Attractions - Caste To Castle

South-eastern Slovakia and North-eastern Hungary are ideal places for visiting sites of environmental, historical and cultural interest from the saddle of your bicycle. The cycling routes are winding through undulating landscapes enabling the visitor to encounter numerous historical gems and the unrepeatable atmosphere of this peculiar region of Zemplín and Abov both on the Slovak and the Hungarian side. There are castles, manor houses along the way, but most of all spectacular views of the surrounding landscape. In the centre there is the historical castle of Regéc, just like the castles with their parks in Streda nad Bodrogom and Veľká Ida. A lot of famous people have lived and worked there, like the Transylvanian princes Franciscus Rákóczi II, István Bocskai and Lajos Kossuth. On both sides there stretches the world-famous Tokaj Wine Region. A rare tourist attraction is the possibility of water-hiking on the river Bodrog.

The trade routes of South-eastern Slovakia led from the north to east and from east to west. Various raids brought about the building of fortified castles and residences (the Tatar invasion in 1241 – 1242 and the Turkish invasion in the 16th century). Many of the fortresses were never defeated. Due to their bad accessibility and their placement on steep crags the owners have later moved to more comfortable manors with better access. The grandiose furnishing of the interiors consisted of weapons, sculptures, paintings, porcelain and stylish furniture. Near the castles there were gardens and extensive parks with various summer houses, fountains, artificial ponds and even caves. Among others the orchards and vineyards also contributed to the wealth of the region.

The north-east part of Hungary was an important area of the Hungarian Empire. Besides the beautiful natural scenery there are many castles and manor houses in the region. After the Tatar invasion in the 13th century, the northern forests of the region became a fortification line. Nowadays, many of these strongholds are still visitable. Some of the independence rebellions led by Bocskai and Rákóczi originate from these fortresses. The region is known for some of the crucial assemblies and great battles of the era. Famous people have lived and worked here, like Lajos Kossuth and Imre Thököly. During the years of 1586 – 90 Károli Gáspár, the pastor of village Gönc have translated the Bible into Hungarian language. Many interesting buildings, like manor houses and curia are nowadays used as museums or luxury hotels.

VEĽKÁ IDA

In the village there have always lived people of various ethnicities and religion, therefore the historic sights are diverse too. One of the most significant sights is the 17th century Renaissance - Baroque Manor house of the Csáky family, which was reconstructed in Classicist style in the 19th century. In the interior there are late Renaissance cross vaults. At the present it is used as a municipal office. A memorial chamber of the original owners was established here. The Roman Catholic church is a single-nave, originally Gothic structure from the beginning of the 14th century, restored after a fire in 1818. The Reformed church is a single-nave building from the 18th century built according to the principles of The Edict of Toleration with a tower built in the front. It is said that a worldwide Gipsy congress has been held here in the past. A national and international dog exhibition – the Dog Festival is organised on a regular basis here.

STREDA NAD BODROGOM

The region was inhabited in the Early Stone Age (5000 – 3500 BC) because of a nearby obsidian deposit. It was populated by Avars, Slavs, Onogurs, Hungarians, Russniaks and Jews. The first written reference of the village is from 1273. The building of the Roman Catholic church was probably standing at that the time, the southern portal – built in Romanesque style is a proof of that. In the village there is a Greek Catholic church from the 19th century and a Reformed church built in 1844. There was also a Synagogue until its demolition in 1965. Another attraction of the village is the Vécsey family manor house from the 18th century with a monument protected nature landscape park and the Orosz manor house from the first half of the 18th century. Near the village there is the Tajba National Nature Reserve (where the mud turtles live), the Latorica Protected Landscape Area as well as the partial river-basin of river Bodrog . There is the Tarbucka andesite hill with the unique habitat of the late carnation in the Eastern Slovak Lowlands. In the village there is the lowest placed train station of the former Czechoslovakia – 101 amsl. Famous people from the village were the vice mayor and baron of Zemplín Miklós Bocskai, the adviser of prince Gábor Bethlen, the Transylvanian prince István Bocskai, Lajos Kossuth.

VEĽKÝ KAMENEC

Near the village one can find the ruins of the castle Veľký Kamenec. The castle was built in the 13th century after the Tatar invasion. In 1451 it was captured by Ján Jiskra. In the 17th century the ruler of the land Juraj Soós was actively participating in the Wesselényi uprising , so later the castle was demolished by the imperial troops. The original centre of the castle – the tower and the perimeter wall – stood on the highest peak of the castle hill. Today what was left is the castle walls – the corner polygonal bastion, the vastly ruined round cannon bastion and a recognizable cistern for water sculpted into the crag.

ČEČEJOVCE

The single-nave early Gothic Reformed church was built in the 13th century. The chapel is decorated with fresco paintings from the 14th century with similar characteristics to the frescos in the little churches of the Gemer region. The paintings depict famous Biblical scenes such as the Annunciaton, Flight into Egypt and the Resurrection. The bell is placed in a separately standing bell tower. According to the legend Matthias Corvinus spent a night in this building during his visit in the region. The Classicist manor house was built by István Szirmay around 1800.

PERÍN-CHYM

The village was created in 1964 by joining two separate villages to which a third village was connected in 1991 – Vyšný Lánec. However, the history of the village reaches back to the 13th century. The part called Perín was owned by the famous noble family Perényi. Each of the villages and the religious communities had their own churches, thus in the present there are more than one churches in the village, a Roman Catholic, a Reformed and also a Greek Orthodox church. The Perín ponds form a touristic and recreational area with an observation tower.

KRÁSNA NAD HORNÁDOM

The village now is an urban district of Košice, however until 1990 it was an independent village. The first written reference of the village dates back to 1143 in connection with the construction of the Benedictine Monastery, which served its original purpose until the 16th century, when emperor Ferdinand donated it to the Jesuits of Trnava. Three martyrs from Košice lived there. The single storey Baroque – Classicist manor house is from the 17th century. The St. Cyril and Methodius Roman Catholic church was designed by the world-famous Slovak architect Milan Michal Harminc in 1935.

NIŽNÁ MYŠĽA

The village is famous for its archaeological site. In the locality an open-air museum was established with replicas of houses and fortifications from the Bronze Age. The oldest fortified settlement dates back to 1700 BC. There were uncovered more than 800 graves from a burial site dating back to the 17th century BC. In the graves archeologists found jewellery made of bronze, gold, bone and dentine. In the building of the former Jesuit administration from 1643 – resides the Myšlianske Museum with artefacts from the local archaeological site on display as well as an ethnographic exhibition. The Baroque – Classicist Roman Catholic church of St. Nicholas is from the 18th century.

SKÁROŠ

The village at the foothills of the Slanské Hills is a starting point towards the extensive forests of Milič with a passage to Hungary. A dominant feature of the village is the manor house from the 18th century, originally owned by the Fekete family. There is an archaeological site called Vár with the dimensions of a smaller castle built at the turn of the 13th and the 14th century. Significant dominants of the village are the Roman Catholic church and the Reformed church built in 1800. In the village there is a monument with a natural museum site of weapons.

ČAŇA

In the village places of discovery from the Late Stone Age, the Late Bronze Age as well as from the times of the Roman Empire were uncovered. In 1170 an Abbey was built nearby the village. When the Hungarian king Béla IV. was saved as if by magic near river Slaná, the great noblemen from villages in the Košice valley helped him to escape the siege of the Mongols. The Catholic church from 1386 was rebuilt in 1947. The Reformed church is from the 17th century. In Čaňa four gravel deposits were created, that nowadays are used as lakes for recreational purposes. The village was famous for its mulberry plantations (“jahoda” in dialect), thus the nickname “jahodare” for the village people. The planting of mulberries continued from the second half of the 19th century until 1930. On their leaves the silkworm moths were bred from which the local people gained cocoon for raw silk.

ZEMPLÍN

The village and its castle gave name to Zemplín region and to Zemplín County. Archeological findings prove that the land was inhabited in the Early Stone Age (approximately in 5000 BC). In the locality objects from the Early Bronze Age(around 1000 BC) were found. The Roman era left there its Celtic and Dacian cremation graves from 50 BC through 200 AD. The name Zemplín is derived from the word “ground” (zem, zemlja), which proves that it was a Slavic settlement. In the Middle Ages a district castle was built here. In the 13th century Zemplín became the residence of the King’s County. During the years of 1299 and 1754 county assemblies were held here. The castle was burnt down in the 17th century and was never rebuilt. The Reformed church is a single-nave originally Romanesque building from the 12th century, that was renovated in Classicist style at the end of the 19th century.. The Greek Orthodox cathedral is a single-nave Classicist building from 1804.

BORŠA

In the vicinity of the village that was originally an agricultural and vinicultural settlement there is a Slavic burial ground from the era of the Great Moravian Empire. The Renaissance style fortified manor from the 16th century was built on the remains of a water castle. It was reconstructed during the years of 1939 – 1943. At the present the castle is home to the museum of the leader of the Anti-Habsburg rebellion, Franciscus Rákóczi II, who was born here in 1676. The Roman church from the 13th century, that later became a reformed church, was reconstructed at the beginning of the 16th century.

SOMOTOR

The village is a rich cultural site with archeological discoveries from the Bronze Age, with remains of an Old Slavic settlement, and Old Hungarian burial ground and a Great Moravian village. The settlements of Véč and later Nová Vieska were merged with Somotor, mentioned as outskirts of the Zemplín castle. The classicistic church was built in 1801. In the surroundings of the village one can find the backwaters of the river Bodrog, with a rich heritage of flora and fauna.

REGÉC

The village with only 100 inhabitants is famous for its castle. It was built on the verge of the 13th and 14th century, probably by the Aba family. It served as residential castle for some famous families of the Hungarian Empire, like Serédy and Rákóczi. Its most important resident was the Prince of Transylvania, Franciscus Rákóczi II, who spent most of his childhood between these walls. In 1685 the building was captured by the Habsburg army, who ordered its demolition. At the end of the 20th century it became an archeological site, and the renewal of the castle begun with the construction of an exact copy of the northern bastion and the old tower. Nowadays, four levels of the castle are open to visitors, with a collection of stone monuments, multimedia and interactive exhibitions. By the castle an event venue was formed, with a visitor centre, snack bar and a souvenir shop. The village is home for a visiting centre about the childhood years of Franciscus Rákóczi II. The castle can be reached by car.

HEJCE

On 19 January 2006 an Antonov An-24 aircraft operated by the Slovak Air Force crashed with 43 passengers in the vicinity of the village. There was only one survivor of the incident. Just a dozen metres from the memorial of the crash, a Calvinist church is situated, that was built in Baroque style in 1789. Not far is a so-called episcopal castle from the year 1774. It was reconstructed in 1845. During the 15th century the Hussites settled in the southern part of the village, that is why it is also named as Czech. There are some Baroque style bridges erected on the Szerencs brook. There is an information sign in the vicinity of the village at the place Fehér-kút about Saint Elizabeth's Way - Šarišský Potok (Sárospatak) trail – Košice.

GÖNC

It is a small Hungarian district town situated not far from the Slovak border. At the northern part of the town is a so-called Hussite house, which based on local legend was originally built by the Hussite. The walls of the house are made of stone. The ground floor was lifted and some small windows were made – embrasures and a cellar. There were passageways leading from the cellar to the outer part of the estate and to other cellars of the neighbouring houses. The house is home to a museum about the life of wine merchants during the second half of the 19th century, who were trading from Hegyalja region towards Slovakia and Poland.

PÁLHÁZA

The village is famous for its narrow-gauge railway, which is the oldest forest railway in operation in Hungary. The 9 km long track of the Pálházi State Forest Railway have 4 stations: Pálháza, Kishuta, Kőkapu, Rostalló. Its construction was started in 1888 by the Earl István Károlyi for it to become a horse railway. In 1902 the first steam locomotive was run on these rails. It was open for the transportation of people in 1958. In 1980 the track was shut down, but in 1990 both the track and a tunnel was restored. Nowadays it is used only for tourism purposes only, with the capacity of 40 000 - 50 000 visitors per year.

VIZSOLY – VILMÁNY

The village functioned as the queen’s residence in the 12th century. During the Middle Ages it also served as a place of pilgrimage. In 1590 the first complete Hungarian translation of the Bible was printed here. The owner of the village, Zsigmond Rákóczi at that time brought a printing machine and a pressman from Germany, and paper from Poland. One of the original biblical texts is still present in the Reformed church from the 13th - 15th century. At present there are only 50 incunabula left from the original 800 prints on the world. The former building of the school teacher’s house is home to an exhibition about the history of printing. The reconstructed simple building showcases an old printer from the 16th century, an interactive printing of the Bible, the history of Reformation on a 3D map, and in the stables near the house, one can find the history of the famous wine route.

HOLLÓHÁZA

The village was part of Castle Füzér. It got its name based on the family coat of arms of the St. Pavlin’s order - a raven. Emperor Leopold I gave away the village to the Károlyi family, who colonized it with Slovak settlers. In 1777 they established a glass factory in the village. In the 19th century the small glass factories could not keep up and compete with bigger companies, so following the example of the neighbouring village Telkibánya, the glass factory in Hollóháza was reconstructed to produce stone dishes. In 1956 they progressively shifted to porcelain production. The end of the blue National Cycle router is situated right in the village. A museum on the history of glass making, and about ceramics and porcelain production was also founded.

TELKIBÁNYA

The village flourished during the 15th century thanks to the mining of gold and silver. It earned the name Golden Button Telkibánya, because the circular decoration on the church tower was covered in gold. After the mining accident in the 17th century the production was stopped. Thanks to the natural scenery the village became a recreation centre. On the church hill tourists can find the cemetery with tombstones that are exact wooden copies of the originals. There are four tombstone types with different endings for men, women, boys and girls. In the building that represents the first former porcelain factory in Hungary an exhibition was opened in 1970 about the local history and precious minerals. The most beautiful exhibit is a diorama, that depicts all the technology of Middle Age mining.

TOLCSVA

The village is famous for its viticultural history. At the centre of the village the 17th century Szirmay – Dessewffy family mansion is situated, which at the present is home to the Helia-D Herbal House company. The Herbal House offers an exhibition on the history of beauty products, a visit to the herbal garden, and a coffee bar offering local products. The Wine Culture House is another interesting sight of the village, where visitors can learn about the equipment used in winemaking and of course can taste the results. The Szirmay – Waldbott family manor is the centre of historic tourism. Thanks to an interactive exhibition visitors can find out a lot about the life of the family who lived here.

ERDŐBÉNYE

It is one of the oldest settlements of Tokaj region. In 1830 Ödön Szirmay constructed a climatic spa with a pavilion and a spa house near the Erdőbénye residence in the style of a manor. Visitors can find here a Roman Catholic church from 1548, a Reformed church from 1787 and a Curia of the Rákóczi family. At the edge of the village there is a stone column, a monument for the inhabitants, who were killed by cholera in 1831. An annual wine festival is held in the village too.

PÁCIN

The village is situated not far from the Slovak border. The Pacín Palace, also known as Mágóchy-Alaghy-Sennyei fortified manor is the biggest Renaissance palace in Hungary. It was built in the middle of the 16th century in the region that was outside the Turkish occupied territory. The palace was rebuilt several times until it got back its original Renaissance style form. Its fortified wall protected the inhabitants from small raids. At the present it is a Castle museum of the Bodrogköz region.

SÁROSPATAK

The area has been inhabited since ancient times. Sárospatak was granted town status in the beginning of 13. Century. In the Middle Ages it was an important place due to its proximity to an important trade route leading to Poland. The Rákóczi Castle is one of oldest and most unharmed castles at the bend of the River Bodrog in the town. It was a royal home. Franciscus Rákóczi II spent his childhood in the castle. Saint Elizabeth of the Arpad dynasty was born in the town in 1207.The Protestant college, one of the most important colleges of Hungary at that time, was founded in Sárospatak in 1531. Zsuzsanna Lorántffy invited the famous Czech educator Jan Comenius to Sárospatak, who wrote some of his most important works there. Today it is a charming historical town and a popular tourist destination with the thermal spa „Végardó Fürdő“. .

SÁTORALJAÚJHELY

The town was a royal property during the reign of Andrew I. In 1241, the Tatars destroyed this place. In 1250, it was repopulated and has been called Sátoraljaújhely. The aristocratic manors played an important role in the development of the town, which together with the vineyards brought the development of the town to such a level that Újhel became the seat of the county in 1756. Kossuth Lajos, who was involved in the events of the March Revolution of 1848, was the prosecutor of the town. The most beautiful building in Sátoraljaújhelya is the Baroque-style county house built in 1758. In 1823, it was further expanded with a new wing of the city archives. The archive became known mainly because it was organized by the Hungarian linguist Ferenc Kazinczy. In town one can find the Kazinczy Ferenc Museum, Museum of Hungarian Language, late Baroque Roman - Catholic parish church, Piarist church and monastery, Chapel of Rákoczi family, Újhely castle, Wine church, Zemplén Advanture Park.