Heritage of Ravensko and Dolinsko

Target group:

  • school and other educational institutions
  • the general public
Mode of transport: own transport
Type: holiday-makers are accompanied by a tour guide - cultural heritage interpreter

You begin your exploration of the Mura Region by visiting a permanent exhibition at the Pomurje Museum, which tells an exciting and poetic story about the inhabitants of the Mura Region, written by time, from pre-history to the present day. A walk through the park in Murska Sobota leads to the Martin Luther Evangelical Church, which was built in 1910 in the Neo-Gothic style, and designed by architect Ernő Gerely.

After that, you will drive to the Island of Love in Ižakovci to see the permanent exhibition Büjraštvo (büjraš – a worker on the Mura River) on the Mura River. When the Mura flooded its banks, carried away the mills and boats, and the rising waters sought new paths, which therefore flooded the arable land and houses, it was necessary for them to fortify the dams of the riverbed to prevent overflowing. After the tour, there will be a Büjra lunch prepared with a love potion, where you can hear the stories about the romance between the Countess of Beltinci and the miller's son.

The next stop is Melinci and the outdoor exhibition about bricklaying – the making of homemade bricks. The oldest preserved house, built of home-made bricks, dates from 1850. Bricklaying was around until the 1970s because of the abundance of clay, workers with appropriate skill sets, their willingness to help each other and craftsmen who knew how to make and burn high-quality brick.

In the manor in Beltinci, there is a permanent exhibition of the history of health care in Pomurje with an emphasis on pharmacy and a permanent exhibition of the Noble Families in Beltinci, especially the Zichy family. In the castle, there is the special drawing room of the countess, Marija Ifigenija Zichy, the last countess of Beltinci. Next to the park is the Baroque Church of St. Ladislau with the side chapel of Ave Maria with the Renaissance relief of Mary with the child, under which is the tomb of the Counts of Zichy.

Next to the church stands a centenary memorial of the reunification the Slovenes of Prekmurje with the rest of the nation.

In addition to cultural and historical heritage, there are also opportunities to learn about the local cuisine. Typical dishes, such as Prekmurska gibanica, bograč, langaš, bujta repa, retaši and others, can be sampled in restaurants in this part of Prekmurje.

Heritage of Ravensko and Dolinsko (PDF)

Ethnographic cultural heritage of Vas County

Target group:

  • schools and other educational institutions
  • the general public
Mode of transport: own transport
Type: independent tour

You can discover the ethnographic monuments of Vas County, starting in Őrségi Népi Műemlékegyüttes, which consists of ten buildings in Szalafő-Pityerszer. The most valuable buildings are a two-storey granary and a fenced house, and, in Hungary, visitors can only see them in their original form here. In Őrség, Vas County, these buildings were built similarly as those in neighbouring Slovenia and Austria.

The path will then lead you to the ethnographic house in Rábagyarmat. It is a residential house with a black kitchen, built in 1850. The rooms were all under one roof in the longitudinal direction along the plot. The walls are made of pine beams, the roof is covered with rye straw. The facade is carved with wooden decoration. The kitchen has an oven in the corner of the room, from where you can heat the kiln stove in the room.

Continue to Ivánc, where you can see the exterior of the Sigray mansion and the castle park. The mansion was built in the Baroque style in the 18th century. Around 1870, it was renovated in an eclectic style and re-renovated in the 1920s in the Art Nouveau style. In addition to native plants, the castle park also boasts exotic species. In the park, one can find a pedunculate oak in honour of the visit of the American Bishop of Darlington, and a group of the tallest beech trees in Vas County and the largest and oldest tulip tree in Hungary.

Reformed bell towers are also particularly interesting. One such is located in Pankasz, which stands at the highest point of the eastern part of the village. It was built in 1755. Renovation took place in 1964-65 according to the plans of Ferenc Mendel.

Round off your exploration with a tour of the country house with a smithy in Nagyrákos. The smithy and the adjoining house were built for a blacksmith hired by the community. The municipality built it near the Zala River to make water for the cooling of the forged material easily accessible. The group of buildings is currently a country house, and the workshop is still sometimes in use today.

In addition to the cultural and historical heritage, the selected area also offers many opportunities to learn about the local cuisine. Typical dishes such as goulash, paprikás stew, tarhonya, fish stew can be tasted in restaurants in this part of Vas County, and the most authentic culinary experience awaits you in one of the local csárda - tavern.

Ethnographic cultural heritage of Vas County (PDF)

Mansions and manors of Vas County

Target group:

  • school and other educational institutions
  • the general public
Mode of transport: own transport
Type: independent tour

You can get to know the mansions and manors of the north-eastern part of Vas County in Bozsok, where Sibrik Manor stands. It is a late Renaissance-Baroque mansion from the 16-17th century. It got its present form in 1815. The vaulted portal is of special architectural value. In the hallway is an exhibition about the life of the last owner, |Dr. Gyule Verebi Végh, former director of the Museum of Applied Arts. It is surrounded by an eight-hectare forest which is a nature reserve due to its valuable trees and game and belongs to the Kőszeg Landscape Protection Area.

The next stop is Nemescsó and a tour of the mansion of the noble Weöres family. In 1720, Charles III donated the estate in Nemescsó to the captain of the rebel kuruc (Hungarian soldier) Mihály Weöres III. The manor was renovated in the second half of the 19th century, when István Weöres was the county governor of the castle county of Vas.

The trip continues to the Schilson mansion from 1723, located in Vassurány, built by Mihály Schilson and also owned by the counts Zichy, Festetics and Károlyi. The entrance to the detached single-storey Baroque building is U-shaped with a compound porticus with a mansard roof supporting a balcony with an iron railing on the first floor. The hall and the chapel are on the ground floor, on the first floor there is a ceremonial hall.

The next stop is the Baroque castle complex Szentgyörgyi-Horváth, which was built around 1780. The main building is free-standing, single-storey, with a rectangular floor plan. The mansion, surrounded by the castle park, was restored in an eclectic style at the end of the 19th century.

Finally, you can visit the POW Cemetery in Ostffyassonyfa. It was one of the largest prisoner-of-war camps in the First World War in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. The "town of barracks" is covered by forest today. In the former cemetery, there are monuments to prisoners. From the decorated iron gates, a straight path leads to the central obelisk. The monuments are mostly the work of stonecutter Hudetz from Szombathely.

In addition to the cultural and historical heritage, the selected area also offers many opportunities to learn about the local cuisine. Typical dishes such as goulash, stew, tarhonya and fish stew can be tasted in restaurants in this part of Vas County, and the most authentic culinary experience awaits you in one of the local csárdas (taverns).

Mansions and manors of Vas County (PDF)

Two perfect days in Rába region and Goričko region

Target groups:

  • families
  • general public
Mode of transport: own transport
Type: independent tour
Day 1

Getting to know Rába Region begins with a walk through Szentgotthárd to the Ágoston Pál Museum, where you can see an ethnological exhibition about Slovenes in Rába Region. The trip continues with a drive through Slovenska ves, Dolnji Senik and Gornji Senik, where you can see the Church of St John the Baptist, the former parish where, in the 19th century, Jožef Košič lived as a priest, ethnologist and local history researcher, as well as the Slovenian Museum of History, which includes historical, ecclesiastical, ethnological and other special cultural valuables of Slovenes in Hungary. The trip continues east, where the villages of Verica and Riktarovci are located. In Verica, there is a thatched log cabin, which is today considered a historic building and is as such protected as a monument, and the memorial house of the potter Karel Dončec where the pottery and pottery equipment, typical for Rába Region, is exhibited. Next is a visit to the village of Andovci. There is a bell tower in the centre of the settlement, and next to it stands the "Monument to the Living" erected in 2000. The tourist and cultural attraction of the village is the "Porabska domačija", where you can see a typical farmhouse with a ceramic stove and where you also meet the narrator of the stories of Andovci. The yard of the homestead is adorned with Mali Triglav. It is a rock donated to Andovci by the Triglav National Park. Next to the village is Črna mlaka, which is one of the biggest natural attractions of the Őrség National Park. This is followed by a drive to Števanovci and a tour of the Iron Curtain Museum in the restored guardhouse, where objects from the lives of soldiers who guarded the border of the Hungarian state are exhibited. Indoors, the exhibition is focused on the years after 1948, when the border with Slovenia and Austria was most guarded by the so-called Iron Curtain.

Finally, a drive to the village of Otovci, where the Smodiš Tourist Farm is located. The surroundings of the farm in the middle of Goričko offer opportunities for walks, cycling, and the children can also become acquainted with farm animals. Dinner and lodging.

Day 2

After breakfast, onwards to the largest castle in Slovenia. The castle building stands on a steep hill made of basalt tuff above the settlement of Grad. According to the story, it was the Knights Templars that started to build the castle. Surrounded by the trees, it has defied time for over 800 years. The renovated premises are intended for the presentation of the natural and cultural landscape and the historical and ethnological heritage of Goričko. Nearby is also the Vulkanija Adventure Park, where you can travel through the history of the Earth to the depths of the volcano of Goričko. The Romanesque church from the first half of the 13th century, which stands in a beautiful natural environment on a hill south of the village of Domanjševci, will take you straight to the Romantic era. The church in Domanjševci has three special features: the first is a masonry bell tower, which is made of brick, the same as the church; the second feature of the church is a rich Romanesque portal in the south wall; and the third is only partially preserved and is the so-called "lord's emporium", where the landlord attended the mass in his church so as not to mingle with the ordinary people. Following in the footsteps of the Templars, the path will lead you to Selo, to one of the oldest architectural monuments in Prekmurje, a rotund church from the middle of the 13th century, dedicated to St. Nicholas. According to legend, the church initially belonged to the Templars, but the origin of the church is still unclear today. The interior is painted with frescoes, the first layer was present in the first third of the 14th century. Around 1400, theologically imaginative scenes were created on the walls in the dome. From hilly Goričko, a curvy and picturesque road brings you back down and then you can visit Lončarska vas in Filovci, which is also a heritage site where the original thatched houses were brought to Filovci. Thus, in the pottery village Filovci we can see several elements of heritage presentation: pottery, building, residential heritage and food heritage.

You can end the day by visiting the spa in Moravske Toplice.

In addition to cultural and historical heritage, the selected area offers opportunities to learn about the local cuisine. Typical dishes, such as posolanke, Goričko ham, bibe (type of pastry) and other dishes can be tasted in restaurants in Goričko and Rába Region.

Two perfect days in Rába region and Goričko region (PDF)

Exploring Prekmurje and Vas County in three days

Target group:

  • higher education institutions
  • school and other educational institutions
  • tourist organisations
Mode of transport: organised transport
Type: guided tour (tour guide - cultural heritage interpreter)
Number of nights: 2
Day 1

You can start by visiting the lesser known but rich cultural heritage of Prekmurje and Vas County in Lendava, where you can see the Chapel of the Holy Trinity in Lendavske gorice, which is famous for the mummified corpse of Mihály Hadik. You can walk along the main street and visit the Synagogue in Lendava. Continue to Dolga vas, where the Jewish cemetery is located. In Nedelica, you can see the Ancova Gallery, whose collection includes more than 10,000 various objects: ethnological, arthistorical, and historical. This is followed by a tour of the Church of the Assumption of Mary in Turnišče, the most important pilgrimage church in Prekmurje. On the day of the Assumption of Mary, there are great kermesses there. The next stop on the trip is the Romanesque rotund church in Selo, which is said to be connected to the order of the Knights Templar.

Accommodation and dinner at the Youth Centre in Hodoš.

Day 2

Breakfast is followed by a tour of the Museum Village Őrség - Szalafő Pityerszer, whose most valuable buildings are a two-storey granary and a fenced house, as tourists visiting Hungary can only see them in their original form here. You can get to know the ethnological heritage by visiting the ethnographic house in Rábagyarmat, which dates to 1850. It is a residential house with a black kitchen, the rooms were placed under one roof along the length of the plot. As a special attraction, you can see the reformed bell tower in Pankasz, which stands at the highest point of the eastern part of the village. It was built in 1755. By 1920, the bell tower was without a bell. It was then that they bought the present bell, consecrated by the priests of three denominations. The trip continues towards the country house in Nagyrákos. The smithy and adjoining house were built for a blacksmith hired by the community. The municipality built it near the Zala River to make the water for cooling the forged material easily accessible.

Lodgings and dinner at Hotel Lipa in Szentgotthárd

Day 3

After breakfast, a walk through Szentgotthárd to the Ágoston Pál Museum, and a visit to the ethnological exhibition on Slovenes in the Rába region. Followed by a drive through Slovenska ves and Dolnji Senik to Gornji Senik, where you can see the Church of St. John the Baptist in the former parish where, in the 19th century, Jožef Košič lived as a priest, ethnologist and local history researcher, and the Slovenian Museum of Local History, which collects historical, ecclesiastical, ethnological and other special cultural valuables of Slovenes in Hungary. The trip continues east, where the villages of Verica and Riktarovci are located. In Verica there is a thatched log cabin, which is today considered a historic building and is as such protected as a monument, and the memorial house of the potter Karel Dončec where the pottery and pottery equipment, typical for Rába Region, is exhibited. Next is a visit to the village of Andovci. There is a bell tower in the centre of the settlement, and next to it stands the "Monument to the Living" erected in 2000. The tourist and cultural attraction of the village is the "Porabska domačija", where you can see the typical farmhouse with ceramic stove and where you also meet the narrator of the stories of Andovci. The yard of the homestead is adorned with Mali Triglav. It is a rock donated to Andovci by the Triglav National Park. Next to the village is Črna mlaka, which is one of the biggest natural attractions of the Őrség National Park. This is followed by a drive to Števanovci and a tour of the Iron Curtain Museum in the restored guardhouse, where objects from the lives of soldiers who guarded the border of the Hungarian state are exhibited. Indoors, the exhibition is focused on the years after 1948, when the border with Slovenia and Austria was most guarded by the so-called Iron Curtain.

In addition to the cultural and historical heritage, the selected area also offers many opportunities to learn about the local cuisine.

Exploring Prekmurje and Vas County in three days (PDF)