THE TURKISH TOWER
T his still standing gate-tower possibly came about after the siege of 1566 by Turkish construction. In the 1740s, count Ferenc Harruckern reconverted the gate, which was once used for defensive purposes, into a tower that got crowned with a red coloured, fraction lined helmet.
The gate, which could be seen from afar, was a representation of nobility and power and was used as an expression of ancestry. In the early 19th century, the reconstructed building became an element of the Almasy mansion and through this, part of the lives of aristocratic families and their private spheres.
The tower is also called Hussar-tower and today it houses periodic, contemporary art exhibitions.
The exhibition shows us the history of the tower, but also the memories of the architecture of Gyula during the Ottoman occupation. It contains tools from the Erkel Ferenc Museum's collection, but also the items found during the excavation of the Castle, dating back to the turkish occupation-era of the town.
Glazed tableware, the tile pipes and the whistles carved from bone were made here in the 17th century; because during the occupation, small houses and shops were located in the territory of the Hussar Castle, explaining the origin of these exhibited tools. A unique specialty of the exhibit is the shard of an earthenware, which was originally brought in from Iznik, Turkey.
The Turkish tower is a single-floor, vaulted, brick-built building with a plastered surface. It was originally the tower gate of the backboard reinforcement around Gyula Castle, which was already built one and a half centuries prior to the Mansion. The Hussar tower is now integrated into the building of Almásy Mansion, as the only remaining non-religious ottoman-era building in Hungary.
