4D - Tájépítészeti és Kertművészeti Folyóirat 37-40. (2015)

2015 / 39. szám - Körmendy Imre: Adalékok a történeti városközpontok témájához Eger példáján = Reflection on the subject of historic city centres - example Eger

improvements made the area east of the train station developable, and thus the Csákó neighbourhood was built up between the World Wars, and after somé decades the urban area grew southward, and the Southern industrial area was established on the dried wetland.26 In László Gerő’s above mentioned book there is an old perspective picture of the castle and city of Eger in the i6th century. Fig.5 This drawing clearly agrees with our description, with just a slight difference. The configurations of the terrain are nőt exact on the drawing. The Turkish bath by the thermal water laké is somewhat farther from the wall than in reality. M. Berecz mentions in his quoted thesis that “the walls were built on the ridge of the elevations.” ! This is correct at somé places e.g. on Tetemvár and the eastern side of gate to Makiár, elsewhere the formulation is incorrect or mistaken. Fór instance, on the western side the terrain is smoothly rising outside the wall, on the slope of Hajdú hűl, and the ridge is only at one km distance from the wall. 0 On the fiat terrain to the south and north there is of course no elevation with ridge. PLANNED OR ORGANIC CITIES, ORTHOGONAL STREET PATTERN OR ONE ADJUSTED TO THE TERRAIN FORMS? Our other statement in connection with the historic cities is that these organic cities are nőt at all haphazard. Growth in natúré follows strict rules, and the actual question is whether out ancestors intended to follow a simple geometrical order of building, or else, they respected the existing features and adapted to them the fundamental lines of the Street pattern. In the history of mankind the powerful colonial rulers dared to build cities without regard to natural features, like in the case of the Hellenistic colo­nial cities, and the cities built on fiat terrain in the Román Empire. Later on, the castles of the weakening empire were often built with concem to and support of the natural endowments (e.g. Visegrád, fortification on the Sibrik hill). In Eger the medieval development within the walls is determined by three routes. The first is the final section of the way from Buda to the episcopal seat, the palace (today Kossuth Street). It tums just under the palace (that is, beyond the Franciscan monastery) and runs along the ramp (with this curve it increases the security of the palace). The second is the almost straight Széchenyi Street on the western side in north - south direction. The third is below the eastern breakages of the terrain, at one plot distance (Cifrakapu square - Servita Street - Dobó István Street - Tinódi Sebestyén square - Almagyar Street) and follows the changes of the terrain. The Street is as far as possible from the rivulet and its occasional floods ‘ (Fig.6). It follows from the organic char­­acter that apart from the main routes, the urban area accreted gradually from small settlements, therefore each part must be viewed identically and assessed rationality. The data at our disposal are scarce, bút one can conclude that each primary core had been developed around a Central building; í (Fig.7). The figure shows clearly the one time rela­­tively self-contained communities, which jointly made up the city of Eger. Most of them had been built around a church. The church of four of them is nőt known. The one which lies most far from a church is New Town along Hosszú Street. The present Cistercian church built of the site of a mosque may have had a medieval ancestor. This double change can be traced on other churches too.33 Which solution is more rational? We are of the view that alignment of streets and structure forms are of higher (or at least identical) quality if adjusted to the terrain and water flow than rigid geometrical order defying natural 26 The plán of the Csákó quarter was designed by László Warga in 1925. He proposed development on the area of the train station, because it was already considered to continue the railway from Füzesabony towards Putnok with and opposite span through the quarter, and the build the train station elsewhere. This connection was built much further to the south in the 1980's. 27 Op.cit. p. 181. Fig.138."Perspective drawing of the city and the castle(Eger)" - no further specification. 28 In her paper entitled “Historic survey ofthe hospital" (Local Authority of Heves Ferenc Markoth Hospital, Clinic, Eger, 2006) Katalin N. Lutter mentioned that the bath, called at that time thermal water house was built outside the walls, before 1495. The map does nőt shor the thermal water laké any more,, bút the island and the curving stream indicate ample water, slow flow and expansion. 29 Op.cit. p. 560 30 Probably this is why the ditch outside the wall was so deep, 2.5 m 31 Several authors agree that it is the oldest road in the valley ofEger. Is the most ancient settlement was in the piacé of the Castle. It is logical that the road was just below. The road tro the city from south went through villages - Andornak, Kistálya, Nagytálya, Makiár - on this side ofthe stream. The road no.25 was built later. 32 See: Mezős, Tamás: Basic historic trends forming urban squares. Műem­lékvédelem (Protection of Monuments) vol.2.no.3 and 4Djournal no. 2. 2006,34.P. The process in the city ofHildesheim was similar to the one in Eger: the set of settlements was surrounded by walls afterwards. There the subsidiary branches and islands of river Innerste were the natural borders. 33 History of ourDiocese; Medieval Episcopate Archidioecesis Agriensis Online; www.eger.egyhazmegye.hu Tatár, Sarolta: Magyar katolikus templomok, (Hungárián Catholic Churches] Tóth Press Debrecen, 2008. “The mosques were converted intő Christian churches". On the site ofmany mosques there had been Christian churches - here on the site of the St Catharine church and Franciscan church beside the minaret was the St. Demeter church before the mosque. ADALÉKOK A TÖRTÉNETI VÁROSKÖZPONTOK TÉMÁJÁHOZ EGER PÉLDÁJÁN | 4D 39. SZÁM 2015 | 31

Next