Among kunhaloms in the Karcag wilderness

Itinerary

• The city center (Kossuth Square) can be reached from the train station via Vasút Street, then turning right onto Széchenyi István Boulevard.
• From Kossuth Square, we first take Dózsa György Street, then turn right onto Vágóhíd Street to reach the city limits, then the Hortobágy-Berettyó canal and the wilderness.
• We leave the bank of the Kecskeri canal by keeping right at a Y-junction. We turn left on the embankment of the Hortobágy-Berettyó canal, then again left at Ágota Bridge.
• Following the Kecskeri canal back, we reach the city limits of Karcag, where we turn right onto the paved road. Upon reaching Tilalmas, we follow the paved road, then where it ends turn left and proceed straight ahead to the Német-ér main canal. Crossing the watercourse, we turn left and stay on this side of the canal until a crossing option appears. After passing a pumping station and going about 200 meters, following a small forest patch we turn right onto a grassy, seldom-used cart track. Passing by a kunhalom, at the first opportunity we cross the canal on the left, then turn right.
• Following the course of the canal, we proceed until the road merges into another dirt road; there we turn right. The dirt road turns into asphalt; upon reaching Berekfürdő, we turn left. Passing through the settlement straight ahead, we reach the cycling route leading to Karcag; from here it is impossible to get lost until the nearby city.
• In Karcag, we leave the roundabout via Deák Boulevard, then turn right at the second street (Liget Street). Crossing the railway tracks, we immediately turn left to reach the canopy walkway.
• The train station can be reached via the Liget Street – Deák Boulevard – Kisújszállási Road – Vasút Street route.

Detailed description of the route

The starting point of the route, the Karcag train station, is a pretty and unique building even to a layman’s eye, recently beautifully renovated, which differs from the usual similar buildings on the railway network. The romantic style station building served the traffic of the Szolnok-Debrecen railway line, first opened by the Tiszavidéki Railway Company in 1857 (and extended over the next three years via Miskolc to Kassa) – and of course, it still serves it today. Numerous similar buildings can still be found along the railway lines built by the railway company.

Cycling in Karcag

The city center, Kossuth Square, is reached through streets with a real market town atmosphere. The beautiful, tidy main square first reveals the secessionist block of the town hall. Built between 1910-12, an interesting feature is that the Consulate of the Republic of Kazakhstan also operates here. The Kazakh connection is based on the kun consciousness nurtured by the people of Karcag (which will be elaborated later) and the Kazakh-kun kinship. Kossuth Square is not only a meeting point of these peoples but also of roads converging from surrounding settlements: the (kun) Madaras, (Tisza) Füred, Kisújszállás, and Püspökladány roads naturally marked the site of the main square of the capital of Nagykunság. Before the town hall, the observing cyclist can notice two memorials: a female figure, Victoria, on a podium, reminding of the time when the town’s artesian well operated here (from 1893 until its drying up). Next to it, a lamppost commemorates the city’s electrification between 1907-1910. At the other end of the former marketplace stands the Reformed Church, designed to hold 2,500 worshippers, whose history is partly intertwined with that of the kuns. Since 1279, the kuns and the Jasz people lived as an independent administrative unit, the Jászkun district, directly under the king’s and palatine’s jurisdiction. Locally, kun seats separate from counties handled administration, led by kun captains. Due to demographic changes during the Turkish era, the Habsburg rulers annulled the Jászkun privileges and sold the whole Jászkun district to the Teutonic Order in 1702 under Leopold I. Returning to the church’s story: Karcag outgrew its old church, but the Hungarian administrator of the Teutonic Order did not permit the construction of a new one. So the people of Karcag claimed they had patronage rights and needed no permission to build. Construction began, and the church was nearly finished when the Governor's Council stopped the work. The town’s chief notary and judge traveled to Vienna with 112 marsh turtles (a delicacy) and some cash to bribe the right people. The mission succeeded, and although a fine of 200 gold coins was ultimately paid, the church was completed by 1756. It had to be rebuilt by the century’s end, acquiring its current form, standing at the convergence of the local roads. As the church's issue was resolved, so was the whole Jászkunság’s in 1745 during the redemption, or self-redemption, for 575,900 forints and some other counter-services (such as equipping 1,000 horsemen, general conscription, etc.), Maria Theresa restored the free hereditary privileges of the free Jasz and kun people.

Leaving Kossuth Square behind, we head towards the wilderness, but still find a few curiosities within the city. Behind the church, under the water tower, the Györffy István Nagykun Museum holds all you can learn about the kuns in eight rooms. Heading in the opposite direction, leaving the main square along Dózsa György Street, we first pass the local cultural center, then come to the Calvary Hill created by repurposing a kunhalom. Decorated with wooden crosses and stone stations, the memorial mound was established in memory of the heroes of the 1848-49 revolution on the former Szőlő hill, where remnants of a 15th-century chapel once stood.

From the settlement to the kunhaloms

At the end of Dózsa György Street, we turn right. The next stop is a windmill at the city boundary, unfortunately not visitable due to its dilapidated state. The brick-built industrial heritage stands on a small embanked hill surrounded by a wall; it was in use until 1949. Of the city’s eleven windmills (and sixty in total), this is the only one left as a remembrance for posterity. Its internal structure remains completely intact; six floors could be toured if the building’s condition allowed. Opposite the windmill is the Windmill Guesthouse, a visitor center and the southern gate of Hortobágy National Park, but it is only visitable by prior arrangement. Here, at the gate, we also find a map of the area's cycling routes – we choose the one that leaves Karcag towards the east.

In the Nagykun wilderness, we first follow the dirt road along the Kecskeri canal (where a rest area and a small lookout invite to stop, birds can be excellently observed from here), then when the ditch turns left, we continue in the same direction. Along the way, there is again a hide to observe the area more closely; from here, one of our next destinations, the Zádor Bridge, is also visible to the north. Continuing along the dirt road, we may race with roe deer or hares, then pass a larger farm where we can also spot grey cattle – at least behind the fence.

Reaching the Hortobágy-Berettyó canal, we turn left on the embankment – after a kilometer or two of beaten dirt road, the route feels like a highway. At this point, the canal once carried the waters of Hortobágy (and northwards the Berettyó), but today it is largely an artificial watercourse. Heading north, we soon reach a bridge – Ágota Bridge, once an important crossing on the Hortobágy-Berettyó before the current Road 4 predecessor and the iron bridge at Apavár built in 1872; during the 1848-49 revolution, Lajos Kossuth and his government also fled here towards Debrecen. At this strategic point – at the boundary of three settlements (Karcag, Nádudvar, Püspökladány) and two counties, on the Pest-Szolnok-Debrecen road beside a crossing – stood the Saint Ágota Inn at the foot of a kunhalom. Atop the mound was once the Saint Ágota Chapel, after which the establishment was named; it was also a favorite spot for local outlaws and poor lads, spawning many legends during its existence. One says a tunnel led from here to Morgó Inn in Karcag, another that it stood exactly on the county boundary, and when pandurs arrived, the outlaws simply moved to the other end of the inn, as the other county’s authorities had no jurisdiction. When the road was relocated, the inn’s traffic sharply declined, with only local farm dwellers coming to party until it was demolished in 1935, leaving only the kunhalom visible among the trees today.

Across the Zádor Bridge

We head back to Karcag on the dirt road along the Kecskeri canal – locals believe the white stones marking the road edges date back to the early 19th century, so they “know” all the aforementioned stories. We would not bet on that, but it is certain that the Zádor Bridge has stood in the Karcag wilderness for over two hundred years since 1809. Its former importance is now hard to understand, since only the well-regulated Hortobágy-Berettyó is nearby as an important watercourse, but this was not always the case. The Zádor Stream once fed the marshes of Sárrét from the north, carrying off the floodwaters of the Tisza this far, significantly hindering traffic on the Pest-Szolnok-Debrecen road mentioned earlier. Before the stone bridge was built, wooden bridges already stood here but were not sturdy enough, so the need for a new crossing arose. The existing five-arch stone bridge originally had nine arches – those reminded of the famous Hortobágy Nine-Hole Bridge would not be far off, as the nationally famous crossing’s prototype was the Zádor Bridge, whose construction preceded its younger “brother” by nearly 20 years. Two pairs of the bridge’s central pillars were destroyed in a flood in 1830, so it remains with five arches. The bridge and the saline steppe north of it were declared protected in 1976.

Among kunhaloms

Reaching Karcag’s boundary, we turn north onto the paved road leading to Tilalmas. The enigmatic name of this once more prosperous district suggests it was once the best farmland in Karcag’s surroundings, so grazing was forbidden here. The alluvial cone formed on the once water-rich area provided good soil – today it is hard to imagine that before major river regulations, numerous smaller watercourses dissected Karcag’s boundary, their water levels indirectly influenced by the Tisza. Leaving Tilalmas northward, we proceed on the straight dirt road to the Német-ér main canal, then cross the water and turn left. The dirt road we take westwards also marks the border of the national park area here. Soon we reach a smaller kunhalom and after a few kilometers, arrive at Berekfürdő. Despite their name, kunhaloms are not connected to the kuns, but most originate from pre-Hungarian Conquest times; they are artificial mounds originally 5-10 meters high, serving mainly one of four purposes: dwelling mounds, burial mounds, watch mounds, or boundary mounds. An interesting legend relates to the latter: boys were taken from the triple mounds on the boundaries of three settlements (or counties) at intervals and severely beaten on top so that they could remember the exact borders of the three administrative units for life. The significance of kunhaloms, beyond their cultural-historical memorial functions, is that many have retained the original vegetation characteristic centuries ago, while their surroundings were cultivated or ploughed. The preserved kunhaloms protect remnants of loess grasslands as islands and serve as habitats for species such as bunchgrass, crested wheatgrass, or Transylvanian pearl grass.

Berekfürdő was once part of the farmstead network around Karcag, but the world changed drastically at the end of the 1920s. As in many places in the country, drilling for hydrocarbons started here; instead of oil or natural gas, thermal water burst out from the depths of the earth. The “miracle spring” quickly became popular among locals, initially served by an extraordinary scheduled service: an old bus pulled by two horses according to contemporary chronicles. Today, the infrastructure for both transport and facilities like the bathing beach looks somewhat different: guesthouses, hotels, and a campsite await visitors – in the latter, early April sees nearly naked sunbathers from northern countries enjoying the last warm autumn sunshine.

Walkway among the foliage

From the outskirts of Berekfürdő, a cycling path leads back to Karcag, running parallel to the Kunmadarasi road. Upon reaching Karcag, one might head straightforward to the endpoint of the tour, the train station, but instead, a short detour is made to visit the local canopy walkway. It may seem strange at first that such a facility invites unsuspecting tourists in the middle of the Great Plain, but it is worth adding an extra kilometer or two to the program. The walkway starts from ground level and returns there; it is essentially a long wooden bridge from which one can observe the park forest inhabitants (plants and animals – mainly birds) from an unusual perspective, while children can learn through playful forms or various panels about the forest’s wildlife, local history, and landscape history, plus a cool playground is also located in the small forest.

Who were the kuns?

As for the kuns: they were originally an Asian people who became an independent ethnic group in the Amur region in the 6th-7th centuries. Around the turn of the first millennium, they were attacked by the Khitans and pushed westward; in alliance with two other Central Asian peoples, they formed the Kipchak-Uyghur-kun tribal confederation and ruled the Asian so-called steppe corridor for nearly 180 years, advancing west to the Lower Danube. The situation changed with the arrival of the Mongols, so much so that significant kun groups fled westward, and this, along with the Tatar invasion, brought Kötöny Khagan and King Béla IV together, who settled the kuns (30-40,000) in the eastern parts of the country to defend it against possible Tatar attacks. The plan didn't work exactly as intended, but eventually, in 1279, King Ladislaus IV made an agreement with the kuns, who received autonomous settlements in the territories of the Temes, Maros, and Körös rivers, as well as between the Danube and Tisza and in Mezőföld, which they could hold under tribal-clan frameworks. The boundaries of the settlement district were roughly preserved in the Jászkunság region until 1876, but kun identity persisted and is strengthening in many customs, largely driven by the town of Karcag, which in 2009 hosted the first Kun World Meeting as a tradition-creating event. And why might there be an honorary Kazakh consulate in Karcag? Probably due to tradition preservation and the revival of kun consciousness, as Kazakh, closely related to the extinct kun language, provides a symbolic link publicly promoting the kun-Kazakh kinship.