Győr

Győr , Ger. Raab (räb), city (1991 est. pop. 129,598), NW Hungary, near the Slovakian border and at the confluence of the Rába and Danube rivers. Győr is a road and rail hub, a river port, a county administrative center, and a leading industrial city, known especially for its engineering works, textile plants. Manufactures include motor vehicle engines, automobiles, and furniture. Its location about midway between Budapest and Vienna makes the city an important communications point. The site of Győr was a Roman military outpost called Arabona that was evacuated in the 4th cent. AD and later destroyed. The Magyars built fortifications there in the 9th cent., and Győr grew around the fortress, which was later (17th cent.) used as a defensive position against the Turks. Győr became an episcopal see in 1001 and was made a royal free town in 1743. In 1849, Hungarian revolutionary forces were decisively defeated by the Austrians near Győr. The city's industrialization dates from the second half of the 19th cent. Present-day landmarks include a 12th-century cathedral (rebuilt 17th cent.), an episcopal palace, and several impressive monuments and baroque houses from the 17th and 18th cent.