surrounded with a castle and a city wall, designed by the leading Italian builders of the era. The town changed a lot during these years, with lots of new buildings built in Renaissance style, but the main square and the grid of streets remained.
In 1594, after the death of Count János Cseszneky, captain of Hungarian foot-soldiers, the Turkish army occupied the castle and the town, but in 1598 the Hungarian and Austrian army managed to occupy it again. During the Turkish occupation the city was called Yanık.
In 1683, Turks returned briefly, only to leave again after being defeated in the Battle of Vienna.
The town became prosperous during the following centuries. In 1743 Győr was elevated to free royal town status by Maria Theresa. Many religious orders (Jesuits, Carmelites) settled in the town and they built schools, churches, a hospital and a monastery.
In June 14, 1809, it was the site of the Battle of Győr (Battle of Raab), where the Grand Armee defeated the Hungarian noble rebels and Austrian corps. Napoleon occupied the castle and had some of its walls blown up. The leaders of the town soon realized that the old ramparts were not useful any more. Most of the ramparts were destroyed and thus the town could expand.
In mid-19th century, Győr's role in trade grew as steamship traffic on the River Danube began, but the town lost its importance in trade when the railway line between Budapest and Kanizsa was built in 1861. The town leaders compensated for this loss with industrialization. The town prospered till World War II, but during the war several buildings were destroyed.
The Jewish population (12.6% of the town according to the 1910 census) was ordered to move to the ghetto on May 13, 1944. Two trains carried the Jews of the town and the neighboring villages to Auschwitz on June 11 and on June 14. Altogether, 5,635 people were deported on these two days. Some exempted Jews were left behind, but they were
