You can find this small Hungarian town with rich historical past on the west side of Hungary, at the bottom of the Low Alpines. (Main road No. 87 leads through this town).

This territory was donated  by King Géza The II.  from the  Dinasty of Árpád to the German Wolfer and Hendrik (Henrik) brothers, who settled down with their armed escort and established this settlement on the bank of  stream Gyöngyös. The first castle, "Old castle" ("Old house") of Kőszeg was built between the hills, possibly before the Mongol invasion as according to a document, dated April 1241. the castle was captured by the army of  the Austrian Prince, Frigyes The II.

The construction of the Lower Castle, next to the settlement in the valley started after the Mongols had left.  in the Middle Ages this became the domain's center instead of the Upper Castle,  which was too difficult to reach.

At the beginning of the XIV. century, during the anarchic inner fights the great "Kőszegi" clan, lead by Palatine, Ivan the Terrible, ruled his lands from here. Only Charles of Anjou, the Italian claimant to the throne - who fought for decades to acquire the Hungarian Crown - could break the rule of the "Kőszegi" clan. After his victory he granted important privileges to the town's citizens in order to help in their development.

As a prevention from  the Austrian attacks walls were gradually built around the town, which were protected by strong towers. The water of the nearby stream  "Gyöngyös" was directed into the moat around these walls.

In 1532 the castle suffered it's most famous attack by the Turkish army of  Sulejman Sultan, during their move towards Vienna. Fort captain, Miklós Jurisich organized the defence against the Turks  and led the small army of approx. 1000 men, mainly peasants from the surrounding lands  and only a small number of soldiers. During the 25 days siege the army of the Ottoman Empire tried all the possible fight methods. Besides shooting the walls and trying to capture them with the infantry, they built siege towers and tried to make tunnels, but it failed because of the wet soil.  At the end as a mutual agreement the Hungarians allowed the Turks to place 8 Turkish flags onto the 8 towers so The Great Vizier Ibrahim could report the apparent victory to the Sultan. Than they left Kőszeg and headed towards the South as Vienna was protected by a significant number of Austrian troops. Keizer and King Habsburg Ferdinand granted Miklós Jurisich for his heroin bravery with the rank of baron and donated him the town, Kőszeg. When Miklós Jurisich died without a male successor, it  was returned back to the disposal of the  Royal Chamber.

In the following centuries the trading town was many times assaulted by Transylvanian, Kuruts and Austrian troops as it was an attractive target with its rich houses. By the middle of the XVIII. century the town  lost its military importance, most of  its  fortification system  was destroyed, while the remaining part has been restored and still can be seen in the inner yards between the houses.

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