Sopron, the faithful town (Sopron)

Regarding the historical monuments, Sopron is the second richest town in Hungary. The town won the Europa Nostra award. One part of the town melts into the vineyards of the surronding hills, while the western part spreads among the mountains.

Regarding the historical monuments, Sopron is the second richest town in Hungary. The town won the Europa Nostra award. One part of the town melts into the vineyards of the surronding hills, while the western part spreads among the mountains.

The pictureque Sopron area was not always as beautiful as it is today. It was a huge swamp in the prehistoric. The first dwellers of the land were the Celts, followed by the Romans, who called the area Scrabantia. During the four centuries of Roman rule, Scrabantia was an important stop on the "Ivy" route, which run across Europe in north-south direction. Thanks to the Romans, the spot which is the city centre today, was already inhabited 2000 years ago.

The first settlers of Hungary arrived in the abandoned area during the 10th century. On arriving here they found abandoned Roman fortresses with 13 small towers, which they reinforced and made to be the residence of their regional leaders. The first leader was called Suprun, so he might have been the name-giver of the town.

Let's discover Sopron, just like our ancestors did.

The famous sights of the-horseshoe shaped inner-city line up one after the other. The area preserves Building- groups, statues, monuments and sculptures.

The baroque main square greets its visitors with historical monuents, and beautiful sights. The most famous sight of the square is the Holy-Trinity statue, the most outstanding piece of the baroque sculpture art in Hungary, which was erected in 1695.

The 61 meters tall "Tűztorony" tower in the sqare, offers an amazing panorama view. The clock in the tower and the eagle monument were installed after the parliamentary meeting of 1681. The tower itself represents three –baroque, renessaince and roman- architectural styles.

The "Hűségkapu" the Faithfulness-Gate is the memorial of the 1921 referendum, when the people of Sopron decided to belong to Hungary instead of Austria. The group of sculptures on the gate was made by Kisfaludi Stróbl Zsigmond.

The "Kecske" -goat- church is found in Templom street. This baroque Benedictie temple got its starange name from a legend. According to the legend a goat dig out treasure here. This treasure was used to finance the building works. The temple itself used to be the place for parliamentary meetings in the 17th century. Our king Ferdinand III. was crowned here.

In the Benedictine monastery we can see the nices gothic hall of the country: the Káptalan-hall. The heritages of the hall are standalone pieces of art in Hungary. The hall is decorated by beautiful wallpaintings, columns, and stone-barred windows.

Let’s go on with our walk on the main-square. It is worth it to enter almost every building on the square.

Number 2 building is the "Patikaház" pharmacy-museum. The house exhibits pharmaceutical book rarities and traditional facilities.

The neighbouring House (No.4.) is the famous Kassov-House. The house is famous because rulers like Ferdinánd II, and Lipót I stayed here in 1622, 1625 and 1681.

The number 6, Fabricius-House is one of the worthiest heritages os Sopron. The two-story lodges and stairs make the building so special. In the cellar-room we can see the Roman stone-collection, where the Trias sculpture-group, which comes directly from the Capitolium of Rome.

Number 7 buildig is called two names. One is Colonels’ house, because military-leaders used to stay here during the 17th century. The other one is Lackner-House because Lackner Kristóf, who was the mayor of Sopron for 14 years, lived in it.

Number 8 is one of the most famous buildings of Sopron, the Storno-house. The house was bought by Storno Ferenc the chimney-sweeper, painter and picture-restorer from Switzerland. The Storno family was a famous collector dinasty. In his rich collection we find medieval china, chalices, carvings, paintings. Famous people like king Mátyás or Liszt Ferenc the composer stayed in this house

If we walk over to Széchenyi square, we can get to know the interesting stories of the old houses.

The number one building used to be the home of the Széchenyi family. Ferenc Széchenyi kept his coin, book and map collection here, which he later offered for the founding of the Hungarian National Museum.

The former "Fehér Ló" White Horse Inn under number 55. is the place, where famous people like Miklós Zrínyi, and Josef Haydn stayed during their visits in 1644 and 1775.

Number 75 building is the Hotel Pannónia, whrer Johann Strauss and his wife spent their honeymoon. The intimate surroundings gave Strauss the inspiration to compose a part of his operetta Egy éj Velencében

Let's go over th Orsolya square. The square was already indicated in documents from 1428 as a salt-market.

The Ursula-Church from the 19th century is a characteristic piece of the neo-gothic architecture. The Virgin Mary-well is from the 18th century.

The number five arcade row, the so called "Lábas"-house (house with feet) is a significant building from the aspect of the town-history. Inside the late renessiance building, different textile and goldsmith works are exhibited.

The Új street used to be called the Jews' street. Not without a reason. In this small, zigzag street we find two synagogues. One was built in 1350 and now it is a museum for jewish art and history. The other one, under number 22 is even older.

The baroque building in number 5. Bécsi street catches our attention with the signboard, wich forms lions with pretzels. This is the Bakery Museum. The bakers of Sopron worked here for more than two-hundred years, from 1715 to 1960. Now the old bakery facilities are exhibited in the building. A strange apparatus which was used to dunk the bad bakers into water, stood here until 1783.

Sopron is the determining town in the Western Transdanubia region from the aspect of culture. The quality programmes bring thousands of tourists into the town every year. The Spring-Days in March, the Wine-Growers' Festival and the Sopron Ceremonial Festival in the Summer.

The Sopron wine-region at the foot of the Alps is the most peculiar wine-growing area of Hungary. Let's see what makes this spot so special. In the old times wine-growers gre not only vine, but beans in their vineyaqrds. They were also called "poncichter", meaning bean-growers. Young men harvested the vine while young women the beans, so both wine and bean were on the table. When the wine-growers wanted offer somebody their wine, they did not have to walk to their vineyards, because the press-huoses were built in the town, under the building they lived in. Some of the signboards are still visible on the walls of these houses.

Sopron is also famous for the beer that is produced here, the "Soproni Ászok". The refreshing beer is one of the illustrious ones in Hungary.

The "faithful" town is also called the town of flavour, because here we cand try specialities from both the Hungarian and international cuisine. As a consequence of bean-growing the favourite dis in Sopron was the "babsterc" (a bean-dish), which is still very popular. Give it a try if you have the chance.

The marvellous Sopron area is a well-liked excursion spot. The beautiful landscape of the Sopron Environment Protection Area lures nature-lovers from all over the country. Lővérek, the name comes from the archers of king Béla IV., has a look-out tower on the 398 meters high Károly hill. From the 23 meters tall tower we can see as far as Bratislawa.

The Fertő Lake offers unforgettable memories. The lake is protected by the Fertő-Hanság National Park. The lake itself is the largest saltwater lake in Europe. The unique flora and fauna of the lake and the bogs promises many interesting sights for nature-lovers.

Our roaming about Sopron is over for now. We became acquainted with the sights, the culture and the cuisine of the town.

Visit Sopron, the faithful town, where hospitable and friendly people wait their visitors.

Accommodation in Sopron:

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Properties Sopron and its area

Hotel Panoráma      (Sopron)Customer rating: 94% (5)

The Hotel Panorama can be located in the Löver mountain, in a picturesque neighborhood. Our guests can have a good time and rest in a family atmosphere. A beautiful sight opens to the town and the Löver hill. The three storied hotel includes 18 rooms, accomodation for 50 persons. A restaurant...

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Hotel Fagus Konferencia és Wellness Hotel          (Sopron)Customer rating: 80% (1)

Hotel Fagus**** is located in the woodland area of the beautiful city of Sopron. With its special subalpin climate the hotel is ideal for guests seeking relaxation and recreation for body and soul.

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mn. 70 EUR pers/night

Hotel Sopron          (Sopron)Customer rating: 100% (1)

Window to the town, window to Sopron... Sopron is 60 km far from Vienna, 90 km far from Bratislava, 220 km far from Budapest offering unique possibility to roam the region. The Hotel Sopron**** is located just ten minutes to the Austrian – Hungarian border and only a few steps from the...

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mn. 28 EUR pers/night

Solar Club Hotel        (Sopron)

Our hotel is built in the silent, peaceful area of Sopron. All of our apartments are equipped with kitchen, dining hall, color TV, radio, telefon. We organizing special tours for uro guests.

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