to watch, to guard, present participle stregom, strägom – a guard post. The later Slavic form was created by an incorrect decomposition as follows: vъ Strägome (in Strägom) → vo Strägome → v Osträgome like Slovak Bdokovce → Obdokovce, Psolovce → Obsolovce. Lajos Kiss considered the name to be of uncertain origin, potentially derived also from Slavic (a tanner) or Proto-Bulgaric , - a leather armor However, the last theory is sharply criticized by Šimon Ondruš as obsolete and unreliable, because of its dependency on later sources, the high number of Slavic names in the region and missing adoption of the word in the Hungarian language. Other names of the town are Croatian Ostrogon, Polish Ostrzyhom, Serbian Ostrogon and Estergon (also Turkish), Slovak Ostrihom and Czech Ostřihom (the archaic name is Střehom). The German name is Gran (), like the German name of river Garam. Istergom, Esztergom. Ister, the old name of Danube. Gom/hun/ is arch like, gomb/hun/ is (coat button), gömb/hun/ is (sphere). History Esztergom is one of the oldest towns in Hungary. Esztergom, as it existed in the Middle Ages, now rests under today's town. The results of the most recent archeological excavations reveal that the Várhegy (Castle Hill) and its vicinity have been inhabited since the end of the Ice Age 20,000 years ago. The first people known by name were the Celts from Western Europe, who settled in the region in about 350 BC. A flourishing Celtic settlement existed on the Varhegy until the region was conquered by Rome. Thereafter it became an important frontier town of Pannonia, known by the name of Salvio Mansio, Salvio, or Solva. By the seventh century the town was called Stregom and later Gran, but soon reverted to the former, which evolved into Esztergom by the thirteenth century. The German and Avar archaeological finds found in the area reveal that these people settled there following the period of the migrations that were caused by the fall of the Roman Empire. At about 500 AD, Slavic peoples immigrated into the Pannonian Basin. In the 9th century, the territory was mostly under Frankish control, and it might have been part of Great Moravia too. In Old Slavonic language, it was called Strěgom ("guard"), as it was strategic point of control for the Danube valley. The Magyars entered the Pannonian Basin in 896 AD and conquered it systematically, succeeding fully in 901. In