Sárospatak [antikvár]

THE HISTORY OF SÁROSPATAK At a distance of about 250 kilometres (156 miles) north-east of Budapest, Sárospatak lies at the foot of a mountain range bearing the world-famous wines of Tokaj. Judging by statistical data, it would seem an unimportant provincial town at the far end of the country, on the small river Bodrog. Yet it has earned itself a special place among the towns of Hungary. Its name recalls the memory of glorious events of Hungarian history, the struggles fought for liberty and independence and their leaders, primarily the Rákóczis. The local College (Kollégium), with a past of four centuries, has made it a stronghold of culture and progressive thought, a kind of "Hungarian Athens", of which the present-day town, with its numerous schools and hosts of students, is a worthy heir. But it is primarily the castle of Sárospatak, a fine and noteworthy set of buildings reflecting the Hungarian version of Late Renaissance and Early Baroque architecture (sixteenth and seventeenth centuries), which, together with the medieval relics of the neighbourhood, attracts a growing number of visitors each year. Early history of the town and castle The name of Sárospatak, or Patak as the place was originally known, appears early in ancient written documents. The chronicler of the Magyar Conquest and the history of the first Hungarian monarchs, Petrus, Bishop of Győr, previously referred to as Anonymus, described at the beginning of the thirteenth century how in A.D. 896 a small advance party of the Hungarians invading the Carpathian Basin, including a warrior by the name of Ketel, crossed the Bodrog river and scouted the region of Patak. For his part in this raid, Ketel was awarded by Prince Árpád the area extending between the Sátor-hegy (Tent Hill), some 15 kilometres (10 miles) north of the town, and the Tolcsva brook flowing in an equal distance to the south. Later King Andrew I (1046-1060) under an exchange agreement arrived at with Ketel's descendants took possession of the land, because it was well suited for hunting and also because his queen, the daughter of the Grand Duke of Kiev, preferred to live here, close to her homeland, and