When the Kingdom of Hungary took shape around the year 1000, this rock became one of its border strongholds and the seat of a county — a župa, the unit of local government run from a royal castle by an official appointed by the king. A stone castle stood here from the eleventh century, watching the frontier with the German empire, and German rulers came to besiege it more than once. Under its walls a market settlement grew at the ford, living off the crossing, the tolls taken from river traffic and the vineyards on the slopes behind. It was not yet a great town. It was a garrison, a customs post and a wine village standing in the corner of a kingdom.Keď sa okolo roku 1000 sformovalo Uhorské kráľovstvo, toto bralo sa stalo jednou z jeho pohraničných pevností a sídlom župy — správnej jednotky, ktorú z kráľovského hradu spravoval panovníkom menovaný župan. Kamenný hrad tu stál od 11. storočia a strážil hranicu s nemeckou ríšou; nemeckí panovníci ho neraz obliehali. Pod hradbami vyrástla pri brode trhová osada, ktorá žila z prievozu, z mýta vyberaného od lodí a z viníc na svahoch za chrbtom. Veľké mesto to ešte nebolo. Bola to posádka, colnica a vinohradnícka dedina na okraji kráľovstva.
