Word Heritage Sights

WORD HERITAGE SIGHTS

UNESCO created the World Heritage Committee and accepted the Agreement regarding the protection of the world’s cultural and natural heritage, to which 175 countries have attached themselves.

Hungary now has eight listed World Heritage sites:

1. The old village and environs of Hollókő (1987)
2. The Aggtelek karst and Slovakian karst caves (1995)
3. The 1,000 year-old Benedictine Abbey at Pannonhalma and its natural surroundings (1996)
4. Hortobágy National Park - the Puszta (1999)
5. Pécs Early Christian burial vaults (2000)
6. Fertő/Neusiedlersee cultural region (2001)
7. The historic wine-making cultural region of Tokaj (2002)
8. The Budapest Danube panorama, the Buda Castle District (1987), Andrássy Road and its historic surroundings (2002)

 
The man-made and natural World Heritage sites of Hungary are a good example of what splendours this small nation has provided Europe with, increasing the world’s cultural treasures while preserving their special Hungarian character.

1. Hollókő

Hollókő hides among the undulations of the Cserhát hills about 100 km from Budapest in a picturesque setting. The history of the village goes back to the 13th century, when after the Mongol invasion the castle was built on Szár hill. It is worth walking up to the Castle to see the exhibition of fragments of weaponry, cannon balls and carved stone findings. And from here there is a beautiful view over the surrounding, protected area, which is a part of the Bükk National Park.
The settlement burnt down several times, because the buildings, until the beginning of the 20th century, were covered with inflammable thatched roofs. Following the last 1909 fire the houses were restored to their original form, but now with clay-brick walls and tiled roofs. The traditional medieval village structure can easily be seen; the single long street has thin lots running of it at right angles. In the middle of the settlement, as if on an island, stand the village church. The wooden towered, tile covered Roman Catholic church was built in 1889. The village's 60 protected buildings are characteristic peasant houses with stepped gable roofs and porches with wooden breast walls decorated with open-worked carvings. Their interior layout faithfully retains the 17th century Palóc style; In other buildings there is a village house, a post office and a nursery school, in other words this is not an open-air museum, but a real, living village. There is accommodation, or restaurant facilities, available in several houses.

2. Caves of the Aggtelek and Slovak Karst

The Aggtelek National Park, to be found in the north eastern part of Hungary, was established in 1985 primarily to protect inorganic natural treasures, surface formations and caves. 75% of it is covered with deciduous forest. The clearings scattered about like a mosaic, the areas of rock and the hillsides dotted with rocky outcrops provide a habitat for rare plants, a rich insect world and more than 220 species of local birds. In the relatively small area of the National Park (approx. 20,000 ha) there are more than 200 caves of various sizes to be found.

Here in the Aggtelek and Slovakian karst, together forming a geological and geographical unit, is where Central Europe's largest cave system was formed. The longest cave in the karst area and also in Hungary is the Baradla-cave, the total length of which, with the side branches, is 25 km. A 5.6 km section of this lies in Slovakian territory and is known under the name Domica. The cave was formed in 230 million year old middle Triassic limestone. Classical and other music concerts are held in the beautiful Concert Hall of the Baradla cave because of its wonderful acoustics, which provides a very special experience for visitors. On the surface there are marked study trails. Along the ecology, botanical and zoological trails visitors can become acquainted with the treasures of the surface of the karst, with the plant-life, habitats, traditional landscape use, village life and work, industrial history and cultural history, as well as the surviving folk customs, traditions and crafts. The 7 km trail between Aggtelek and Jósvafő (the Baradla study trail) is marked with yellow markings and takes about 3 hours. The Tohonya-Kuriszlán 9 km study trail around Jósvafő requires about 6 hours. The Alsó-hegy Zsomboly study trail is marked by a red "T" in a white circle.

3. Millenarian Benedictine Monastery of Pannonhalma and its Natural Environment

St. Martin's monastery sits atop a hill, which was initially named after the former Roman province Pannonia (Mons Pannonia), but soon came to be known as the 'Sacred Mount" (Mons Sacer). Benedictine monks were settled down here by the Sovereign Géza in 996. His son, St. Stephen granted property and privileges to the monastery in a charter issued in the early years of the second millennium. Monks from Italy and Bohemia were the first to start communal life, common worship and the pastoral and cultural work typical of the Benedictine order. The members of the monastery pray every day for the immunity of Hungary.

If you wish to see the thousand year old monastery, you need to register with a local tour guide. Tours are suspended during Holy Communion.

In addition to the traditional organ concerts, a musical festival welcomes visitors in the summer months. It was in the spring of 2003 that the Pannonhalma Monastery Wine Cellars opened their doors to visitors, who are given a guided tour, which also includes wine tasting.

4. Hortobágy National Park

Hortobágy is the largest continuous natural grassland in Europe, which means that it was not formed as a result of deforestation or river control. The first Hungarian national park established in 1973 is the country's largest protected area (82 thousand hectares). A significant part of it is Biosphere Reserve, and a quarter of its area enjoys international protection under the Ramsar Convention on the conservation of wetlands. Hortobágy has outstanding landscape features and is a unique example of the harmonic coexistence of people and nature based on the considerate use of the land, maintaining great biological variety in respect of species and habitats.
   A major part of the area of the National Park is formed by natural habitats, alkaline grasslands, meadows and smaller and bigger marshes enclosed between them.

Help in getting to know the protected flora and fauna of the National Park is given by four show areas and study trails. Before setting out, it is worth inquiring at a tourist information office or at the Directorate of the National Park to make sure which sections of the territory are open to visitors. Of the regular programmes, the National Goulash Contest and Shepherd‘s Meeting, the Hortobágyi Equestrian Days and the August Bridge Fair are the best known.

5. Pécs (Sopianae) Early Christian Cemetery

Pécs, situated in the southern part of Hungary at the foot of the Mecsek mountains, radiates a real Mediterranean atmosphere due to its climate, flora and narrow, rambling streets. With its rich cultural life, theatre, museums and festivals, the town is a significant cultural centre of the region and the whole country. The town was founded by the Romans at the beginning of the 1st century AD. By the 4th century Sopianae became a flourishing provincial capital and a significant centre of early Christianity. Saint Stephen, the first Hungarian king founded an episcopate here in 1009, and Hungary's first university started to operate here in 1367. The architectural monuments of the 150 years of Turkish occupation, the mosques, the Turkish bath and Pasha Idris's tomb, can still be seen.

In the cemetery of ancient Sopianae our 4th century Roman forebears built churches, chapels and mausoleums with tombs beneath. In the course of the archaeological excavations that have been going on for more than 200 years, hundreds of graves richly supplied with grave goods have been found around the tombs. On the basis of the Christian symbols decorating the grave goods and the Biblical frescos of the buildings, the cemetery of Sopianae is assumed to be an early Christian cemetery. Here are to be found the largest number of frescoed cemetery buildings, not just in Hungary, but in the whole of Europe, and for this reason this early Christian collection of buildings is regarded as an unrivalled group of cultural monuments in terms of early human history.

6. Lake Fertő-Neusiedler See Cultural Landscape

Lake Fertő lies in both Austria and Hungary and appears on the World Heritage List as a result of a joint application by both countries. The lake is part of the Fertő-Hanság National Park which UNESCO declared a biosphere reservation in 1979 and which is internationally recognized as one of Europe's most significant water habitats. There are numerous rare plant species only to be found here and more than 200 kinds of nesting birds. In the interest of preserving these, some parts of the National Park can only be visited with permits and with certified guides. Lake Fertő is very popular in the summertime. You can go swimming, windsurfing, motor boating and sailing. There is a paved cycle path around the lake.

7. The Historic Wine Region of Tokaj

The wine growing region in the Foothills of Tokaj produces the most excellent white wine in Hungary. Yet its recognition as a World Heritage Site is not due solely to its viticulture and winemaking, but also to its unmatched natural properties, architectural and cultural heritage and local traditions.
The Vitis Tokaiensis, a fossilized ancient vine leaf discovered in Erdőberény and considered to be the ancestor of every vine variety, offers tangible evidence that Grapes were growing in this region of north-eastern Hungary as early as the Miocene Age, and that the grapevine is a native plant in Tokaj. The ancient grape variety Vitis Sylveris still grows wild in the area.

8. Budapest, the banks of the Danube and the Castle District in Buda; Andrássy Street and the surrounding historical area

The various periods in the history of the Hungarian capital can be traced in the buildings on the banks of the Danube. This is one of the world's outstandingly beautiful panoramas. The World Heritage site includes the Buda and Pest embankments between Szabadság Bridge and Margaret Bridge, the Castle Quarter on the Buda side, Gellért Hill, including the Liberty Statue, the Citadel and the Gellért Baths, and the part of town known as the Waterfront with its Baroque churches and baths from the age of the Ottoman occupation. Andrássy Street, with the Millennium Underground, and Hero's Square with its surroundings were integrated into the Budapest World Heritage site in 2002.

Source: www.tourinform.hu