The area has been inhabited since ancient times. The first large settlement dates back to the 5th century BCE; the inhabitants were Celts. They called the town Arrabona, a name that was used for eight centuries and whose shortened form is still used as the German (Raab) and Slovak (Ráb) names of the city.
Roman merchants moved to Arrabona during the 1st century BCE, and around 10 CE the Roman army occupied the northern part of Western Hungary, which they called Pannonia. Although the Roman Empire abandoned the area in the 4th century due to constant attacks by the tribes living to the east, the town remained inhabited.
Around 500 the territory was settled by Slavs, in 547 by the Lombards, in 568-c.800 by the Avars, at that time under Frankish and Slavic influence, then between 880 and 894 it was part of Great Moravia, and then briefly under East Frankish dominance.
The Magyars occupied the town around 900 and fortified the abandoned Roman fortress. Stephen I, the first king of Hungary, founded an episcopate there. The town received its Hungarian name Győr. The Hungarians lived in tents, later in cottages, in what is now the southeastern part of the city centre. The town was affected by all the trials and tribulations of the history of Hungary: it was occupied by Mongols during the Mongol invasion of Hungary (1241–1242) and then was destroyed by the Czech army in 1271.
After the disastrous battle of Mohács, Baron Tamás Nádasdy and Count György Cseszneky occupied the town for King Ferdinand I while John Zápolya also was attempting to annex it. During the Ottoman occupation of present-day central and eastern Hungary (1541 - late 17th century), Győr's commander Kristóf Lamberg thought it would be futile to try to defend the town from the Turkish army, and he burnt the whole town instead; the Turkish found nothing but blackened ruins, hence the Turkish name for Győr, Yanık kale ("burnt city").
The town was rebuilt and
