Tanulmányok Budapest Múltjából 31. (2003)
A MÚLT RÉTEGEI - A SZENT GYÖRGY TÉR TÖRTÉNETE - Végh András: Középkori városnegyed a királyi palota előterében : a budavári Szent György tér és környezetének története a középkorban 7-42
KÖZÉPKORI VÁROSNEGYED A KIRÁLYI PALOTA ELŐTERÉBEN Medieval City Quarter in the Foreground of the Royal Palace (History of the St. George Square and its Surroundings in Buda) St. George Square did exist even in mediaeval times but it is not identical with the one indicated in present-day maps of the town. It used to be the name of the main square, the place of the weekly markets, laying between the Parish Church dedicated to Our Lady and the city gates - i.e. today's Dísz Square and Tárnok Street. The wars and sieges of the Turkish period, the exchange of the population erased the memory of the square and its name. In the course of the reconstructions in the end of the 18 th century the open space in front of the Royal Palace was mistakenly named St. George Square. This name has spread and is still even in official use despite the fact that most buildings of the square have been destroyed. The present study is aiming to outline the formation and the development of the area bordered by the mediaeval city gates and the Royal Palace, i.e. today's Dísz Square and the fountain of Szép Ilonka, in the Middle Ages, based on historical and archaeological sources. Archival research and the results of intensive archaeological investigation between 1974-87 and 1994-2000 has also been included. The events of the Mongolian Invasion of Hungary in 1212-1242 urged King Béla IV to fortify the strategically important hill - called Castle Hill today - and settle the people of Pest and Buda (i.e. Óbuda) there, thus founding a new city by the name of Castrum Novi Montis Pestiensis, also referred to as Castrum Budense. The consciously founded city was thoughtfully formed. Constructing the defence system of walls was an absolute priority. After the route of the walls had been defined, the plots were marked according to a strict pattern. The direction of the streets was influenced by topographical features. The narrowing southern part of the Castle Hill was divided into three blocks by two streets running from the north, setting out at the city gates, converging to the south. The western one was the early Jewish Street. There were mainly houses of Jewish people here. They had a synagoge too, but it could not have been identified so far. The eastern street became known as St John Street. It was named after the Franciscan Friary dedicated to St John the Evangelist, built here by the eastern city wall. Most of the remains of the earliest buildings are those of cellars of the houses. For most people who had settled in the new city wine production remained important. A significant proportion of the houses were made of timber, but stone buildings were not scarce either. By the end of the 13 th century the rapidly growing settlement began to exceed its limits. Buildings did not meet the increasing needs anymore. After a good hundred years from the birth of the city remarkable changes began to transform the character of the quarter. The rulers expanded the Royal Palace which affected the whole area concerning the plots and the composition of the population too. The proximity of the Royal Court exerted its influence in several ways: building plots were marked up and they were gradually covered by the properties of noble families of importance in the court. Beginning with the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries the sight of the sites gradually changed, the houses built of timber were replaced by the ones of stone. 41
