The city stands at the confluence of the Rivers Rába and Mosoni-Dunai (Little Danube) and has been an important trading centre since Roman times (when it was called Arrabona). Today it is a city of some 150,000 people, with an attractive old town, and a huge neo-baroque town hall. The cathedral was founded circa 1009 by King Stephen I. The city did not fall to the Turks until 1594, after years of fighting, and the city was known as the "burnt city". However the Turks were driven away in the early C17. Since world war two the old town has been surrounded by a ring of blocks of flats and industrial quarters.