Eger Things to Do

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My guide took us to a bird ringing centre out in the woodlands where we joined the trained ringer who was demonstrating his activities to a group of college students. It was good to see the care with which he handled the birds. One of the students also recorded assiduously all of the different measurements taken on each of the birds captured. Each bird was also weighed in a small canvas bag before the small metal ring was applied to its leg. Let's hope some are re-captured and the code number recorded. It is by this means that the birding authorities can monitor the movements of individual birds and gain other information on their age and physical condition between capture points.

We were later taken to see the mist nets that had been strung out across a natural corridor in the woods. Birds flying down this open space would fly haplessly into the net and soon become ensnared. It is the task of the ringer to rescue the birds from the net and to then take the measurements before the actual ringing and release.

The photo shows a Goldcrest and the second a female Bullfinch. Both birds flew away happily and unharmed.

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If you visit this place you can see how proud is people in Eger about your history.During the Turkish occupation of Hungary, Eger became an important border fortress. The 1552 Siege of Eger was a miraculous defence by Hungarian forces in the face of overwhelming odds. Under the command of Captain István Dobó the defenders of the castle (fewer than 2,100 people, including women and children) successfully fought back a Turkish army of 80,000 soldiers.
In 1596, a bigger army of the Turks attacked Eger, and took the castle after a short siege.

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With entry ticket 1200ft you can see the following exhibitions
The history of Eger castle,gothic palace;gallery,dungeons.
In underground passageways you can enter only with group tour.
For weapon exhibition,waxworks and mint(we dident visit this)
you must pay seperate but is very cheap.

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A great place to sample Bikaver wine is in Eger's "Valley of the Beautiful Women", or Szepasszony-Volgy. Here a small semi-circle of cellars are cut into the local stone, which allows them to keep barrels of the superb local wine at the perfect temperature. You can just wander from cellar to cellar trying a glass of whatever takes you fancy. Some will even give you free tasters.

Some cellars are for serious wine drinkers, and some of for serious drinking. We ended up in Cellar 31 and quickly found ourselves engulfed in a workers outing from Szechenyi. We gave up our seats so they could all fit in, and they repaid our kindness with endless refills. They wouldn't let us leave until we were properly drunk.

If you are curious, the name doesn't have anything to do with the number of beautiful women in this valley, although I'm sure there are many, but is instead a reference to godesses or something like that. It's purely a place for wine drinking - there's no funny business going on!

Directions: The valley is just outside the city limits. It's signposted in Hungarian, but it's not difficult to find. Walk to the back of the basilica and take a left down the signposted street. Turn right at the yellow church and keep to your left as you walk along Kiraly utca. Keep walking and walking, across the major road, and walk some more never diverting, and soon you will see the valley and the cellars.

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Sitting serenely under the castle, and stretching out over the Eger stream, the long narrow Dobo square is the elegant center of the city. Perhaps here, more than anywhere else in the city, they celebrate the victory over the Turks in 1552 with two great statues glorifying Captain Istvan Dobo, and the two thousand men he led, to that incredible victory over the numerically superior Ottoman opponents.

Sitting in the center of the large tiled section of the square is Captain Dobo himself, while off to the side, in front of the town hall, are soldiers of the defence. On the other side of the bridge, in the cozy, shaded snug, are a number of pleasant cafes and, occasionally, market stalls.

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One of the biggest churches of Hungary, the Cathedral of Eger was built between 1831 and 36 in classical style. The length of the church is 93 metres, the width 53 metres, while the towers arising next to the sanctuary are 54 metres high. A wide staircase is leading to the main entrance of the Cathedral. On both sides there are stone sculptures of Marco Casagrande: St. Stephen and King László, as well as St. Peter and St Paul. The tympanum and the 8 chorinthos column give the character of the entrance and facade. The church is covered by 3 cupolas. The nave and aisles determine a cross ground shape. The picture of the high altar is the work of a wiener painter József Donhauser from 1835 and illustrates the death of St. John as being lugged to the hot caldron. The cathedral houses the biggest organ of Hungary that was built at the end of the XIX. century by Ludwig Moser from Salzburg.

The Lyceum is the main building of Károly Eszterházy College that gives home for several events in summer such as the Agria Plays. Two museums are in the building. One of them is the Diocesan Library with more than 140.000 books (the painting named "Convocation of Trident" can be seen on the ceiling of the library hall), the other one is the astronomical museum where instruments of astronomy (made in the 18th century) can be seen. The Eye of Eger (Camera Obscura) can be found in the top of the tower of Lyceum. The handler of this structure presents the downtown from above. The whole town can be seen from the balcony of the tower (53 metres /170 feet/ high).

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The first castle was built on the high hill named Várhegy at Felsõtárkány near Eger. During the Mongol invasion in 1241, this castle was ruined, and the bishop of Eger moved to a rocky hill in the city of Eger. On the hill, a new castle was built, and it developed rapidly. In 1470 a Gothic palace was built. In 1552, a Turkish army of 80,000 soldiers attacked the castle which had 1935 defenders. The siege failed as the defenders killed more than 8000 Turks ( 1700 of the defenders had survived. In 1701, the Austrians exploded half of the castle (the Külsõ vár). Between 1899-1901, Géza Gárdonyi published his novel Eclipse of the Crescent Moon.The archaeological excavation only started in 1925. The castle was used by the army as barracks until 1957.