Civitas Boutique Hotel

Fire Tower 11 - The Loyalty Gate

by Ekaterinburg

The Fire Tower has an additional and very important historical role in the life of Sopron. At its base is the so-called 'Loyalty Gate' a baroque door frame over the arch underneath and above, a wonderful sculptural story called 'The people of Sopron paying homage to the mythological figure of Hungaria'. This commemorates the fact that in the 1900's after the Treaty of St Germain and Trianon, four Hungarian Counties were ceded to Austria. Sopron however did not choose to accept this and by a plebiscite held on December 14th 1921, decided to stay with Hungary. Hence The Loyalty Gate and Sopron's reputation as faithful to Hungary. All of this makes history come very much alive here and you begin to understand some of the reasons why Sopron claims to be 'the most historic town in Hungary'.

Other Old Town Streets

by Ekaterinburg

Three other streets in the old town that I explored in some detail were : Koloster utca (Klostergasse); Templom utca ( Kirchgasse) and Uj utca (Neuegasse). Koloster utca was one of the first streets I walked through in the old town and even though a lot of the buildings were shabby and in bad shape, it had some of the best examples of typical Sopron domestic architecture, such as the first-floor overhanging square bay windows and the large decorative pillars surrounding some ground floor windows.

Templom utca runs all the way to Szechnyi ter, where I eventually discovered the Tourist Office in the Liszt Ferenc Conference and Culture Centre. All the way down this street I explored courtyards and secret gardens which I have desribed in the 'general tips' section.

Uj utca ( New Street ) runs parallel with Georgesstrasse and is in fact one of the oldest streets in town. Again it's almost all houses here, except for no.22 which is one of the medieval synagogues that used to serve the large Jewish community which lived in this part of town. There were Jews in Sopron since the 13th century but after the Expulsion of 1526 and ultimately World War 2, they became virtually extinct.

A Few Good Sights

by Muzzaa

The Esterhazy palace, I was told it is the Hungarian Versailles. Cool place in a nice part of Hungary. Only a short trip from Austria, where I was staying. I did a day trip and met some interesting people, including a freebee lecture from a local guide.

The Szechenyi Mansion, was a museum. Very nice property and had a good day to wander around.