More looks at Sopron

There are more monuments than those to honor dead war heroes. Here is István Széchenyi, probably the most famous of the 19th Century Hungarians. He used his family funds for projects to improve the lives of Hungarians and is considered the father of modern Hungary. He founded the National Library and the Hungarian Academy of Science. He mobilized the nobility behind the cause of modernizing the country, including improving transportation. He supervised making the Danube navigable and building railroad links around the country. He helped design the first bridge (the "chain bridge") across the Danube to link Buda and Pest, then separate cities. This statue was erected to honor him in 1880.


His statue stands in this park built in his honor. The flowerbeds around Sopron are especially impressive this time of year.


Franz Liszt (Liszt Ferenc in Hungarian), perhaps the most famous of Hungarian composers, was born near Sopron.


They've just finished redoing the main square. That's the Goat Church on the left. It's called the Goat Church since a goat is on the coat of arms of the family that built it.


Here we are looking in the other direction towards the famous Fire Tower that you saw in an earlier blog.


The problem with pavement and restoration projects in a town like Sopron whose existence stretches back to Roman times, wherever you dig, you might find Roman ruins, especially in the center of town. Now they have to decide what to do with their latest discovery before they can reopen this pathway from the central square (föter) through the base of the tower.