St. Urban Tower

In 1556, a huge fire devastated the city, in which the city almost completely burned down, along with its churches and buildings. The cathedral bell also melted in the fire. A year later, the city decided to cast a new bell from the molten ore as a reminder of the tragedy, and they named it after the patron saint of winegrowers, Saint Urban. However, there was no tower to hang it on, and later they also doubted whether the cathedral tower would be able to support the weight of the 72-pound bell. Gábor Bethlen was finally the one who had the Urban Tower built in 1628, on the site of the old Red Tower (Rubra Turris), and placed the bell of the same name in it. ; And the bell informed the city about the stubborn facts of life for 450 years. "This city lived, died, and fought to your sound for centuries, when there was confusion in souls and an enemy at the gates. .. The bell rings, as if the difficult hour is approaching, when the new world is born in blood, suffering, and screams" (Márai); Arcades were built at the foot of the St. Orbán Tower in 1912, until another tragedy occurred: in December 1966, the transformer station in the tower exploded, and the tower burned down again. It was then that the sgraffito from the Renaissance times that is now visible was found under the plaster, which runs in a circle under the upper cornice. ; This time, the bell does not melt, but breaks. The pieces of the original old bell are then glued together and are now displayed in front of the tower. In 1999, an exact copy of the Orbán Bell is made, which has been tolled every noon since then. ; In the wall of the tower (on the ground floor) you can mainly see medieval tombstones, which were removed during the reconstruction of the Cathedral and were exhibited here. ; Today the building houses a panopticon. Here you can find wax statues of Rákóczi, King Matthias, Gábor Bethlen and Catherine of Brandenburg, among many other personalities.