CugelVance

Germany - 21-Sep-24 -

Visit 14th+15th of sept.2024

I took the bus from the whs Hollokö to Budapest and from there the train to Komaram,the hungarian part of the twin city, which is separated by the Danube river.
It was rainy both when I arrived late in the afternoon and the following day... there were hardly any moments without drizzle. After I left my bag at my accommodation in the slovak part I visited the nearby Povnost Komarno, which is closed to the public. Only a few tours take place there and the one for the same day was canceled at short notice due to bad weather. I was still able to take some photos from the inside by simply following an incoming truck...but I only had a few moments before I was thrown out of the fortress grounds again. I went to the adjacent premises of a company, from where you could at least see parts of it. I also visited the bratislava bastions and two other bastions in the slovak part.Komarno's city centre is nothing special at all,and its most famous place,the europaplatz,is a kind of newly built disneyland market square,very kitschy and better suited to an american theme park than to  a european city.

Despite my raining coat , I was soaking wet after my strenuous tour through Komarno. It should also be noted that the slovak Komarno made a pretty neglected and run-down impression, a dying city with a rapidly declining population.
The next morning I visited the hungarian part of the twin city, Komarom.

Since the previous day was strenuous, my expectations for the hungarian part were low, and as I had a coffee in a nearby bar, I left my accommodation later than intended. It took me about 40 minutes on foot from my accommodation to the hungarian star fortress Csillageröd. The fortress opens at 9 a.m. I was there at around 9:30. A mistake. What a difference from the slovak part! Everything was well maintained, renovated; the entire city of Komarom (hungarian part) made a clean and good impression, there were even more people in the streets. No abandoned buildings or empty shops.

The predecessor of the star fortress was completed in 1586 as a defence for the pontoon bridge leading across the danube to the old castle.The palisade with a four-pointed star-shaped plan was rebuilt several times during the Ottoman period.The fortification was one of the largest investments of the Austro-Hungarian empire.At the time of its construction it was considered  as one of the most important military complexes in Europe.After its renovation from 2015-2019 the museum of fine arts found its home there.More than 1000 plaster copies of sculptural masterpieces spanning from classical antiquity to the renaissance can be seen in its exhibition there. 

I was the only visitor there.Many places in Europe would kill to have such a fantastic building where you could set up a museum. I raced through the museum, then went into the courtyard, onto the roof and then to the outside area. I bitterly regretted not being  there at 9:00 sharp because the fortress and its museum are absolutely worth seeing.

I then walked quickly to Fort Monastor, which is relatively close (about 15 minutes on foot) to the Komarom train station. I reached the same around 10.45. To my horror, it turned out that Fort Monastor was huge, really big. At a minimum you need around 2-3 hours for a visit. I had about 30 minutes. Far too little. Fort Monastor is in some ways more authentic than Fort Csillaferöd, which I also liked in its own way. At around 11.45 my train left for Pannonhalma via Györ.

Here are some tips for future visitors:
skip the slovak part entirely if short of time!
If you have little time (2 hours) and you arrive by train at Komarom in Hungary and have a stopover there before continuing towards Györ/Pannonhalma or Budapest, go to Fort Monastor! If you have more time (3-4 hours) you can also visit the absolutely worth seeing Fort Csillageröd(around 25-30 min walking from Fort Monastor to Csillageröd or the other way,with taxi just 10 min) with its fantastic museum, which would be overcrowded with visitors in any other city. Don't waste your time in the run-down slovak part of the twin cities unless you plan to stay overnight there!

As far as the ouv is concerned, I'm a bit undecided. The fortifications of the twin cities are impressive...unfortunately very neglected on the slovak side with botched conversions and installations in the fortifications (the Pevost Komarno was a soviet garrison with all its accompanying effects).
On the other hand, the fortifications in Kormarno/Komarom are some of the largest that exist on this planet.