The Difference between the Market-Towns in the Great Hungarian Plain and the Small Hungarian Plain, Protection of Small Town Values

Abstract

The author deals with investigations of historical Hungarian settlements, widely in time and space, mainly villages and oppidums (market-towns) on the North-Transdanubian part of Hungary. His investigations are focused on the structure, i.e. on street and square composition, and also on parcel system.

In Hungary, there is a certain particular contrast in historical settlement developments characteristic for the both great parts of the country (Transdanubia and the Great Hungarian Plain, the western and the eastern parts of the country, respectively). Settlement structure of historical villages and market-towns can be divided into two main groups on the basis of their morphological composition: There are mainly line-type settlements with conglomerate-like composition characteristic for the whole Transdanubian part of the country (therefore for the Small Hungarian Plain, the northern region of Transdanubia also), and many cluster-type settlements with double inlot composition characteristic for the Great Hungarian Plain (most of them being nearly round shaped) on the other side. Within both main groups, lots of subgroups can be distinguished. Certain subgroups are nowadays very difficult to recognise, owing to the settlement parts joined, annexed or built to the kernel in later times, also there are examples for the great extent modification and change of the historical settlement structure, as well.

Reasons for these disparate settlement developments typical on the Transdanubian and the Great Hungarian Plain regions, respectively, are – among others – the following features: different kind of economy applied in the middle ages (viz. advanced geoponical culture for the Transdanubian region, and in the contrary, dominant animal husbandry on double inlot settlements on the Great Hungarian Plain), different geomorphological features (the average relief height differences on settlements on the Great Hungarian Plain reach only half a metre, on the Small Hungarian Plain 2-3 metres, on the Transdanubian hilly settlements 5-10 metres, and on mountain settlements 50-100 metres), protection aspects (there were better defensible near-round shape settlements on the Great Hungarian Plain), as well as differentiated society structure (there was individual-like society on the Transdanubian region while forming more solidary, collective society against the Turk conquerors on the Great Hungarian Plain region), and on the Transdanubian region, effects of settlements traditions from the neighbouring countries, as well.

It is shown through investigations of historical settlements that main elements of ichnography of historical settlements thought as "unsubstantiated irregular" are, in many cases, determined by topographical features, and "being once and unreproducible" physiognomy of the settlements is partially drawn back to these characteristics. This recognition can stimulate settlement planners to better evaluation of the historical fibre of the settlements and contribute to the change of attitude of practical settlement planning as may be experienced even in our days. During development of settlements, the target is no more the protection of certain monument buildings or aggregations of buildings, certain streets or squares but integrated protection of the whole constructed settlement environment and the incorporating neighbouring natural Iandscape, together the so-called "character protection".