map. The castle that features prominently in the novel became the centre of archeological attention, and by the 1920s the city had begun growing again. German occupation during WWII left the town largely unscathed, at least in physical terms.
Recent History
Although its popularity grew throughout the 20th century, especially among Eastern Europeans in the postwar socialist era, Eger has emerged as an international tourist destination since the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1991. This, and the burgeoning reputation of its red wines, has ensured its prosperity in the new Hungarian economy.