Esztergom (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈɛstɛrɡom] ⓘ; German: Gran; Latin: Solva or Strigonium; Slovak: Ostrihom, known by alternative names) is a city with county rights in northern Hungary, 46 kilometres (29 miles) northwest of the capital Budapest.

After the conquest of the country by Charlemagne, the Franks should give the name Osterringun to their easternmost castle; as a comparison, a reference is made to the town of Östringen.

[12] Lajos Kiss [hu] considered the name to be of uncertain origin, potentially derived also from Slavic strgun (a tanner) or Proto-Bulgaric estrogin käpe, estrigim küpe – a leather armor.

[4][12] However, the last theory is sharply criticized by Šimon Ondruš as obsolete and unreliable, because of its dependency on later sources, the high number of Slavic names in the region and missing adoption of the word in the Hungarian language.

The results of the most recent archeological excavations reveal that the Várhegy (Castle Hill) and its vicinity have been inhabited since the end of the Ice Age 20,000 years ago.

The German and Avar archaeological finds found in the area reveal that these people settled there following the period of the migrations that were caused by the fall of the Roman Empire.

In 973, Esztergom served as the starting point of an important historical event: during Easter of that year, Géza sent a committee to the international peace conference of Emperor Otto I in Quedlinburg.

[citation needed] The settlements of royal servants, merchants and craftsmen at the foot of the Várhegy (Castle Hill) developed into the most significant town during the age of the Árpád dynasty– these being the most important area of the economic life of the country.

Arnold of Lübeck, the historian with Frederick Barbarossa, called Esztergom the capital of Hungarian people ("quae Ungarorum est metropolis").

In the chaotic years after the fall of the House of Árpád, Esztergom suffered another calamity: in 1304, the forces of Wenceslaus II, the Czech king occupied and raided the castle.

In 1594, during the unsuccessful but devastating siege by the walls of the Víziváros, Bálint Balassa, the first Hungarian poet who gained European significance, died in action.

Two forced labor units, whose members were mainly Esztergom Jews, were executed en masse near Ágfalva, on the Austrian border in January 1945.

[citation needed] Soviet troops captured the town on December 26, 1944, but were pushed back by the Germans on January 6, 1945, who were finally ousted on March 21, 1945.

[citation needed] The Mária Valéria bridge, connecting Esztergom with the city of Štúrovo in Slovakia was rebuilt in 2001 with the support of the European Union.

However, reconstruction slowly managed to erase the traces of the war, with two of Esztergom's most vital characteristics gaining significance: due to its situation it was the cultural center of the area (more than 8,000 students were educated at its elementary, secondary schools and college ).

This town, with its spectacular scenery and numerous memorials, a witness of the struggles of Hungarian history, is popular mostly with tourists interested in the beauties of the past and art.

Those traveling to Esztergom today can admire the most monumental construction of Hungarian Classicism, the Basilica, which silently rules the landscape above the winding Danube, surrounded by mountains.

The building that might be considered the symbol of the town is the largest church in Hungary and was built according to the plans of Pál Kühnel, János Páckh and József Hild from 1822 to 1869.

From the top of the large dome, visitors can see a breath-taking view: to the north, east and south the ranges of the Börzsöny, Visegrád, Pilis and Gerecse mountains rule the landscape, while to the west, in the valley of the Danube one can see as far as the Small Plains.

By the northern end of the wall, on the bank of the Nagy-Duna, an interesting memorial is put, a stone table with Ottoman Turkish writings commemorates Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent's victorious siege of 1543.

Along the delightful streets of the Víziváros (Watertown), surrounded by Baroque and Classicist buildings stands the Primate's Palace, designed by József Lippert (1880–82).

It houses a rich collection of Hungarian panel pictures and sculpture of the Middle Ages as well as Italian and western-European paintings and handicrafts (13th-18th centuries).

(1506), the gothic altars from Upper Historical Hungary (Felvidék), handicrafts of Italian, German and Flemish artists from the 13th–17th centuries, tapestries and ceramics.

The building of the Balassa Bálint Museum that was built in Baroque style on medieval bases and is located in Víziváros (Watertown), served as the first town hall of Esztergom county after the Turks had been driven out of the region.

The Cathedral Library standing in the southern part of the town, which was built in 1853 according to plans by József Hild is one of the richest religious libraries of Hungary, accommodating approximately 250,000 books, among which several codices and incunabula can be found, such as the Latin explanation of the 'Song of Songs' from the 12th century, the 'Lövöföldi Corvina' originating from donations of King Matthias, or the Jordánszky Codex [hu], which includes the Hungarian translation of the Bible from 1516 to 1519.

The hill was named after a church built by Bishop Lukács Bánffy in memoriam the martyr Saint Thomas Becket, who had been his fellow student at the University of Paris.

On its original spot, the top of the hill, the narrow winding streets and small houses that were built by the masters who were working on the construction of the Basilica at the beginning of the previous century, have an atmosphere that is similar to that of Tabán in Buda.

Upon its façade there is a red marble carving which presents the coat of arms of Esztergom (a palace within the castle walls, protected by towers, with the Árpáds' shields below.)

[22] Historically, Esztergom has been the seat of the Catholic Church in Hungary and the privilege of 1708 banned non-Catholics from the city (excluding the small Serbian Orthodox minority).

[18] The 1869 census showed 14,512 people (with Szentgyörgymező, Szenttamás and Víziváros), 13,567 (93.5%) Roman Catholic, 718 (4.9%) Jewish, 130 (0.9%) Hungarian Reformed (Calvinist), 68 (0.5%) Lutheran and 27 (0.2%) Eastern Orthodox.