Hello Guys,
I hope you had a nice couple of weeks since my last post “Moved On”.
As I mentioned, I would like to introduce you to my “home town”, Szigetvár and its biggest event the Zrínyi Days. I was born in this small town, however, I grew up and my parents still live in a small village next to it.
Szigetvár is in Baranya county, South-west Hungary, only 25-30 km far from the Croatian border. Around ten thousand people live in this place. This small town was significant during the 1500 years when Sultan Suleiman The Magnificent tried to conquer the world. His way was during my little town and in 1566 he attacked the fortress. Long story short, the head of the fortress Nicholas Zríny with only 2500 soldiers held the fortress for 34 days against the around fifty thousand Ottoman army. On 7th September 1566, when the fortress was on fire and Zríny could not hold it anymore, instead of surrendering, at dawn he and his only 300 soldiers left, he ran out of the fortress and they died as heroes. The Ottomans had a huge loss during the siege of Szigetvar and even when they got the fortress, the Sultan died and they had to retreat to the South, so their expedition to Vienna during Buda failed and they only could try to do it again in 1687, more than hundred years later. And that’s why Szigetvár celebrates every single year at the beginning of September the Zrínyi Days in honour of the heroes who died in the battle.
Since 1833 every year the town has organised these event series. There were several programs this year too. Including memorial ceremonies, theatres, concerts, gastronomical, children and tradition-keeping programs. Doesn’t matter how old are you, you will find something interesting. The program series started on 7 September and ended with the traditional fireworks on 10 September. The programs are around the whole city. The concerts took place in the city centre, the Zrínyi square, the theatres were in the Vigadó building, and the Attach was around the fortress. On Castle Street these days you can buy the best quality Hungarian handmade products, but if you love the funfair, you won’t be disappointed. There were so many folklore groups, Croatians (as Zríny wasn’t just Hungarian, he was also a Croatian Ban), Szigetvár has a brother town in Turkey too, therefore their tradition keepers came to visit and of course Szigetvár’s two Zrínyi folklore groups. On the last day of the program series after noon in every hour, you could hear an arsenal. Every hour as many shut as many hours until 8 pm when the ending ceremony started after the last gunfire.
I remember when I was a kid we always waited these days, especially Sunday’s closing day. Everyone around the town gathered together. The kids could watch the “battle” and after that, we had some chimney cake or cotton candy. But the most amazing was the closing ceremony. Everyone gathered together in the fortress, we listened to our National Hymn, the mayor had his speech, and when everyone was done, the “magic” started… the fireworks. It wasn’t as huge as the bonfire night at Alexandra Palace or the New Year’s Eve fireworks in London, but it was always the best because the family and friends were together.
After almost eleven years in London, I could visit the Zrínyi days and guess what… still these small fireworks are the most amazing, but this year it was special to me because it wasn’t just the closing day of the Zrínyi Days…nope… because it was the closing event of one of the most amazing weekend I could spend with my family without the nervousness that I have to leave them and with the feeling that I’ve made it. I made it to be there on my nephew’s first birthday and I made it to be there on my brother’s 30th birthday. Also, I made it to be there for the fireworks. I know it sounds cheesy, but this is the truth, We do not appreciate anything enough the small things in our lives… that’s why in my next post, I will bring up some small, but very important things from my life and talk about the differences between my lovely little village and London.
However, if you wish to know more about Szigetvár, trust me there are some programs and places to visit during the year, (even if there are no Zrínyi Days) such as the museum and the Turkish mosque in the fortress, the thermal bath, theatres or even just a few kilometres the Villányi wine yards, you can visit the town’s website here.
I hope you enjoyed it and you will consider SpitFire up my little town in the future (Let me know if you coming and I am more than happy to guide you.) 😉
XOXO,
Krisz😘
P.S.: Don’t forget: Don’t have to be always strong to be a Hero. Also, follow me on at least one of the below. 😘
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Spirit of Spitfire 