page_title: Esztergom
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Esztergom / History
caption_attribution_description: Magyar: vár, a királyi, majd érseki palota maradványainak együttese This is a photo of a monument in Hungary. Identifier: 91100
context_page_description: Esztergom is a city in northern Hungary, 46 kilometres northwest of the capital Budapest. It lies in Komárom-Esztergom county, on the right bank of the river Danube, which forms the border with Slovakia there.
  Esztergom was the capital of Hungary from the 10th till the mid-13th century when King Béla IV of Hungary moved the royal seat to Buda.
  Esztergom is the seat of the prímás of the Roman Catholic Church in Hungary, and the former seat of the Constitutional Court of Hungary.
  The city has the Keresztény Múzeum, the largest ecclesiastical collection in Hungary.
  Its cathedral, Esztergom Basilica is the largest church in Hungary.
context_section_description: Esztergom is one of the oldest towns in Hungary. Esztergom, as it existed in the Middle Ages, now rests under today's town. The results of the most recent archeological excavations reveal that the Várhegy (Castle Hill) and its vicinity have been inhabited since the end of the Ice Age 20,000 years ago. The first people known by name were the Celts from Western Europe, who settled in the region in about 350 BC. A flourishing Celtic settlement existed on the Varhegy until the region was conquered by Rome. Thereafter it became an important frontier town of Pannonia, known by the name of Salvio Mansio, Salvio, or Solva. By the seventh century the town was called Stregom and later Gran, but soon reverted to the former, which evolved into Esztergom by the thirteenth century. The German and Avar archaeological finds found in the area reveal that these people settled there following the period of the migrations that were caused by the fall of the Roman Empire.
  At about 500 AD, Slavic peoples immigrated into the Pannonian Basin. In the 9th century, the territory was mostly under Frankish control, and it might have been part of Great Moravia too. In Old Slavonic language, it was called Strěgom ("guard"), as it was strategic point of control for the Danube valley.
  The Magyars entered the Pannonian Basin in 896 AD and conquered it systematically, succeeding fully in 901. In 960, the ruling prince of the Hungarians, Géza, chose Esztergom as his residence. His son, Vajk, who was later called Saint Stephen of Hungary, was born in his palace built on the Roman castrum on the Várhegy (Castle Hill) around 969–975. In 973, Esztergom served as the starting point of an important historical event: during Easter of that year, Géza sent a committee to the international peace conference of Emperor Otto I in Quedlinburg. He offered peace to the Emperor and asked for missionaries.
  The prince's residence stood on the northern side of the hill. The center of the hill was occupied by a basilica dedicated to St. Adalbert, who, according to legend, baptised St. Stephen. The Church of St. Adalbert was the seat of the archbishop of Esztergom, the head of the Roman Catholic Church in Hungary. By that time, significant numbers of craftsmen and merchants had settled in the city.
  Stephen's coronation took place in Esztergom on either Christmas Day 1000 or January 1, 1001. From the time of his rule up to the beginning of the 13th century, the only mint for the country operated here. During the same period, the castle of Esztergom ("Estergon Kalesi" in Turkish ) was built. It served not only as the royal residence until the Mongol siege of Esztergom in 1241 (during the first Mongol invasion), but also as the center of the Hungarian state, religion, and Esztergom county. The archbishop of Esztergom was the leader of the ten bishoprics founded by Stephen. The archbishop was often in charge of important state functions and had the exclusive right to crown kings.
  The settlements of royal servants, merchants and craftsmen at the foot of the Várhegy (Castle Hill) developed into the most significant town during the age of the Árpád dynasty– these being the most important area of the economic life of the country. According to the Frenchman Odo of Deuil, who visited the country in 1147, "the Danube carries the economy and treasures of several countries to Esztergom".
  The town council was made up of the richest citizens of the town (residents of French, Spanish, Dutch, and Italian origin) who dealt with commerce. The coat of arms of Esztergom emerged from their seal in the 13th century. This was the town where foreign monarchs could meet Hungarian kings. For example, Emperor Conrad II met Géza II in this town (1147). Another important meeting took place when the German Emperor Frederick Barbarossa visited Béla III. The historians traveling with them all agree on the richness and significance of Esztergom. Arnold of Lübeck, the historian with Frederick Barbarossa, called Esztergom the capital of Hungarian people ("quae Ungarorum est metropolis").
  In the beginning of the 1
caption: Castle Hill panorama from Štúrovo, Slovakia
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