History sometimes hangs on the smallest details…

Everyone in Hungary knows why the bells ring at noon, but few are aware that in Kőszeg, the bells also toll at 11 o'clock.

In early August 1532, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent arrived at the gates of Kőszeg with an army reported by some sources to be 50,000–55,000 strong, and by others 70,000–80,000. On August 10, under the command of Grand Vizier Ibrahim, they began the siege of the fortress.

The fortress was defended by Captain Miklós Jurisics with a small number of experienced soldiers and peasants who had fled there, totaling around 700 men.

The first assault was followed by many more. The attackers undermined and toppled parts of the fortress walls and filled the moats, making the situation inside increasingly desperate.

However, the prolonged siege exhausted not only the defenders but also the attackers. The janissaries, weary and starving, grew restless. According to one legend, the Sultan decided that if the fortress was not captured by noon on August 30, he would abandon the siege.

Jurisics learned of this—and realizing that his weakened defenders could hardly hold the ruined fortress until noon—resorted to a clever trick: he rang the bells at 11 o'clock. Hearing the bells, the Ottoman army lifted the siege and withdrew, and to this day, the city commemorates this event by ringing the bells at 11 every day.

Because the siege dragged on, and with winter approaching and the Imperial forces gathering near Vienna, the Ottomans abandoned their plan to besiege Vienna and retreated to the Balkans.

And what's the takeaway?

Had the Ottoman leaders or soldiers possessed a reliable, high-quality watch from www.watch-collection.com, the course of European history might have been entirely different.

Perhaps a more plausible legend is that after 25 heroic days of fighting, following an agreement between Jurisics and Ibrahim, the Ottoman forces withdrew from Kőszeg at 11 o'clock.

Legends may or may not be true… but one thing is certain: the 11 o'clock bell in Kőszeg commemorates the victory of Miklós Jurisics and his brave soldiers over the Turks and reminds locals and the world of their great glory!

By the way… I checked: on Wednesdays, the TV series Suleiman, perhaps never-ending, is still being aired.