# LAND AND PEOPLE #### GEOGRAPHICAL HISTORY POPULATION, ETHNIC MINORITIES SETTLEMENT AND PLACE OF LIVING ### GEOGRAPHICAL HISTORY #### Extreme weather phenomena The statistical data on climate for the 16th-17th century make it the so called mini ice age. The yearly average temperature dropped by only one degree but nevertheless resulted in extreme weather phenomena. From October to the end of February a thick layer of snow covered everything, cereal crops needed 3-4 extra weeks before they could be harvested, and to some degree the area of available arable land even decreased. These phenomena - especially when considering the technical means of production of the time - made the conditions for agricultural production difficult. The extremely cold winters followed by hot summers, very cold and wet nights and days of heat waves made people's lives difficult. The greater part of the country's territory was covered by swamps and extensive wetlands. People of the time complained often of vapours and dampness, noting for example that the shirts of soldiers sleeping in thick military tents were soaked by morning because of dampness in the air. #### Deforestation Just as in other forested areas of Europe, from the beginning of the 16th century there was an increasingly vigorous exploitation of forest lands in Hungary. As a result of a boom in agriculture, the breeding of cattle in increasing numbers took up more and more grazing land, and the keeping of sheep and goats did not help to preserve the forests, either. Besides the increasing demand for wood for everyday life, it was also needed for military use. The building of palisade castles, fortifications and ships as well as gun-founding and the making of gunpowder required an enormous amount of wood. Parliamentary decrees obliged more and more counties to transport wood from their forests to satisfy military demands. King Ferdinand I introduced laws for the use of forests as early as 1557 but later the central government continued to devote its attention to the introduction of forest laws. Forests were relentlessly devastated around the mines and foundries of Lower and Upper Hungary. In order to sensibly utilise wood, the new forest patent issued in 1565 by the king ensured detailed regulations on sylviculture. #### Waters and ploughs The clearance and devastation of forests resulted in an increase in the land covered by water. Rivers carrying silt blocked the river-beds and created small lakes and swamps, but the deliberate inundating and swamping of areas - which was a form of military defence at the time - also contributed to the expansion of areas under water. One way of utilising nature was that in many places new castles were deliberately built in the mouth of the river or on grounds that were surrounded by water. It was not uncommon in the 16-17th century that rivers were embanked by mill dams and these dams of different sizes also contributed towards the expansion of the water surface. Today it seems almost unbelievable that residents of most areas of the lowlands of Hungary (The Alföld) used small boats for transport and tiny barges were tied to the end of their gardens. Although the amount of forests in the lowlands of Hungary and around the border fortresses were decreasing, at other peripheral areas just the opposite process was taking place. Uncultivated but arable land was firstly overgrown by scrub and then by dense forest. The fact that arable land was pushed back was mainly due to the decrease in the cultivation of wheat, which was a common European phenomena in the 17th century. ### POPULATION, ETHNIC MINORITIES #### The reason for the decimation of the population In the 16-17th century man's worst enemies were wars and epidemics and the starvation they resulted in. Hungary was not the only part of Europe to undergo great suffering and to be witness to the devastation which accompanied the protracted wars. Soldiers, whether Turkish, German or other nationalities all plundered the larders and barns of the population murdering those who offered any resistance and leaving the survivors to face the resulting starvation and epidemics. The unhygienic natural environment as well as the people's attitudes to hygiene were all contributing factors to the outbreak of epidemics. The area around Hungary was regularly struck by plague in this era, some of them lasting as long as three to five years. Towns were crowded, and public sanitation was a barely understood concept, therefore it is no surprise that town dwellers bore the brunt of the diseases. In the plague of 1655 nearly half the population of Sopron was wiped out. In military camps where hygienic conditions were disastrous, besides dysentery and typhus many soldiers fell victim to a disease called morbus hungaricus which has been described in various sources as a horrible epidemic. #### Increasing and declining population By the end of the 15th century the population of Hungary was nearly 3.3 million. A century later this number had risen to approximately 3.5 to 4 million. This can be attributed to the fact that despite the Turkish conquest Hungary was no exception to the process which brought along significant increase in the population of early modern Europe. However, at the beginning of the 18th century the population of Hungary was still around 3,5 million which means that the population level was decreasing or at best was stagnant. This was primarily the result of the Fifteen Years war (1591-1606) and the re-occupation (1683-1699), in which the Turkish-Tartar armies and the Emperor's troops continually marched through, wintered and laid waste to Hungary leaving the populations of certain areas utterly decimated. It was especially unfortunate since up to the country's first modern war, citizens had demonstrated an extraordinary ability to survive. Throughout the ongoing Turkish-Hungarian military encounters the ordinary people had merely fled in search of a more peaceful life, albeit temporary, in the nearby, more protected settlements. Nevertheless there was no escape from the repeated devastation wrought by armies consisting of thousands of soldiers which relentlessly pressed forward over expansive areas. #### The total population of Hungary According to the latest research, the total population of Hungary at the end of the 15th century including Transylvania and Slavonia was around 3.3 to 3.5 million. Nearly 900,000 people lived in the 120,000 square kilometre sized occupied area, out of which the total from the Turkish castle garrisons, the tanner land owners and Muslim citizens came to 50-100,000 people. According to the domestic census of 1598, the population of the 120,000 square kilometre area of Habsburg Hungary is estimated at 1.8 million. 800,000 people lived in the 60,000 square metre area of Transylvania (not including the Partium). This data indicates that at the end of the 16th century the population of the country was still around 3.5 million which shows little or no increase compared to data of the end of the previous century, this therefore means that the natural growth of the population was stifled by the period of wars. From the 17th century the available data is less accurate. The Fifteen Years War and plague and starvation that followed decimated the population. Warfare of the 1660's and plague epidemics in the periods between 1653-1565, 1660-1666, 1676-1678 led to further losses. The entire population of Hungary just before the wars of re-occupation in 1683 is considered to have been approximately 4 million. #### Exodus from villages It cannot be doubted that as a result of military campaigns and wars significant movements of peoples took place in the country at certain periods. After the "major exodus" to forests and swamps because of the wars, the majority of those from the villages returned to their homes and re-continued farming. Some of the serfs fled from the Hungarian or Turkish tax census and returned after it had been carried out. The majority of people lived in tiny villages comprising of only 20 or 25 houses. While in the occupied areas about 140 people lived in an average village, this figure was 150-170 in the kingdom. More and more villagers moved to agricultural towns, especially in those decades when a boom in agriculture took place. (The average population density in the occupied areas was 7-8 persons per square kilometre, and in the western part of the country 15 people per square kilometre, while in the most developed areas of Europe this number was 100-120 in Italy, and 34-40 in the Netherlands and France.) #### Ethnic re-distribution The great immigration waves can be connected to the devastation in the population caused by major campaigns. In the Fifteen Years War for instance a serious loss was experienced by the Hungarian inhabited part of the Mezőség where a significant number of Romanian ethnic groups had settled. The Transylvanian wars between 1657 and 1661 had similar consequences. Romanians reached the northern and eastern edges of the lowland of Hungary, and the territories inhabited by Saxons and Székelys (Hungarians of Transylvania). In both the occupied territories and other parts of the country the most significant devastation effected those living on flat land - mainly Hungarian national habitants - while Romanian, Ruthenian and Slovak citizens who lived in the more protected hilly areas had more chance to escape the campaigns. In addition, settlers from the German Empire also kept arriving but their number only became significant after the expulsion of the Turks. The 150 years of Turkish conquest and warfare fundamentally altered the ethnic picture of Hungary in the Middle Ages. #### Romanians in Transylvania Romanians who settled in Transylvania did not form a feudal state. Those kenézs and vaivodes (both chief titles in the principality) who had excelled themselves before the king and who had been managing the settlement process since the Middle Ages, were given the status of nobility along with land. However, the majority of Romanians mainly involved in sheep rearing had sunken to the level of serfs after they had moved to a royal property or land that belonged to private land owners. The main form of tax they paid was the fiftieth sheep tariff, which meant that every fiftieth sheep belonged to the king, and later to the prince. Besides the shepherding lifestyle, another reason for Romanians being isolated was their Orthodox religion, and their bishopric only became established in 1574 on the command of István Báthory. Following the devastation of the Fifteen Years War another settlement movement began from the Vajdaság (districts governed by a vaivod) to Transylvania and by the 17th century a significant number of Romanian inhabitants had settled along the Transylvanian riverbanks and the northern and eastern side of the Lowlands of Hungary. Throughout the 17th century Transylvanian princes paid particular attention to the religious life of the Romanians. #### The settlement of Serbs and Croatians As a result of the Turkish expansion, before the battle of Mohács a significant number of Orthodox Serbs had settled in the southern areas of Hungary. By the middle of the 16th century a large number of Serbs arrived in the area south of the river Maros and as a continuation to this, to the area between the Danube and the Tisza rivers and to Transdanubia. The devastation caused by the Fifteen Years War mainly effected the Hungarian inhabited territories of the lowlands which opened the opportunity for the Serbs to move further north. First they settled at the territories between the Maros and Körös rivers, then throughout the 17th century they continuously reached towards the areas in the north between the Danube and Tisza rivers. They arrived together with Muslim Bosnians - who were grouped together as Serbs in this historical period. In 1627 their most northern settlements were near Simontornya and Dunaföldvár. At the end of the 17th century after the conquest of Belgrade by the Serb forces (1690) several thousand Serbian families arrived in Hungary under the leadership of Arsenije patriarch of Ipek. Catholic Croatians fled from the Turks to the western side of Transdanubia, and the majority of them worked as mercenaries along the border. In the 16th and 17th centuries they appeared in increasing numbers in Transdanubia. #### Slovaks, Germans and Vlachs in Upper Northern Hungary The furthest extent of the Hungarian settlements in the 17th century was the Pozsony-Nagyszombat - Rimaszombat - Rozsnyó - the valley of Hernád - the valley of Tarca - Gálszécs - Ungvár - Munkács - Huszt route. Slovak and Ruthene inhabitants established scattered settlements by river valleys. Hungarian inhabitants of the Felvidék were further increased by Hungarians fleeing from the Turks from the direction of the lowlands, the majority of whom were Hungarian aristocrats. People who used to live in German towns at the Felvidék, (mainly in the Szepesség and by the river Garam) lost some of their number when a large Slovak group settled with the Germans. Small German mining villages by the rivers Rima and Sajó had a fully Slovak character by the end of the 17th century. The Vlach ethnic group - the people who mainly dealt with shepherding and goat-herding - appeared in the mountains in the 16th century emanating from the direction of Bereg and Máramaros. These - originally Romanian - shepherds gradually assimilated, and by this time spoke either Slovakian or Ruthenian languages. The grazing their animals pursued endangered the forests, therefore the mining towns were constantly introducing prohibitions against them. By the 17th century settlements of Vlach shepherds stretched as far as Moravia. #### Turks - Southern Slavonians The expansion of the Ottoman empire towards the Balkans and its power consolidation was initially ensured by two factors: the mainly Turkish army, and the masses of Turkish settlers of Anatolia. However, most of this ethnic expansion exhausted itself on reaching the line of the Danube and the river Drava, (some reached certain regions i.e. the Vidin territory in Bulgaria). Not only Turkish settlers failed to reach Hungary but even the majority of the conquering army was recruited from the different ethnic groups of the Balkans. The first mixed and often temporary castle garrison of the Buda vilajet (Turkish administrative unit) for example was later replaced by troops exclusively from Bosnia, Herzegovina, Northern-Serbia and from the territory between the rivers Drava and Sava. The majority of soldiers from the aforementioned places were already converted Muslims when they entered into the service of the Ottoman state (and usually were sent to the more useful arms of the service). Serb and Vlach soldiers who joined the army from Northern Serbia (from the territory embraced by the rivers Danube, Timok and Sava) served mainly as marauders, and the majority remained Christian. The ethnic origin of the tanner landowner spahis and their companions who served in Hungary is less known but all indications point to their mainly being renegades. Thus, in addition to Turkish, the Southern Slavic language was also used in the "Turkish" garrisons and towns. ### SETTLEMENT AND PLACE OF LIVING #### Towns in Habsburg Hungary in the 16th-17th century Although Hungary - despite its division into three parts - remained as part of Europe's economic system, wars and the disunity of the country made the development of towns significantly harder. The urban network system of the Middle Ages had disintegrated as most of Hungary's free royal towns (Buda, Pest, Szeged) came under the direct sway of the Turks. At the same time live-stock trading significantly added to the wealth of the occupied agricultural towns. The royal towns (Nagyszombat, Pozsony, Kassa, Sopron, Győr) - mainly as mediators - began to be associated with the export of cattle and wine to the western and northern areas, as a result of which the citizens of these towns also derived significant incomes. The accumulated capital however, was rarely invested in industrial or financial enterprises. Instead, people purchased land and vineyards with the intention of combining the foreign trade with their product. Town industry therefore remained to operate within the framework of the guild system. As a result of all these factors Hungarian burghers played a far less important role in the life of the country than the urban dwellers of for example Germany or France. #### The centre of Upper Hungary: Kassa Well before the Battle of Mohács the free royal town of Kassa was one of the most important economic centres of the country. The Turkish advance altered the picture of this town - which had built out significant trading connections since the Anjous and pursued the guild industry, - both to its favour and disadvantage. As the border fortress system was established and the Transylvanian Principality came into being, Kassa became the military and diplomatic centre of the upper Hungarian region for the 1560s. Here, the captain general of Upper Hungary who was resident in the town directed the defence of the border fortresses and the relations with princes and the Turks. At the same time, Kassa was also the centre for tax administration, since the town was a home to the residence of the Szepes Chamber, the organisation which administrated the royal income in this part of the country. The aforementioned functions Kassa performed gave it a more significant national role than before. However, its citizens paid a hard price for this advantage: they often had to put up with the captain general's interference in the town's affairs even though the military created a new market for the town traders and master craftsmen. Even under the Turks the town developed economically, due to the fact that it managed to keep its previous leading role in the trade and industrial life of the Northeast of Hungary. These were all contributing factors to the fact that Kassa more or less managed to preserve its royal town privileges throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. #### The bastion of Vienna the imperial capital: Győr In the life of the bishopric agricultural town of Győr, the Turkish occupation had brought enormous changes. After the fall of Székesfehérvár and Esztergom in 1543, Győr which is situated by the river Rába had moved near to the Turkish front-line. In consequence, the Viennese management of war had established the town as the military administration centre of the defence headquarters of the imperial capital. They transformed Győr into a modern stronghold, the so-called fort town (Festugstadt), created a symmetrical network of streets, raised ramparts and strengthened defence by several hundred Hungarian and German soldiers. Military purposes by far became the priority against the interest of the town's citizenry, the captain general limited the freedom and economic activities of the people. Being close to the Turkish front-line, however, also brought advantages to the town. Firstly, the military became a new market for the town traders and master craftsmen, secondly, the Győr merchants took advantage of the opportunity to get involved in cattle trading as mediators between the Turkish occupied areas and the West, which was the most profitable branch of the economy of the era and its citizens could preserve and even broaden their privileges. As a result of all this, in the 16th and 17th centuries Győr became one of the most significant towns. #### Buda in the Turkish era Buda, the Renaissance capital of King Mátyás became the military and administrative centre of a vast empire's border province in 1541, a pasha-residence. Although throughout the 150 years of occupation its Hungarian population remained, the number decreased by half. They were replaced by (mainly Serb and Bosnian origin) Muslim, Jewish and Gypsy ethnic groups most of them soldiers, officers and traders. The total population nevertheless was still less (by 7000-7500) than under King Mátyás. The different religious groups lived separately. The Turks occupied the empty or evacuated houses but hardly built any new ones. They only erected public buildings that their lifestyle required (djamis, mosques, spas, schools, soup kitchens and bazaars) even these were transformed from or built on the top of Hungarian middle-ages architecture. The economic life of this Balkan style border town was determined by three different branches of industry: handicraft (within this the typically Turkish industries, i.e. leather and copper) agriculture (viniculture and viticulture, cultivation of grain crops and market gardening) and trading. Although the majority of the trading of goods between the royal and the occupied territories of Hungary were carried out via Buda which was an enormous source of income for the Turkish tax collectors, the town lost its previous role of being an economic centre and a market leader. #### Transylvanian towns The largest towns of Transylvania were those mainly Saxon towns (Nagyszeben, Brassó, Beszterce, Segesvár, Medgyes, Kolozsvár) which - in the late Middle Ages as a result of their dominating role over trading routes that ran across Transylvania and by dealing with Levantine goods - became extremely wealthy by the beginning of the 16th century. Because of Transylvania being relatively cut off from trading routes, the development of Saxon towns gradually slowed to halt throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, since part of the most important trading routes towards Moldavia and Wallachia were closed. Nevertheless the world-famous goldsmith products of the Saxon handicraft industry still reached the western European markets through Southern German trading links by which Saxon towns were able to maintain their wealth even under the reign of Transylvanian princes. Transylvanian agricultural towns came into being near the largest settlements with the largest markets but in smaller numbers and with far fewer inhabitants (Marosvásárhely, Udvarhely). The majority of them became so called "tax" towns which meant that they were granted privileges by the Prince and paid their taxes to the principal treasury in one sum. #### Rich Kolozsvár This Saxon town which became Hungarian by the end of the 16th century had played a leading role in the history of Transylvania. Its domination over the trading route that led to Hungary and the right to block the passage of commodities which they had been granted by Queen Isabel in 1558 played an important role in the town becoming rich. Princes of Transylvania often spent their time in this town and this encouraged the locals to build small Renaissance castles and new houses thus making Kolozsvár a worthy residence. In the last third of the 16th century an architectural fever came over the citizens, entire streets were beautified or transformed making Kolozsvár the second capital of Transylvania after Gyulafehérvár. Under Italian influence, local stone carving artists decorated the gates, frontages and arches in the Transylvanian Renaissance style characterised by an abundant use of flowers. The simple elegance of the Renaissance arcature loggias met the individual characteristics of the local architecture, which could especially be observed in the town's larger houses and country houses outside the town. Wealth was accompanied by a sparkling cultural life from the second half of the 16th century and a great variety of literature on religious disputes, fiction and scientific literature became available for the readers from Gáspár Heltai's printing house in Kolozsvár. #### Gyulafehérvár Upon her return to Transylvania in 1556 queen Isabel's first priority was to try and convert the abandoned bishopric palace of Gyulafehérvár into a worthy principal residence. The halls were mainly decorated with silver and golden objects, as well as silk and brocade drapery. The town became a real Renaissance principal residence under the reign of the Báthorys. Several Transylvanian aristocratic families attempted to buy a property or hoped to receive one as a gift from the Prince in Gyulafehérvár, which was the most regularly chosen venue for assemblies as well as functioning as a residential town in the principality. #### Temesvár under the Turks While Buda played the role of the Porte for Vienna, due to its geographical location the mission of Temesvár was the observation of Transylvania under the leadership of the local begler bey (and the 6-7,000 fortress soldiers and spahis subordinated to him). Similarly to Buda, the town became more Turkish and took on the characteristics of a country town. The town's old castle was used by the occupiers as an internal fortress where only military buildings were built and where the commander of the castle lived. One of the two outlying areas of the town was called "Rácváros" "the Serb quarter" and Turkish mosques were erected everywhere - including the Serb quarters. The immediate surroundings of the town became swampy from small tributaries coming out of the river Temes and the town itself was built on such soft ground that its streets had to be covered by plank-walks fixed on piles. Business life took place on one of the streets of the inner town centre where the market place full of shops was also located. Besides mosques, caravan seraglios, spas, schools and cafes also contributed to the oriental look of the town. The majority of Temesvár's Turkish and Serb inhabitants lived in houses consisting of one room plus a kitchen and a small yard. Their vineyard and orchids were situated outside the town, among which could be found the Dervish monasteries. #### The "independent" agricultural towns of the Sultans in the Lowlands of Hungary (the Alföld) The richest agricultural towns of the occupied areas usually belonged to the treasury either for its use or as its property. Turkish administrators, soldiers or civilians either never lived in these colonies or if they did so, they had definitely left by the end of the 16th century. These towns bought their independence for huge tax payments. Turkish authorities established these constantly increasing taxes which were paid in cash and commodities, and were submitted to Turkish officials through the town's representatives. This provided the opportunity for these towns to pursue independent management, maintain their own households and to settle their legal disputes in accordance with Hungarian laws and the statutes of the town. Management, administrative and judicial duties were carried out by the town council led by an annually elected chief justice, minutes and the rendering of accounts were kept by a notary. The different management activities were directed by lower ranking magistrates (such as wine, market and residential magistrates). Church and school maintenance were paid for by the town, as was the invitation and expenses of the priest. The independence and self-defence of these agricultural communities which were reinforced by the 17th century was a compelling attraction to people living in villages. #### Settlements with lodging gardens Before the Battle of Mohács the Lowlands of Hungary (the Alföld) had been covered by densely populated villages. Following the country's division into three parts villages were desolated one after the other, and the people were either reduced to slavery or forced to seek refuge in another village not yet destroyed where they were safer in large numbers. These places grew into agricultural towns and expanded onto the borders of the ruined villages. By the reign of the Hunyadis Debrecen already had a 90,000 cadaster hectares of border area, this figure was 50,000 in Nagykőrös and the area of 6 ruined villages became the property of Kecskemét. Uncultivated lands near the borders of these widely spread agricultural towns and giant villages of the Lowlands with long boundary lines, were primarily cultivated in their inner zones. The rest of the uncultivated border lands were used for grazing and animal husbandry. According to historical data, the large herd of cows that were sent to the West were mainly raised on the grazing lands of agricultural towns of the Hungarian Lowlands. Cattle rearing and exports became common in Hungary on a large scale from the second half of the 15th century. Hungarian cattle was sought after by Venice from the Southwest and the expanding German towns (Vienna, Augsburg, Nürnberg) purchased the lion's share, although there was still enough left to supply the Czech and Moldavian towns. For example in Nürnberg in the first half of the 16th century 70,000 cattle per year were sold, while in Vienna 7-11,000 cows per week were purchased in the summer months. The rapidly flourishing cattle rearing required vast areas of grazing land. These were available in the Lowlands of Hungary particularly in the area between the rivers Danube and Tisza. Kecskemét was one of the few towns to survive Turkish destruction and thus provided shelter to refugees from the neighbouring villages that were destroyed and slowly expanded over the borderlines of the deserted villages. Rented lands were divided into summer and winter pastures. Animals of poorer people were driven into common stud farms and herds grazed on the summer pasture together. That part of the land which was suitable for cultivation was used to keep the animals on in winter. These lands were broken, ploughed and sowed and used for the cultivation of grain crops and for the wintering of cattle herds. The grazing lands were called the lodgings, gardens or farmsteads. However, in this case the garden was not cultivated land but rather an open-air, spacious pen where the animals were kept in order to prevent them from wandering away. Rural gardens could come into being on both the inner boundaries of the agricultural towns and in the distant lands. The most ancient agricultural gardens were occupied freely. These lands were than inherited by, given to and bought by the following generations. (In Nagykőrös these were called the "forefather's legacy" gardens). In the 16-17th centuries the situation in Kecskemét was similar to that in Szeged, in the Jászság and Nagykunság. In 1570 the Turkish census takers counted 154 lodgings on the border of Szeged and on its lands. The 16th century Szeged lodgings were used for different purposes such as hay-making, the wintering of animals and cultivation of land. The landowners of these lodgings were mostly well-off smallholders and civis peasants (well-to-do peasants who had been able to move to towns) but sometimes they belonged to handicraftsmen or even Turkish functionaries. Another type of agricultural town were the hajdú towns (towns in county Hajdú in the 17th century) which were founded for defence purposes in areas that had been destroyed by the Turks. The core of these towns - the inner town which consisted of houses around the church - was surrounded by a rampart and strong palisade. The garden with its livestock, agricultural products and tools was situated outside the palisade. In Hajdúböszörmény even the garden was surrounded by a rampart which has retained its circular shape up today. #### Ottoman-Turkish architecture The architecture of the Turks who had mostly settled in towns or were stationed in the occupied fortresses, had two different aspects. Military architecture consisted of the reinforcement of castles and in the cases of more important centres - in Buda or Esztergom for example - the establishment of defensive-works. Civilian architecture was meant to serve the everyday needs of the settled Turks. The characteristics of the occupied Hungarian settlements went through a gradual transformation under the Turkish conquest. In larger towns the characteristics of Turkish architecture appeared within a few years: djamis, mosques, medreses (schools), türbes and spas which were indispensable for the Turks. The conquerors often re-converted buildings of the Hungarian architecture of the Middle Ages for their own use, particularly public buildings. Despite this reconstruction Hungarian towns managed to preserve their structure and street network. After the re-occupation at the end of the 17th century, Turkish buildings disappeared within a few decades and under the large scale town re-structuring that took place in the 19th century, forts and defensive works were utterly demolished. ##### Djamis The main examples of architecture of Ottoman and Turkish origin in Hungary consist of djamis and mosques. The majority of these buildings were either partially or fully constructed from Christian churches. The inner decoration -altar pictures and ornaments were removed, and wall paintings and frescos were given a white wash. Where the opportunity presented itself - as in the case of the Parish Church in the town centre of Pest - the Turks established a mihrab-alcove in the southern wall of the sanctuary. Throughout the occupation, significant re-construction work was carried out at the southern side of the "Feast of the Assumption" church which was converted in some haste into a djami by the Turks after the occupation of Buda in 1541, without altering its characteristic body and gothic ground plan structure. A similar case was the Saint George church in the Buda Castle. By the side of the building - preserving its medieval architecture - the Turks built a separate minaret. An original example for utilising already existing buildings is the Uzicseli Hadzsi Ibrahin djami in Esztergom which was established throughout the reconstruction of the gate house of the city wall from the 13th century. We can distinguish two different fundamental types of djamis that were of Turkish origin from their foundation. The first, well known type consists of square surfaced buildings with a cupola that rested on an octagonal tambour in the outside and on a circular shaped drum in the inside. In most cases the main frontage was extended by a three vaulted porch which was also covered by a cupola. When praying Muslims must face towards Mecca therefore djamis built in Hungary were also orientated to the Southeast. The mihrab alcove was situated right in the middle of the buildings' South-western wall, the pulpit and the minbar stood next to it. Opposite this, on the Northwest side opened the entrance of the building and next in the Northwest corner stood the minaret which was usually built together with the building and opened from either inside the djami or from the porch. The most beautiful example of this type of djami is the Gázi Kászim pasha djami in Pécs, which was built over the medieval architecture of the church of Saint Bertalan by using its stones in the seventies of the 16th century. The still standing Jakováli Hassan djami in Pécs, the djami of Malkocs bey in Siklós and the Ali Pasha djami in Szigetvár are also examples of the aforementioned category. Buildings with a rectangular-shaped ground plan and horizontal or tent roofing formed the other group of djamis. Research so far has uncovered two such buildings which were both built after 1566 in the fortresses of Gyula and Szigetvár. Today only the Suleiman-djami of Szigetvár remains, the one in Gyula had been demolished to its foundations. Its original form was reconstructed on the basis of the excavation work carried out in this area and based on engravings found from the 18th century. Its still existing minaret preserves the memory of the Kethüdá djami erected in Eger at the beginning of the 17th century and the Hamzsa bey djami in Érd. Türbes standing on an octagonal ground plan and covered by cupolas were built on the occupied areas in large numbers, however, only two of those have survived until the present day. The Gül Baba türbe in Buda was built by Jahjapasazáde Mehmed pasha between 1543 and 1548, over the grave of Gül Baba a dervish of Bektas who died during the first Friday prayer that followed the occupation of Buda castle. The Idrisz Baba türbe in Pécs which was built at the end of the 16th century shares architectural similarities with the above mentioned türbe. According to tradition, the entrails of Suleiman I. sultan (1520-1566) - who led the a 1566 attack against Szigetvár castle - were buried in Turbék. This white marble building with an octagonal ground plan and a cupola was a famous place of pilgrimage under the occupation, the exact location of which is no longer known. ##### Spas Turkish spas can be divided into two different groups. The first group is the Ilidzse which include hot- and thermal springs built on natural springs and the other category is the hamam, the steam bath. The difference between the two groups is their water supply and their way of heating, however, there are no significant differences between their ground plans. The structure of both followed that of the Roman baths. Both ilidzses and hamams were built on the Turkish occupied Hungarian territories. Medieval Hungarian architecture was also reconstructed for building spas by the settling conquerors, particularly in those areas where natural sources of hot springs were found. For instance the Emperor (Veli bey) spa as well as the Rác and Rudas spas (Jesil direkli - Green column) which are operating today in Buda, used to be Turkish baths. On their location bathing establishments were situated as early as the 15th century, only the medieval history of the Király (King) Bath is unknown. It was founded by Szokollu Mustafa pasha (1566-1578), and it is unanimously referred to as the "Rooster Gate" by Turkish historical sources. It was also a thermal spring bath, although its water was fed through clay-pipes from a water source that gushed from the garden of what is today the Lukács bath. In the town of Eger two Turkish baths were built. The Arnaut pasha bath in the garden of the bishopric palace which is still in use was saved from deterioration by Károly Eszterházy. He reconstructed the building, and in fact expanded it by another two premises. The Valide sultana steam bath situated opposite the entrance of the Eger castle was only used for a short while after the re-occupation, and is not mentioned in any historical sources after 1765. The name of Güzeldzse Rüsztem pasha of Buda (1559-1563) is associated with the foundation of two baths in Hungary. One is an ilidzse which was built on top of the Esztergom-Víziváros (spa town) and was named after the pasha himself, and another was a hamam of Székesfehérvár with the same name. Today, only the ground work of both buildings exists. Out of the several Turkish baths of Pécs that are referred to by historical sources, remains of the bath that was built as part of Memi pasha's endowment have been recently excavated. |