March 14, 2011: Györ - Day 1

March 14, 2011: Because of our slowness in informing the hotel of our intention to stay a third night, we were told that the hotel was completely booked and so we had to move to a different hotel down the street for our third night in Sopron. The new hotel offered breakfast in a large courtyard in the center of the hotel.

This was the first complete meal I ate since becoming sick on Saturday night -- at last I was recuperating!


After breakfast, we raced to the train station to catch the train to Györ, missing it by a few minutes. The next train came one hour later. The trip to Györ was fine and getting off the train, it was warm enough that I had to take my jacket off; it looked like spring was finally here.


Walking to our hotel, we passed through some beautiful quaint streets of Györ, a very pedestrian friendly city. Next to the train station was City Hall.

Györ City Hall - back view

Györ City Hall - front view

As you can see, it's difficult not to like Györ -- considering we decided to visit Györ only because we were required to change trains there on the way from Sopron to Budapest, it was an unexpected pleasure to visit such a beautiful and friendly city.

We walked through the heart of town to get to our hotel across the bridge of a river dividing the city. The hotel was adequate and we checked into our room before heading back down town to see the sights. First up was the Basilica (steeple in the distance in the first picture). This Basilica's foundation was first laid between 1000 and 1009 and the building was added on to in the coming centuries. During the 1500's a fire and explosion destroyed the steeples and the church was restored between 1635 and 1650. The interior of the building was renewed between 1743 and 1783, so you can see that the church's construction has an 800 year history.

Basilica - Györ

Interior of Basilica in Györ

Interior of Basilica in Györ

Interior of Basilica in Györ

Interior of Basilica in Györ

 Next we went to the Carmelite Church which was built between 1721 and 1725.

Carmelita Church in Györ

A short walk to the east led us to a huge square in which we found Mary's Column and the Benedictine Church St. Ignatius of Loyola. Mary's Column commemorates Buda's recapture from the Turks and was raised in 1686. The Benedictine Church St. Ignatius of Loyola was built between 1634 and 1641. 

Surrounding the square, there were also a lot of cafes and shops. The warm sun attracted many families and young children pushed themselves in their plastic scooters, older children rode their bikes or skateboards, and young families strolled slowly with their baby carriages eating ice cream cones as they walked.

Mary's Column - Györ

Benedictine Church St. Ignatius of Loyola - Györ (built between 1634 and 1641)

Cafe in Square - Györ

Kent and I enjoyed a drink in the warm sun. After that, we strolled through several more streets enjoying the laid back nature of the city.

 We eventually found ourselves near where we had started at the Carmelite Church.

Carmelite Church - Györ

We crossed a bridge over the river that runs through Györ and I got great panoramic views of the city:

We headed back to our hotel and rested before going out for dinner. On the way home, I got a shot of the Ark of the Covenant (Eat your heart out, Indiana Jones.) This monument has an interesting story behind it. In 1729 a soldier who was suspected of committing bigamy, use of a false name, and desertion, fled for refuge to the then Jesuit monastery. Soldiers surrounded the monastery and the Bishop of the monastery wanted this soldier to go to the Bishop's Castle for refuge instead remaining in the monastery. In order to do this, he organized the Corpus Christi procession and the refuge dressed as an altar boy to be a part of this procession. The soldiers surrounding the monastery recognized the soldier and made a rush at him and the procession, resulting in a sacred relic falling out of the hands of one of the priests who had held it and it broke. King Charles III therefore built this Ark of the Covenant as a conciliatory gesture for the damage made on the broken Holy Sacrament. 

Ark of the Covenant - Györ

Kent and I headed for our hotel after a good day of sight seeing.