The story of Castle of Eger

Every Hungarian child knows what happened on these walls. In 1549 István Dobó became captain of Eger Castle and filled it with supplies. In 1552 Ottoman armies that had already taken many fortresses joined into a huge force and marched on Eger.

For five weeks in September and October, about 2000 soldiers and civilians under Dobó held out against an enemy many times larger. In the great assault of 11 to 13 October, the so-called women of Eger helped by pouring pitch and hot water on the attackers, and with winter coming the Ottomans withdrew. Géza Gárdonyi turned the story into the novel known in English as Eclipse of the Crescent Moon.

Yet in 1596 the castle fell after only a few days, and 91 years of Ottoman rule followed. From 1702 the Habsburgs had much of it pulled down, including the whole outer castle. The army used it as barracks until 1957. Today its museums tell the castle's story, and you can explore the casemates beneath it.