Festőköz (Painters’ Alley)
An alley of medieval origin that inspired many painters. However, its name does not derive from this.
Sopron's medieval alley was named after the blue dyers, who carried their canvases through here up to the attic of the town's dying house that once stood by the Ikva brook. Blue dying had a rich history in the town, Sopron was the first place where blue dyers were mentioned in a document from 1769 that listed the local craftsmen. The upper curve of the Castle District (between Ógabona Square and Ikvahíd Street) is called Kisvárkerület (little Castle District), where you can find Festő köz
Festőköz is located in the town centre, next to the Rejpál House, that is one of the oldest buildings in the Kisvárkerület (Upper Section of the Castle District). Walking through the alley, through the bridge over the Ikva brook, you reach Rózsa Street, where there are many buildings of medieval origin. On one of these at 1 Rózsa Street has a sign on its wall that marks the how high the flooded Ikva brook peaked in the 18th and 19th centuries. The street got its name from the former rose garden of the Johannite knights in 1869.
