Somogyvár

As historical tradition remembers, after the death of Géza of Hungary, Prince Koppány held this central fortress in the region of Somogyvár. According to the legend, Koppány launched the attack on the Veszprém fortress in 997 from here. Archaeological excavations revealed that in 1091 King Ladislaus I of Hungary supported the building of a Benedictine monastery here. The Somogyvár Abbey was built between 1091 and 1095 and the first Benedictine monks were invited from the Abbey of Saint-Gilles. Later monks were also invited both from France and other abbeys from Hungary. As so often happened to Benedictine abbeys that were located at important locations, the local kings and princes eventually managed to gain control and convert them from monasteries into military fortresses. The royal fortress of Somogyvár was frequently mentioned in charters from 1163. Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor gave the fortress in 1410 to Miklós Marczali. Later, in 1474 the Báthori family was granted the town of Somogyvár. Then the Török family from Enying owned it. The monastery was used until the Ottoman wars in the 16th century. After the battle of Mohács, it was transformed and rebuilt as a border fortress. In 1543 the Ottoman army destroyed it.

The theoretical virtual reconstruction was created along the advise of Gergely Buzás and Balázs Szőke.