The Szépasszony Valley is the largest area of wine cellars in Eger. Many legends are linked to the development of its name. According to Bakó Ferenc /1843/ The Szépasszony which means the Beautiful Woman used to be one of the goddesses of the ancient religion, she was similar to Venus, the goddess of love. According to another explanation there used to live a really beautiful woman close to the Valley.
The area of the Valley was called Koháry Valley in the first quarter of the 19th century. /Koháry István vice general participated in the relief of the Eger Castle in 1687./

 

On the basis of the archives data the origin of its name cannot be clearly ascertained, neither can be the date of the building of the first cellars in the Valley. What is certain is that the building of the Öregsor started in 1774 with the permission of the bishop and the landowner. In consequence of Archbishop Barkóczy’s economic policy, there was a boom in wine producing, wine market as formed, so the establishment of places for storage was necessary.

 

 

In 1781 there were 32 wine cellars. In the last century the reputation of the Eger wine has been related to the Szépasszony Valley where 150 cellars can be found. Today’s  group of cellars of the Valley was built after the land reform after  the Second World War. These cellars were scooped out from riolit tufa because it can be easily formed and wine can be held on 10-15 Celsius degrees in it.