Historical and settlement morphology of Győr city

Abstract

In the present study, the authors examine the spatial development of Győr, a West-Trans­danubian city, by means of the methods of historical and settlement morpho­logy. By the exploration of the urban functions changing through time and by the analysis of the ground plan attesting the contours of the settlement structure through ages in history, the authors provide information for a settlement-morphological examination of the city.

Győr has responded to the challenges of history by the continuous 9nnovation of its functions. Among its major functions, let hereby be mentioned that , in the early period of its history, the town functioned as a river-crossing point;, later, it developed into a bridge-town. The river-crossing was protected by a fortress and the town became an Episcopal seat, too. Győr was an important centre of the export of cereals on the Danube in the 17^th century. After the construction of railways on the turn of the 19^th and 20^th centuries, Győr compensated the decreasing volume of cereal trade by enormous industrial production. By the present day, Győr has become a regional centre, thanks to the number of its inhabitants, its economic significance add the wide range of its functions.