Gyor, the Hungarian city with splendid ornate signs

I don't believe in the "it was better before" argument, even though I recognize that the brands advocate for such a discourse.

There was a time when every Hungarian town was distinguished by its shop signs. In Gyor , the most famous, the Golden Boat sign, is the remains of a spice shop that took its name from the sign, evocative of goods from distant lands. Several centuries old, it was first seen in Sopron, Bratislava and then Buda [three cities of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, now located in Hungary, and the second in Slovakia]. It arrived in Gyor in 1852, on Szechenyi Square, to adorn the front of the spice shop, which later moved to a corner of Doctor Pal Kovacs Street. Today, still at the same address, it announces a pharmacy that has in turn taken the same name.

The magnificent work of art that all passing tourists admire, however, is not the original sign, placed in a museum in 1940. It has been replaced by a new piece by Bandi Schima [1882-1959], also a listed historical monument. The master ironworker had arrived in the city after a journey as long as that of the Golden Boat. Born in Oroshaza [in the south-east of present-day Hungary], he had obtained his diploma in Arad [today