ESZTERGOM
(Ger.
Gran
; Lat.
Strigonium
), a town of
Hungary, capital of the county of the same name, 36 m. N.W. of
Budapest by rail. Pop. (1900) 16,948, mostly Magyars and
Roman Catholics. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube,
nearly opposite the confluence of the Gran, and is divided into the
town proper and three suburbs. The town is the residence of the
primate of Hungary, and its cathedral, built in 1821?1870, after
the model of St Peter’s at Rome, is one of the finest and largest
in the country. It is picturesquely built on an elevated and
commanding position, 215 ft. above the Danube, and its dome,
visible from a long distance, is 260 ft. high, and has a diameter
of 52 ft. The interior is very richly decorated, notably with
fine frescoes, and its treasury and fine library of over 60,000
volumes are famous. Besides several other churches and two
monastic houses, the principal buildings include the handsome
palace of the primate, erected in 1883; the archiepiscopal library,
with valuable incunabula and old MSS.; the seminary for the
education of Roman Catholic priests; the residences of the
chapter; and the town-hall. The population is chiefly employed
in cloth-weaving, wine-making and agricultural pursuits. An iron
bridge, 1664 ft. long, connects Esztergom with the market town
of Parkany (pop. 2836) on the opposite bank of the Danube.
Esztergom is one of the oldest towns of Hungary, and is famous
as the birthplace of St Stephen, the first prince crowned “apostolic
king” of Hungary. During the early times of the Hungarian
monarchy it was the most important mercantile centre in the
country, and it was the meeting-place of the diets of 1016, 1111,
1114 and 1256. It was almost completely destroyed by Tatar
hordes in 1241, but was rebuilt and fortified by King Bela IV.
In 1543 it fell into the hands of the Turks, from whom it was
recovered, in 1595, by Carl von Mansfeld. In 1604 it reverted
to the Turks, who held it till 1683, when it was regained by the
united forces of John Sobieski, king of Poland, and Prince Charles
of Lorraine. It was created an archbishopric in 1001. During
the Turkish occupation of the town the archbishopric was removed
to Tyrnau, while the archbishop himself had his residence
in Pressburg. Both returned to Esztergom in 1820. In 1708
it was declared a free city by Joseph I. On the 13th of April
1818 it was partly destroyed by fire.
For numerous authorities on the see and cathedral of Esztergom
see V. Chevalier,
Repertoire des sources. Topo-bibliogr.
s.v. “Gran.”
Of these may be mentioned especially F. Knauz,
Monumenta Ecclesiae
Strigoniensis
(3 vols., Eszterg, 1874); Joseph Danko,
Geschichtliches
. . . aus dem Graner Domschatz
(Gran, 1880).