Eger Steps

Panorama of Eger from Bérc utca

The steps leading up the hilly slopes surrounding Eger are typical of the town. This morning, I took my usual walk, following the line of the former town walls. I would like to invite you to accompany me.

The first steps take me down from the King's Seat Hill to Cifra kapu tér / Square.

Following the town wall, we come to Mária utca and the site of the old dam/wall on the right, the so-called "Posuerunt," which protected the town from regular flooding.  

Then we reach the St Nicholas district, the former home to the town's Serbs.

Mária utca

After crossing Széchényi utca and turning left, we walk up a new flight of steps leading to Vitkovics utca and the beautiful Orthodox church on the left.

Steps leading to Vitkovitcs utca

Orthodox Church

Vitkovics utca follows the old town wall, which is visible if we look at the old street name signs that include the district names and numbers. The first four districts, I—IV, belonged to the historic town centre, and the outer extremes of these districts indicate the line of the town wall.

The street leads onto the site of one of the old gates, the Sertekapu, which led out into the gardens and vineyards close to the town centre.

After crossing the square, we come to another flight of, unfortunately, rather untidy steps that lead to the Tündérpart (Fairy's Bank).

As a continuation, another flight of steps leads to Csiky Sándor utca.

Followed by another incline leading up to Városfal utca (Town Wall Street).

You can find further details of my walk in another earlier post.

The University of Bergamo wrote a study on the town's walls that can be found here: http://www00.unibg.it/walledtowns/eger4_hun.htm

The study includes a map:

On days like this, I realise what a lovely town Eger is and how much I enjoy my walks. If I'm lucky, I bump into my friends.

Eger, Erlau, Egri, Jáger - a European story

I love living in Eger, and I have known for a long time that the town witnessed the arrival of many waves of Western European settlers during its long history.

When preparing my TedXEger talk, I learned how vital the Walloons (who originated from what is now southern Belgium) and the Bishopric of Liege had been in Eger's history. They brought Western European traditions of winemaking in Eger to this area. According to recent research, the first bishop of Eger was probably Leodvin, originally the bishop of Bihar. When the bishopric was divided, and the bishoprics of Eger and Várad were created, he became the first bishop of Eger. He also came to Hungary with the support of the Liegois. The oldest districts of historical Eger were also inhabited by the Walloons. More in my TedXEger presentation:

Thank you to everyone who came to the talk. Watching the talk on YouTube is less of an experience than being at a TEDx event in person—and honestly, it was also not my best attempt—but I recommend my talk cordially to everyone. Thanks also to Eger Labor Collective House. My talk would not have been possible without their help and that of the Eger Archdiocesan Library and the Liege Museum of Walloon Life.

Eger, Erlau, Egri, Jáger - egy európai történet

Nagyon szeretek Egerben élni, és már régóta tudom, hogy az évszázadok során a többszörös betelepülés színhelye volt.

Amit tanultam, amikor összeállítottam a TedXEger-es beszédemet az az volt, hogy mennyire fontos szerepet játszottak Eger történelmében a vallonok. Az egri bortermelés elő hagyománya velük áll kapcsolatban, az első egri püspök a legújabb kutatások szerint valószínűleg Leodvin volt, aki bihari püspök volt. Amikor a püspökség kettévált, és az egri, illetve a váradi püspökség jött létre, ő vállalta el az egri püspökséget. Ő is a liegiek támogatásával került Magyarországra. A legrégebbi egri városrészek a vallonokhoz kapcsolódnak. Többet a TedXEger előadásomban:

Köszönöm mindenkinek, aki eljött az előadásokra. Igaz, hogy a youtube-on kevésbé nagy élmény - és öszintén megvalva nem volt a legjobb próbálkozásom - de szeretettel ajánlom mindenkinek. Köszönet az egri Labor kollektív háznak is. A segítségük nélkül nem jöhetett volna létre az előadásom,  továbbá az egri Egyházmegyei Könyvtárnak és a Liege-i Vallon Élet Múzeumának.