Rating
5/5 (based on Google user reviews)
The Baroque church of the Holy Trinity or commonly known as the Premonstratensian church was the site of the martyrdom of three saints in 1619. It the Middle Ages, the Royal House (a seat of the Royal Chamber), stood on the site of the present church. In 1618, at the beginning of the Counter-Reformation and the start of the Thirty Year War, The captain of the city established there a dwelling and a chapel for Jesuits in the Protestant town. Two Jesuits Melicher Grodecký, Štefan Pongrác were sent there, to work with a canon Marek Križin. On 7 September 1619, the forces of George I Rákóczi, the father of the Prince of Transylvania George II Rákóczi, stormed the castle and arrested the priests. They gave them a death sentence on charges of treason; accusing them of inviting the Polish army into Kassa. They were tortured and then beheaded that day. The execution of the priests shocked the local population, Catholics and Protestants alike.
In 1657, the Bishop of Eger, Benedict Kishdy, founded the first Košice University (Universitas Cassoviensis) close to the site. Later, the daughter-in-law of George I Rákóczi, Sofia Bathory, wife of George II Rákóczi, bought the ruins of the former Royal House with intention of building a church for the Jesuits there to make amends for the events of the Thirty Years' War. In 1681, construction on the church finished and it was opened.
On 21 July 1773, the Jesuits was expelled from the city as part of the suppression of the Society of Jesus. So in 1811, the church was given to Premonstratensians who currently administer the church.
References:Derbent is the southernmost city in Russia, occupying the narrow gateway between the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus Mountains connecting the Eurasian steppes to the north and the Iranian Plateau to the south. Derbent claims to be the oldest city in Russia with historical documentation dating to the 8th century BCE. Due to its strategic location, over the course of history, the city changed ownership many times, particularly among the Persian, Arab, Mongol, Timurid, Shirvan and Iranian kingdoms.
Derbent has archaeological structures over 5,000 years old. As a result of this geographic peculiarity, the city developed between two walls, stretching from the mountains to the sea. These fortifications were continuously employed for a millennium and a half, longer than any other extant fortress in the world.
A traditionally and historically Iranian city, the first intensive settlement in the Derbent area dates from the 8th century BC. The site was intermittently controlled by the Persian monarchs, starting from the 6th century BC. Until the 4th century AD, it was part of Caucasian Albania which was a satrap of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. In the 5th century Derbent functioned as a border fortress and the seat of Sassanid Persians. Because of its strategic position on the northern branch of the Silk Route, the fortress was contested by the Khazars in the course of the Khazar-Arab Wars. In 654, Derbent was captured by the Arabs.
The Sassanid fortress does not exist any more, as the famous Derbent fortress as it stands today was built from the 12th century onward. Derbent became a strong military outpost and harbour of the Sassanid empire. During the 5th and 6th centuries, Derbent also became an important center for spreading the Christian faith in the Caucasus.
The site continued to be of great strategic importance until the 19th century. Today the fortifications consist of two parallel defence walls and Naryn-Kala Citadel. The walls are 3.6km long, stretching from the sea up to the mountains. They were built from stone and had 73 defence towers. 9 out of the 14 original gates remain.
In Naryn-Kala Citadel most of the old buildings, including a palace and a church, are now in ruins. It also holds baths and one of the oldest mosques in the former USSR.
In 2003, UNESCO included the old part of Derbent with traditional buildings in the World Heritage List.
