Page 170 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Hungary

168  HUNGAR Y REGION B Y REGION NOR THERN TR ANSD ANUBIA  169

y Kőszeg shops, but only rarely is one VISITORS’ CHECKLIST
as deserving of interest as this
Nestled in lowland hills just minutes from the Austrian border, particular example. As well as Practical Information
modern-day Kőszeg is a small, quiet town, whose citizens being set in a fine Baroque 50km (31 miles) south of Sopron.
are proud of its past. It is probably the only town in the world house on Jurisics tér, it con tains Road Map A3. * 12,000.
where the bells toll at 11am – in honour of Captain Miklós a superb late 18th-century n Tourinform, Rajnis utca 7,
(94) 56 31 20.
Jurisics, who led the Hungarians during a 25-day Turkish wooden apothecary counter,
siege of Kőszeg Fortress in August 1532. The memory of complete with old medicine Transport
bottles. It looks not unlike
£ from Szombathely.
Jurisics dominates the city, with its main square, castle and something from a film set. @ from Sopron.
one of its museums carrying his name. Spared during World Upstairs the exhibition
War II, Kőszeg is the most attractive town in the region. continues with a display
Window detail on the front façade, showing how the medicines interior, beautifully decorated,
Kőszeg Synagogue were cleaned, dried, stored is filled with delicately patterned
+ Jurisics Castle P Miklós Jurisics Square Medieval wall painting in the southern and prepared. Most were marble columns.
Jurisics-vár Jurisics Miklós tér nave, Church of St James was entirely wiped out during remedies made from natural
Rajnis utca 9. Tel (94) 36 01 13. In the heart of Kőszeg’s the Holocaust. Closed for ingred ients and plants grown
Open 10am–5pm Tue–Sun. & old town is this enclosed At the northern end of the some time, the synagogue is in the pharmacy’s own
8 Hungarian only. 7 charming square, surrounded square is the Baroque St Imre to undergo major restoration herb garden.
It was here, in the carefully on all sides by churches, Church, completed in 1640 work, but parts of it can be
preserved Jurisics houses, museums by Hungarian Lutherans who visited by calling ahead to R Jesus’s Heart Church
Castle, that Miklós and courtyards. The had been expelled from make an appointment. The Jézus Szíve templom
Jurisics and 450 impres sive entrance St James’s Church (see below) synagogue’s striking façade Fő tér. Tel (94) 56 33 97. Open 9am–
Hungarian soldiers to the square, the by German Lutherans. and Neo-Gothic towers can still 6pm daily. & 7
held a 30,000-strong Heroes’ Gate, be admired from the outside. This fantastical, Neo-Gothic
Tur kish force at bay was erected to R Church of St James wedding-cake church is famous
for 25 days in August commemorate the Szent Jakab templom E Golden Unicorn for its colour ful stained-glass
1532. The Hungarians 400th anniversary Rajnis utca 2. Tel (94) 56 33 97. Open Pharma ceutical Museum altar windows depicting Saints
eventually had to of the Turkish Siege. 10am–6pm daily. & donation. 7 Arany Egyszarvú Patikamúzeum István, Imre and Elizabeth.
abandon their stand, Though built in 1932 Standing next to the more Jurisics Miklós tér 11. Tel (94) 36 03 37. Built in 1892–4 to designs by
only to return the it recreates much recent Church of St Imre, the Open by appointment. & 8 7 the Austrian Otto Kott, its
following spring to Crest above the gate older towers, and Church of St James was com- Hungarians tend to be 60-m- (196-ft-) high tower is
retake the castle with to Jurisics Castle blends in impeccably pleted in 1407, but much fascinated with old chemist the tallest in the city. The Interior of Jesus’s Heart Church
Austrian help. with the surrounding – reconstructed in the 18th
A fire in 1777 destroyed part mainly Baroque – buildings. century. It remains clearly a
of the castle: the interior arcades Of these, the Arcade House Gothic building, however. Kőszeg City Centre
were built after the blaze. The (Lábasház) next to the tower The most important historic 1 Jurisics Castle ARPÁD
TÉR
Castle Museum has displays at No. 2 Jurisics tér is a building in Kőszeg, the church 2 Miklós Jurisics Square UNLENECKER
UTCA
on the town’s history, including highlight, complete with its has served Jesuit, Protestant GY Ö N G Y Ö S U T C A
various depictions of the siege. It courtyard colonnades. The and Roman Catholic congre- 3 Church of St James
also has 18th- and 19th-century Jurisics Museum on the other gations. The faded frescoes 4 Synagogue P É K UT C A Lutheran
Church
interiors and displays on the side of the tower, housed in inside, by an unknown artist, 5 Golden Unicorn H E G YA L J A U T C A
region’s viticulture. the late Renaissance General’s depict the Magi, and are Pharmaceutical Museum ZRINYI M. UTCA Synagogue
House (Tábornok), has a fine original, dating from 1403. 6 Jesus’s Heart Church VÁ RK ÖR
collection of memorabilia of Overpainted during the
the various guilds, artisans and 17th century by the Lutherans, KI SS J Á N O S UT C A
trades men who inhabited the who disapproved of such KÁROLY R. TÁBLAHÁZ SCHNELLER ISTVÁ N UT C A
town. Next to the museum is ostentatious decora tion, the TÉR Church of KELCZ ADELFFY UTCA V
the Town Hall, originally built frescoes were forgotten and Jurisics St James TÁ NC SI CS MIHÁ LY U T CA
in 1487, though the façade only uncovered during interior Castle MIKLÓS BE M J ÓZE F U TCA Á R K Ö R
JURISICS
was remodelled in the Baroque restoration in the 1950s. R ÁJ N IS U TC A TÉR Golden Unicorn
Pharmaceutical Museum
style in the 18th century. The wooden statue of the V Á R K Ö R Town Hall KELCZ A. UTCA
Today a pizzeria, the Madonna is also an original
ornate Sgraffito House at from the Gothic era. Heroes’ VÁROSHÁZ FŐ TÉ R
Gate
No. 7 Jurisics tér dates from CHEMEL I. UTCA UTCA
the 16th century. Sgraffito u Synagogue H U NYA DI UT C A
was an Italian method of Zsinagoga SZ E NT I M R E HE R CEG UT C A VÁ R K Ö R Jesus’s K O S S U T H L A J O S UTCA Bus Station
creating lavish decorations Várkör 38. Tel Anikó Béres (20) 934 Heart RÁKÓCZI FERENC
Church
by scratching through several 87 30. Open by appointment. 0 metres 100 GY Ő N J . UTC A LISZT FERENC UTCA
layers of plaster. This is one of Completed in 1859, this 100 A D Y E N DR E U T C A SZ ÜK UT CA
only few sgraffito houses in well-sized and imposing 0 yards UTCA
Hungary and, while time has red-brick synagogue once Train Station
1.6 km (1 mile)
Heroes’ Gate, a local landmark, not been kind to the façade, served the considerable Jewish TEM E T Ő U T C A
in Miklós Jurisics Square the effect is just still visible. population in Kőszeg, which
For hotels and restaurants see pp264–269 and pp276–285 For keys to map symbols see back flap
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