Horváth M. Ferenc (szerk.): Vác The heart of the Danube Bend. A historical guide for residents and globetrotters (Vác, 2009)
Tartalom
124 RESETTLEMENT AND THE AGE OF THE GREAT CONSTRUCTIONS - THE 18TH CENTURY in the row of new buildings on the western side of the square and has been there ever since. It was not its size but its harmonious proportions that made it stand out among the other buildings of the Main Square. The Bishop's Palace, formed of medieval buildings, was situated on the opposite side, like a counterpoint. Next to the Town Hall was the seminary built in 1732, which was given a new function in the 1870s when the Brothers of Mercy* * moved there. This monastic order had already settled in Vác in 1763 on the northern edge of the town. The quarter that they had started building later became the Theresianum, also the core of the future prison. Bishop Kristóf Migazzi ordered the friars to abandon the constructions on the Danube bank, and they obtained the building of the Seminary - still extant - in the Main Square, where they ran a monastery, a hospital and a pharmacy, and they also erected a chapel in honour of St John. The majority of the buildings in the Main Square also belonged to the Church. The splendid town houses on the Danube side of the square were owned by high-ranking ecclesiastical dignitaries, and only the wealthiest merchants could afford to buy a house here. On the other side of the square, next to the bishop's palace, were some prebendal houses and the Grand Provost's Palace. The southern side of the square was completed by the Dominican - or, as they were commonly called because of the colour of their clothes, the white friars - Church and Monastery. They had been the first monastic order to settle in Vác, in 1699 by invitation of Bishop Mihály Dvornikovits. Since St Michael's Church in the Main Square could not be used as a cathedral, the White The new Cathedral Friars' Church was designated for this purpose. Its next-door neighbour was the building of the Kúria (Curia) used as an inn. The characteristic secular and ecclesiastic buildings that determined the atmosphere and image of the town centre were all built in the second part of the 18th century. In the Main Square there were mainly two-storey buildings demonstrating the wealth of the bishopric, the chapter and the citizens, while moving away from the town centre only single-storey houses were built, owned by less well-to-do craftsmen, tradesmen and serfs. On the northern side of the square the Arany Szarvas (Golden Stag) Inn and the house of the Hajnik family were two-storey buildings, but on either side of the Bécsi kapu (Viennese Gate) there were just a few single-storey houses. The conscious town-planning and construction of the Baroque era involved improving the look of the town as well. During Bishop Migazzi's time constructions were taken under control, open canals were regulated, streets were paved, pavements were built, and mulberry trees were planted to embellish the streets and the squares. The trading centre of the town was the Main Square or the Market Square, since the annual fairs and the weekly markets were held here. On the days of the four annual fairs, "streets" of stalls were formed for the marketers - streets for Lumber traders, Silesians, traders from Nuremberg, Fashion traders, Jewish traders, Fair, Shawl-makers and Weavers. Thus the local merchants as well as those from Pest, Buda, Gödöllő, Cegléd, Aszód, Szentendre, Gyöngyös, Győr, Balassagyarmat, Losonc, Pásztó, Jászberény, Pozsony, Esztergom, Vienna, Austria and Moravia could offer their goods in a regulated order. Those who carried heavy goods in big quantities like crops, potatoes, wine, fruit and vegetables could Székesegyház ("Cathedral") Square in 1812 * The order was established in Spain in 1586.
