Őrség region
The Őrség region is part of the hill country between Raab and Zala in south-west Hungary .
location
The Őrség area lies in the triangle between Körmend in the north, Zalaegerszeg in the east and the Hungarian border with Austria and Slovenia in the west.
history
The population of this border area performed guard duty for the Hungarian rulers as early as the 11th and 12th centuries , from which the landscape name Őrség, in English “guard”, is derived. The residents were rewarded with privileges and greater independence for this voluntary service.
Attractions
Small settlements, groups of houses and hamlets, called szer in Hungarian , which formed a chain of border posts, are characteristic of Őrség . In many villages of the Őrség, examples of these forms of settlement and traditional building methods are still preserved and maintained today.
The Pityerszer open-air museum is located five kilometers northwest of the district town Őriszentpéter in a district of the municipality of Szalafő, which is open daily in the summer months. In Pankasz near Kisrákos you will find a well-preserved typical “watch” church tower from the 17th century.
In the village of Velemér on the Hungarian-Slovenian border there is a well-preserved church from the 13th century with frescoes by the Austrian Johannes Aquila from 1378, which hinted at the so-called "International Style". The painter immortalized himself on the northern wall.
National park
The Őrség National Park ( Hungarian Őrségi Nemzeti Park ) was opened as a European National Park on March 8, 2002 and is located in Vas County . It has a total area of 43,933 hectares and belongs to the three-country nature park Raab-Őrség-Goričko , with the Raab nature park (founded on September 12, 1998) and the Slovenian Goričko nature park (founded October 9, 2003).
Flora and fauna
The Őrség has a rare number of animal species and plants such as the rare black stork , the three-toed woodpecker or the honey buzzard, as well as a large number of rare butterflies and dragonflies . Orchids are just as common as angelica , irises , which have become rare, and gentian .
Awards
The Hungarian region of Őrség was awarded the EDEN Prize (European Destinations of Excellence - EDEN) on October 26, 2007 by Commission Vice President Günter Verheugen in Portugal from among the ten best travel destinations in rural tourism in Europe . It is a landscape of character in harmony with nature, which harmoniously connects mountains and valleys, deciduous and coniferous forests, meadows, moors, springs and rivers. In addition, visitors are fascinated by the unadulterated traditions and customs, the handicrafts, the products of the farmers who are self-sufficient, and the way of life in the region.
Web links
- Őrség National Park website (Hungarian, English, German, Slovenian)