The castle of Diósgyőr

The walls of the Castle of Diósgyőr were built on the rock hill elevating from the valley of the Szinva stream. The anonymous chronicler of the 13th century (commonly known as “Anonymus”) mentions that a hill fort made from earth stood in this place at the time of the Hungarian conquest (or land-taking), which must have been ruined at the time of the Mongol invasion at around 1241. After the invasion, King Béla IV donated this place to a favourite man of his, Ernye Bán. Ernye Bán’s son, Palatine Stephen had the first stone castle surrounded by an oval-shaped ring built, complete with two round towers.