Eger

Eger lies in a valley beneath the Bükk Mountains, where its castle overlooks the town and its vineyards. It was the seat of an important Hungarian bishopric, whose cathedral and palace stood within the fortified enclosure. As Ottoman power advanced into central Hungary, the episcopal stronghold became a key part of the frontier defences protecting the northern lands and their mining towns.

After a fire in 1541 damaged the cathedral, palaces and houses within the walls, the castle's defences were strengthened under Tamás Varkoch and later István Dobó. In 1552 Dobó and his garrison withstood an Ottoman siege, a defence celebrated soon afterwards in the verses of Sebestyén Tinódi. New bastions followed, and the Italian engineer Ottavio Baldigara began modernising the fortress in 1569. Yet in 1596 the army of Sultan Mehmed III captured it, making Eger the centre of an Ottoman province. The damaged bastions were repaired under the new rulers, who held the town for more than ninety years.

Imperial and Hungarian forces compelled the Ottoman garrison to surrender in 1687. The outer castle was demolished in 1702, but the remaining fortress saw fighting again during the uprising of Francis II Rákóczi, changing hands in 1705 and 1710. In the eighteenth century the bishops rebuilt the town's religious and civic buildings, leaving a baroque city beneath the old castle hill.