Page 168 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Hungary

166  HUNGAR Y REGION B Y REGION NOR THERN TR ANSD ANUBIA  167

collection of ecclesiastical family, who bought the town in
art. Another room contains 1534. Patriarch Tamás Nádasdy
a series of frescoes by István brought in Italian architects to
Dorfmeister based on life in create a genuine Renais sance
ancient Savaria. master piece, which, with
A short walk from the various additions, survives more
cathedral is Fő tér, today or less intact to the present day.
the main centre of the city Much of the castle is given
and a shopper’s paradise that over to the Ferenc Nádasdy
is popular with mothers and Museum, the highlight of which
children. There are further are two series of frescoes:
Roman ruins at the Iseum Ruin 17th­century works showing
Garden on Batthány tér, featuring the Hungarians in battle with
a temple to the goddess Isis, the Turks and scenes from the
believed to be one of only three Old Testa ment painted by István
ever found in Europe. Next door Dorfmeister in 1769. There are
is the Szombathely Gallery. In also exhibitions of the family’s
The impressive hilltop Benedictine abbey church in Ják May, when more than 50 kinds and town’s histories, regional
w Ják e Szombathely of rhodo dendron are in full folk art and period furniture. One of the outdoor pools at the Bükfürdő Health and Adventure Centre
bloom, the Kámoni Arbor etum
The castle is reached via a long
12 km (7 miles) south of Szom bathely. 101 km (60 miles) southwest of Győr. north of the city centre is well stone bridge over what was t Bük disorders, and the grounds are
Road Map A4. * 2,400. @ from Road Map A3. * 115,000. £ from worth a visit. once a moat. 24km (15 miles) northeast of Szom­ well laid out with grassy areas,
Szombathely. Sopron, Győr. @ from Zalaergeszeg. In 1961, during a search for bathely. Road Map A3. * 3,100. children’s play grounds, snack
n Tourinform, Király utca 1/A, (94) 31 oil (see below), hot springs £ from Szombathely, Sopron. @ bars and restaurants. A fair­sized
The Benedictine St George’s 72 69. _ Bartók Classical Music (44 °C/111 °F) were found in from Szombathely. n Tourinform, resort has also grown up around
Abbey Church (Jáki Szent Festival (Jul); Savaria Carnival (Aug). Sárvár, and the Sárvár Spa Eötvös utca 11, (94) 55 84 19. the pool complex, and the
György Bence’s Apátsági and Wellness Centre is now Greenfield Hotel Golf and Spa
Templom) is the best-preserved Founded by the Romans in one of the largest bath com­ Thermal springs were dis covered (see p293), a short walk from
and most impressive example AD 43, and known as Savaria, plexes and, after its renovation at this village near the Austrian the thermal baths, is home to
of Romanesque archi tecture in Szombathely was an important and extension, the most mod­ border in 1956 during a search Hungary’s finest golfing centre.
Hungary. Built in 1214–56, this trading and staging post on ern in Hungary. It comprises for oil. Since then the Bükfürdő It is the only 18­hole course in
twin-towered master piece, the “Amber Road” from the indoor and outdoor pools, Health and Adventure Centre Hungary to have hosted a
influenced by late Norman Baltic Sea to Italy. Every August leisure and splash pools, a has grown to become one of professional golf tournament.
architecture, sits imposingly on the Savaria Carnival recreates sauna and a treatment centre Hungary’s largest and most
a hilltop above the village. The those ancient days, and offering various therapies. attractive medicinal bath  Bük Medicinal Baths
western façade is worthy of note hundreds of volunteers don complexes. There are 32 indoor Termál körút 2. Tel (94) 55 80 80.
with its recessed doorway, a Roman costumes and engage E Ferenc Nádasdy Museum and outdoor pools of various sizes Open winter: 8:30am–6pm daily;
richly decorated portal featuring in battles, dancing and music. Várkerület 1. Tel (95) 32 01 58. and temp eratures, offering treat­ summer: 8:30am–7:30pm daily.
almost life-size carvings of Jesus The remains of the once-vast Open Jul–Aug: 9am–9pm; Sep–Jun: ments for a variety of different & 7
and the Apostles. This style, Roman Forum (Savaria was Szombathely Cathedral, Hungary’s largest 9am–5pm. & 8
called the Porta Speciosa the capital of Roman Pannonia Baroque church  Sárvár Spa and Wellness Oil and Water
technique, was refined here Superior) are among Centre
before becoming a model the city’s leading Vadkert utca 1. Tel (95) 52 36 00. Many of the largest thermal
for Roman esque sights, with mosaic r Sárvár Open 8am–10pm daily. & 7 bath complexes in Hungary,
churches all over floors and the 25 km (16 miles) east of Szom bathely. such as those at Bük and
Hungary. Inside the public baths clearly Road Map A3. * 15,000. £ from Sárvár, have only been in
church are original visible. There is Szombathely. @ from Szombathely. existence since the latter
14th-century more Roman n Tourinform, Várkerület 33, (95) 52 part of the 20th century,
frescoes showing treasure on show 01 78). when the thermal springs
the church’s at the Savaria that serve them were
found during oil searches.
founder, Jáki Nagy Detail on the portal of the Museum. Standing The Magyars built an earth Desperate to fuel its
Márton, and his Benedictine abbey in Ják next to the ruins is castle (sárvár translates quite industrialization, Hungary’s
family. The church the city’s cathedral, literally as “mud castle”) here in Communist government
was fully restored in 1890 Hungary’s largest Baroque the 10th century. Long before hoped that the discovery of
by Frigyes Schulek, who also church, built in 1791–4. Its that it appears the Romans the Nagylengyel oil field in
restored the Mátyás Church interior suffered great damage had some fortifications here, the west of the country in Indoor thermal baths in Sárvár
in Buda pest (see pp66–7). The during World War II and is and even the Celts found this 1951 would be the first of
tiny St Jakab Chapel opposite undergoing continuous resto- confluence of the Rába river a many oil strikes in the region. Vast sums of money were spent
was built in 1260 for the use ration work. However, it is open sound defensive position. The foraging for oil, though all that was found was what became known
of non-monastic villagers. to the public. Next to it is the Sárvár Castle that now attracts as “white gold”: thermal water. Some small deposits of crude oil
Bishop’s Palace, an attractive visitors is far from the mud of were eventually located, but although Hungary does produce
R St George’s Abbey Church Rococo building whose Sala yore, how ever, having been oil (Zalaegerszeg is the centre of the industry; see p162), domestic
Fő tér. Tel (94) 35 60 14. Open 8am– Terrena houses the Dio cesan built in the 16th century. Its The Knights Hall in Sárvár Castle, with production accounts for less than 10 per cent of consumption.
6pm daily. 7 Museum, which has a fine patrons were the Nádasdy superb battle frescoes
For hotels and restaurants see pp264–269 and pp276–285

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