Page 23 - Esztergom 2021

Anyone who arrives in Esztergom aboard a regularly running
boat of the summer Danube Bend ship service, lands at Prímás
Primate (Primate’s) Island, Esztergom, not far from the place where
Francis Rákóczi, István Széchenyi, and Lajos Kossuth also ar-
rived in the city. According to local tradition, the second verse of
Island the Kossuth song ‘The rain falls in droplets’ (Esik eső karikára)

was written here, during the Esztergom station of the states-

man’s recruitment tour. Those coming from the other side of
Mária Valéria the Danube, from the direction of Sturovo, are also welcomed
by the island when they cross the Mária Valéria Bridge, which
Bridge, Litt le has become one of the symbols of the city. Although the Dan-
ube crossings have a history dating back thousands of years in
Danube Promenade this area, the bridge, opened in 1895, was the fi rst permanent

iron bridge in Esztergom. The bridge was destroyed in both
World War I and World War II. After 1944, several decades

passed before it was rebuilt and handed over to international

traffic in 2001 as the last of the destroyed Danube bridges.

The island was first mentioned in 1073, when King Solomon
and Prince Béla made peace here. In the Middle Ages, a convent

stood here. Th e Little Danube of Esztergom is a tributary next
to the island, with charming promenades on both banks for
those who wish to relax. On one bank of the small river, the Lit-
tle Danube Promenade awaits those who wish to take a stroll
under the row of London plane trees, next to historical monu-
ments and cafés, while huge chestnut trees, planted in the me-
morial year of Saint Stephen in 1938, stand on the other bank,
together with the city’s music school and boathouse.

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