Visegrád | |
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_6.jpg) _6.jpg) _2.jpg) Descending, from top: the city in theDanube Bend, ruins of the Royal Palace, gate of the Citadel | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
  Visegrád Location of Visegrád Show map of Pest County Visegrád Visegrád (Hungary) Show map of Hungary Visegrád Visegrád (Europe) Show map of Europe | |
| Coordinates:47°47′05″N18°58′25″E / 47.78483°N 18.97367°E /47.78483; 18.97367 | |
| Country |  Hungary |
| Region | Central Hungary |
| County | Pest |
| District | Szentendre District |
| Founded | 1009 |
| Area | |
• Total | 33.27 km2 (12.85 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 100 m (330 ft) |
| Population (2018) | |
• Total | 1,841[1] |
| • Density | 55.34/km2 (143.3/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code | 2025 |
| Area code | 26 |
Visegrád (Hungarian:[ˈviʃɛɡraːd];German:Plintenburg;Latin:Pone Navata orAltum Castrum;Slovak:Vyšehrad) is acastle town inPest County, Hungary. It is north ofBudapest on the right bank of theDanube in theDanube Bend. It had a population of 1,864 in 2010. The town is the site of the remains of the Early Renaissance summerpalace of KingMatthias Corvinus of Hungary and a medievalcitadel. The town was also the site of a meeting on 15 February 1991 between the President of theCzech and Slovak Federative Republic,Václav Havel, the President of theRepublic of Poland,Lech Wałęsa, and the Prime Minister of theRepublic of Hungary,József Antall which founded the titularVisegrád group.
The nameVisegrád (Vyšehrad) is ofSlavic origin, meaning acropolis, literally "the upper castle" (the castle with a privileged position) or "the upper settlement". In modern Slovak andCzech, the form isVyšehrad.
The castle of Visegrád is calledFellegvár (Citadel) inHungarian,[2] In German, the town is calledPlintenburg. The German namePlintenburg orBlendenburg is said to come from the beautiful view that one has from the castle and is "blinded"/"dazzled" by this view.[3]
Visegrád was first mentioned in 1009 as a county town and the chief town of anarchdeaconry. After the destructiveMongol invasion of Europe in 1242, the town was rebuilt in a slightly different location to the south. KingCharles I of Hungary made Visegrád the royal seat of Hungary in 1325. At the same time, his diplomatStephen Sáfár was appointedcastellan.
In 1335, Charles hosted at Visegrád atwo-month congress with theBohemian king,John of Luxembourg, and thePolish king,Casimir III. It was crucial in creating a peace between the three kingdoms and securing an alliance between Poland and Hungary againstHabsburg Austria.Another congress followed in 1339.
Sigismund,Holy Roman Emperor and King of Hungary and Croatia in personal union with Hungary, moved the royal seat toBuda between 1405 and 1408. KingMatthias Corvinus (1443–1490), King of Hungary, used Visegrád as a country residence.
Visegrád lost importance after the partition of theKingdom of Hungary following theBattle of Mohács in 1526. It was captured by theOttomans underSuleiman the Magnificent in 1529. In 1532, King Zápolya besieged Visegrád and took it. In 1540, after the death of Zápolya, Habsburg general Leonhard Fels took the city, as well as Vác, Pest, Tata and Székesfehérvár. Because the city threatened the lines of communication between Buda and Esztergom, Yahyapaşaoğlu Mehmed Paşa of Buda took it in 1544 (possibly April 23, before May 10).
In February 1991, the leading politicians of Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Poland met here to form a periodical forum, theVisegrád Group, with an intentional allusion to the meeting centuries earlier in 1335.
Visegrád was grantedtown privileges again in 2000.
After the Mongol invasion, KingBéla IV of Hungary and his wife had a new fortification system constructed in the 1240s and 1250s near the one destroyed earlier. The first part of the new system was the Upper Castle on top of a high hill. The castle was laid out on a triangular ground plan and had three towers at its corners. In the 14th century, at the time of theAngevin kings of Hungary, the castle became a royal residence and was enlarged with a new curtain wall and palace buildings.
Around 1400 KingSigismund had a third curtain wall constructed and enlarged the palace buildings. At the end of the 15th century, KingMatthias Corvinus had the interior renovated. The Upper Castle also served for the safekeeping of the Hungarianroyal insignia between the 14th century and 1526. In 1544 Visegrád was occupied by theOttoman Empire, and, apart from a short period in 1595–1605, it remained inTurkish hands until 1685. The castle was seriously damaged by the Turks and was never used afterwards.
The castle is now open to the public to visit.
The Lower Castle is the part of the fortification system that connects the Upper Castle with theDanube. In its centre rises the Solomon Tower, a large, hexagonal residential tower dating from the 13th century. In the 14th century, new curtain walls were built around the tower. During a Turkish raid in 1544, the southern part of the tower collapsed. Its renovation began only in the 1870s and was finished in the 1960s.
At present, the Tower houses exhibitions installed by the King Matthias Museum (Mátyás Király Múzeum) of Visegrád. The exhibitions present the reconstructed Gothic fountains from the Royal Palace, Renaissance sculpture in Visegrád, and the history of Visegrád.
The first royal house on this site was built by King Charles I of Hungary after 1325. In the second half of the 14th century, this was enlarged into a palace by his son, KingLouis I of Hungary.[4]
In the last third of the 14th century, King Louis and his successor Sigismund of Luxembourg had the majority of the earlier buildings dismantled and created a new, sumptuous palace complex, the extensive ruins of which are still visible today. The palace complex was laid out on a square ground plan measuring 123 x 123 m. A garden adjoined to it from the north and aFranciscan friary, founded by King Sigismund in 1424, from the south. In the time of Louis I and Sigismund, the palace was the official residence of the kings of Hungary until about 1405–08.
Between 1477 and 1484 Matthias Corvinus had the palace complex reconstructed in lateGothic style. TheItalian Renaissancearchitectural style was used for decoration, the first time the style appeared in Europe outside Italy. After the Ottoman Turks' siege in 1544, the palace fell into ruins. By the 18th century it was completely covered by earth. Its excavation began in 1934 and continues today.
The reconstructed royal residence building is open to the public and houses exhibitions on the history of the palace and reconstructed historical interiors.
The ruins of this military camp can be seen outside Visegrád, to the north, on a hill that overlooks the Danube. The camp has a triangular ground plan. It was built in the first half of the 4th century as one of the important fortifications along thelimes, the frontier of theRoman Empire. Itspraetorium (the commander's building) was constructed at the end of the 4th century. In the early 5th century, the Roman army abandoned the military camp.
In the 10th and 11th centuries, the fortification, rebuilt as acastle, became a regional centre of the recently formed Hungarian state. "Visegrád" appears for the first time as the name of this regional centre (1009). The fortification was finally destroyed in 1242 by theMongol invasion of Europe.
Lanciano, Italy
Obergünzburg, Germany
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| Capitals of theKingdom of Hungary |  | |
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| Capitals of theEastern Hungarian Kingdom | ||
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