We had seen the sign driving south on our way to Graz. The name sounded interesting so we decided to take an afternoon trip there one Sunday. After crossing the border, we had to drive 50 or so kilometers to the town. The countryside was depressing, obviously impoverished, with derelict homes and fields. It was quite sad, a definite reminder that Hungary was under the yoke of the Soviets for 50 years.
Once upon a time Szombathely was an important town. The oldest city in Hungary, it was founded in 45 AD by the Romans. Known then as Savaria, it was the capital of the Roman province, Upper Pannonia (which included Vienna), and lay close to the important Amber Road. It had an imperial residence, public bath, amphitheatre and mithraeum (dark, windowless temple - yeah, I didn't know that either). Constantine the Great visited several times, ended the persecution of Christians, reorganized the colonies, erected many theaters and churches. The famous St. Martin of Tours (316-397) was born here.
So I guess that was the high point because later every kind of disaster was visited on the place. It was like it was cursed! Attila and his Huns invaded, and the city was destroyed by an earthquake in 458. After being rebuilt, many other groups "settled" the area (that means stayed after they invaded and killed the people who were there before them), including Goths, Longobards, Avars and other Slavic tribes, and then Franks. Charlemagne himself visited the place. The Archbishop of Salzburg owned it for awhile and built the castle, then later the Moravians and Hungarians occupied the town. After suffering through a long period of internecine wars, the area was conquered by Mongols, and that decided the question for a period; then the Turks rampaged all over the place. That wasn't enough suffering so Prince Rakoczi (whoever he was) revolted against the Habsburgs who owned it by then. After a few thousand people died of plague in 1710, a fire destroyed the city. Then the Germans moved in to replace the dead Hungarians, and the city prospered under Habsburg Empress Maria Theresa. Quite a few important building were erected, then Napoleon invaded the place, and after that a cholera epidemic raged through the town, and a fire destroyed 2/3 of it in 1817. I have to say that I don't think this was a very lucky place to live.
So everything was pretty hunky-dory for awhile after that. I think they deserved it by then! In the 19th and early 20th century, the city thrived. It became a major railway junction, roads were paved, canals were built, important buildings were erected, including a casino and first orphanage (wondering about the connection, if any, between those two). The population quadrupled. After World War I Austria-Hungary was cut apart, and Szombathely became part of the separate nation of Hungary. The city continued to prosper.
Then the city's geographical location once again led to a series of disasters. It was a center of the logistical military infrastructure supporting the Axis, and that led to it being a target of Allied bombing. The prosperous Jewish community was decimated by the Nazis. After the war the Soviets occupied Hungary which stifled creativity and prosperity for half a century.
Today Szombathely is a town of 80,000 people. It is industrialized of course, and it's not a very attractive community. The square in Old Town is pretty, but we weren't impressed by the rest of the town. It's considered a backwater of Hungary today, nowhere close to its importance in earlier centuries. But then maybe that's safer. Being important never did anything for Szombathely, maybe anonymity will.
This is Szombathely Cathedral built in 1797 by Bishop Janos Szily. The cathedral, bishop's palace, former priests' seminary and a few other buildings are a mix of late Baroque and Classicism.
The frescos are ornate Baroque.
The altars were bombed during World War II and reconstructed after the war.
I think this is the Bishop's Palace. Unlike places in Austria, Hungarian towns don't have signs on many of their historic buildings (same in Sopron), not even in Hungarian.
This is why I think it's the Bishop's Palace. Although I can't find a translation of this archaic Hungarian or Latin (I tried both), I think it says "Episcopal Savarian John Szily Chief Bishop Savaria 1781." So I took it to mean the Bishop's Palace.
This is the monument to Bishop Janos Szily (1735-1799).
This is a statue of Daniel Berzsenyi (1776-1836), the first to successfully introduce classical themes and meters to Hungarian poetry (who knew?).
The blog wouldn't be complete without a picture of me in yet another town square.
Entering the square
Another view of the square
Another view of the square
I was delighted to find yet another plague column. This one, erected as a memorial to the plague victims of the epidemic of 1710, was built in 1869.
The fountain in the center of the square is lovely.
A closer view of the fountain
Looking back at the square
Down a side street from the square. We always imagine them in the days before electricity - narrow, dark, dangerous, easy to trip on the cobblestones or a slithering rat.
An attractive example of the town's modern architecture
City Hall
Typical of towns all over Europe, business on the ground floor, flats above
This isn't a good picture, but I included it to show the crown on the upper right of the sign. It shows that this wine shop was probably patronized by aristocratic families, perhaps even the royal family.
Nice to see that the 21st century has arrived, even in this backwater. Computers are everywhere ...
And so is fashion.
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