Szombathely: Hungary

Szombathely: Hungary
Szombathely (Latin Savaria/Sabaria, German Steinamanger) is a city in Hungary. It is the administrative center of the Vas county in the west of the country, located near the border with Austria. Szombathely lies by the streams Perint and Gyöngyös, where the Alpokalja mountains meet the Small Hungarian Plain. The name Szombathely is from Hungarian szombat, “Saturday� and hely, “place�, referring to the fact that markets were held on Saturday every week.
The German name Steinamanger means “stones on a field�, and it refers to the ruins of the Roman city Savaria.
The Latin name Savaria or Sabaria comes from Sibaris, the Latin name for the stream Gyöngyös. The root of the word is the Indo-European word seu, meaning “wet�. The Austrian reach of the stream is still called Zöbern, a variation of its Latin name.
History of Szombathely
Savaria, the Roman city
Szombathely is the oldest city in Hungary. It was founded in 45 CE by the name of Colonia Claudia Savaria and it was the capital of Pannonia Superior province of the Roman Empire. It lay close to the important trade route, the “Amber Road�. The city also had an imperial residence, a public bath and an amphitheatre. Septimus Severus was a governor of this province and he was elected emperor here.
Emperor Constantine the Great visited Savaria several times. he ended the prosecution of Christians, which previously claimed the lives of lots of people in the area, including Bishop St. Quirinus, St. Rutilus and St. Ireneus. The emperor reorganised the colonies and made Savaria the capital of the province Pannonia Prima. This era was the height of prosperation for Savaria, its population grew, new buildings were erected, among them theatres and churches. St. Martin (later Bishop of Tours) was born here.
After the death of Emperor Valentianus the Huns invaded Pannonia and Attila’s armies occupied Savaria between 441 and 445. The city was destroyed by an earthquake in 458.
Savaria/Szombathely in the Middle Ages
The city remained inhabtied in spite of all the difficulties. Its city walls were restored, many new (although less magnificent) buildings were built using the stones from the destroyed Roman buildings. The Latin population moved away, mostly to Italy, but new settlers arrived, mostly Goths and Longobards.
In the 6th–8th centuries the city was inhabited by Avar and Slavic tribes. In 795 the Franks defeated them and occupied the city. Even Charlemagne himself visited the city where St. Martin was born.
King Arnulf of the Franks gave the city to the archbishop of Salzburg in 805. It is likely that the castle was built around this time, using the stones from the Roman bath. Later Savaria was captured by Moravians, but Moravian rule was short, because around 900 the city was occupied by Hungarians.
In 1009 Stephen I gave the city to the newly founded Diocese of Győr. The city suffered a lot between 1042 and 1044 during the war between King Sámuel Aba and Holy Roman Emperor Henry III.
Szombathely was destroyed during the Mongol invasion of Hungary in 1241-1242 but was rebuilt shorty after and was granted Free Royal Town status in 1407. In 1578 it became the capital of Vas comitatus.
The city prospered until 1605 when it was occupied by the armies of István Bocskai.