Esztergom served as Hungary's royal capital and the seat of the Archbishop from the late tenth century until the Ottoman occupation of 1543, when the court had long since relocated to Buda but the ecclesiastical primacy remained. The Várhegy — Castle Hill — and the Víziváros quarter below it changed hands between Ottoman and Habsburg forces repeatedly across nearly 150 years of frontier warfare, leaving the medieval royal palace in near-total ruin by the time Christian forces retook the city in 1683.
This issue belongs to the MNB's ongoing Hungarian Treasure Sites series, which has systematically worked through UNESCO-listed and nationally significant heritage locations since the mid-2010s.
Esztergom served as Hungary's royal capital and the seat of the Archbishop from the late tenth century until the Ottoman occupation of 1543, when the court had long since relocated to Buda but the ecclesiastical primacy remained. The Várhegy — Castle Hill — and the Víziváros quarter below it changed hands between Ottoman and Habsburg forces repeatedly across nearly 150 years of frontier warfare, leaving the medieval royal palace in near-total ruin by the time Christian forces retook the city in 1683.
This issue belongs to the MNB's ongoing Hungarian Treasure Sites series, which has systematically worked through UNESCO-listed and nationally significant heritage locations since the mid-2010s.