From castle to castle in Zemplén

Itinerary

• From Erdőbénye railway station, head up the village along Kossuth Lajos Street, then turn right at the main street of Szegilong (Dózsa György Street). At the junction at the last houses of the village, turn left towards Erdőbénye, then proceed straight on the road to the center of Erdőbénye.
• After passing Erdőbénye church, turn left at the end of the road towards Encs.
• After leaving Aranyospuszta, turn right at the junction in the field towards Boldogkőváralja – the road leads all the way to the mentioned village without needing to turn off.
• In Boldogkőváralja, ride along the main street (Kossuth Lajos Street) until you reach the road leading to the castle; then turn right.
• After visiting the castle, descend on the asphalt road from the parking lot, then at a sharp left turn, turn right onto a dirt road heading north; this dirt road leads to Korlát.
• In Korlát, turn left at the church, then after leaving the village, turn right at the railway crossing (towards Gönc).
• Pass Vizsoly along the main road, then upon reaching Vilmány, turn right at the first opportunity (towards Fony/Tolcsva).
• After leaving Fony, turn right at a Y-shaped junction towards Mogyoróska. In Mogyoróska, follow the K bicycle sign towards Regéc castle. From the forestry dozer road, turn left onto a wide road at the foot of Regéc castle, leading to the castle. Descend the same way from the castle and turn left to return to the junction. The wide dozer road leads to the asphalt road to Háromhuta – turn right there.
• Inside Háromhuta, turn left at the Újhuta junction and follow the asphalt road first through Újhuta, then through the forest until you reach Gerendás meadow – turn right here and continue on the broad forestry road (keep left at a Y-junction). The forestry road leads all the way to Makkoshotyka.
• From Makkoshotyka, the asphalt road leads towards Sárospatak (turn left at the only junction). Upon entering the town, cross the railway crossing and turn left to reach the railway station; to explore the town, follow the Erdélyi János Street-Rákóczi Ferenc Street-Szent Erzsébet Street-Rákóczi Ferenc Street-Táncsics Mihály Street route.

Detailed description of the route

After getting off the train at Erdőbénye railway station, you find yourself in Szegilong. Erdőbénye is seven kilometers from here, but the naming is probably no coincidence: Erdőbénye was one of the most significant settlements in the Tokaj wine region in the past. From Szegilong, a low-traffic, pleasantly ascending road leads to the neighboring settlement.

Coopers, stonemasons, and pastures

Erdőbénye is a settlement built around Mulató Hill, at the meeting point of the Zemplén Mountains and the Great Plain, one of the oldest settlements of Tokaj-Hegyalja, which, alongside its market town rank, also gained market rights and wine trade rights. The settlement once employed a hundred coopers, which partly indicates that vine cultivation played a central role in life in Erdőbénye, but also that historically the producers sold must and wine with barrels to traders. According to a local saying, "if someone bends a tree in Erdőbénye, they either make barrels or carve stone" – revealing the importance of quarrying. It is worth visiting the abandoned quarry lake, whose water is similarly blue as the Megyer Hill tarn near Sárospatak. Above the lake, on the side of Mulató Hill, stands the "cholera stone," or cholera column: a worn memorial to the sad 1831 epidemic. On the main street of the village, under the Szirmay Castle, stretches a row of cellars; the original building was built by Francis II Rákóczi. Two similar buildings also recall the village's prosperous past: the Budaházi-Fekete manor, a 17th-century, early Baroque style building surrounded by a well-kept park, which can only be glimpsed over a stone fence; unlike the former bathing house near Erdőbénye, which has been converted into accommodation today.

Leaving Erdőbénye on the ascending road, soon we reach one of the last hérauds of traditional farming, the wooded pasture of Erdőbénye. The protected area features scattered legacy trees left from the forest clearing, providing shade to animals even in the hottest summer heat. At the top of the ascent, at the edge of the wooded pasture, a pleasant resting place offers shelter under towering old trees. From here, a pleasant serpentine leads into the endlessly calm valley of the Aranyos stream: the small watercourse meanders directly beside the road towards its destination. In Aranyospuszta, a buffet stop is worthwhile, then leaving the valley behind, after a short climb, turn right towards Boldogkőváralja.

First, we pass by Abaújalpár, then reach Boldogkőújfalu. At the border of Boldogkőújfalu, on the southwestern side of Falu Hill, an interesting natural formation, a stone sea, is hidden – unfortunately, not as easily accessible as those in the Káli Basin. Continuing towards Boldogkőváralja, the fortress built of welded riolite tuff is visible almost every meter in the distance, and far away, the ridges of the Gömör-Szepes Ore Mountains also appear, providing a scenic frame to the broad Hernád valley.

Boldogkőváralja is most known for the eponymous castle – naturally, we climb the castle hill during the route, but first, riding through the village, we pass the Catholic church in front of which is a crypt built by Manó Péchy in 1861. The Péchy family played a significant role in the village’s life: Gábor Péchy bought the castle and the village from the Jesuits in 1753 and then built his castle, which was the third largest in Borsod County after those of Edelény and Füzérradvány (today it operates as a children’s home). The aforementioned church was also built by Gábor Péchy. Leaving the village towards the castle, we pass in front of the Saint Donatus chapel, then turn right onto the ascent leading to the castle’s parking lot.

Castles and gothic churches

The oldest part of the Boldogkő castle was probably built after the Tatar invasion on rocks rising above the Hernád valley and was continuously expanded in several phases by its various owners. During the Turkish era, since it was further from the frontline, Ottoman troops seldom raided the area. In the Kuruc times, imperial troops first held the castle, then it was captured by Thököly during his occupation of Upper Hungary. In autumn 1685, Habsburg mercenaries occupied it again; in 1701, the imperial troops blew up part of the fortifications, rendering the fortress militarily worthless, after which the Jesuits moved in and established a granary within the remaining walls. The Péchy family commissioned "restoration" works in the second half of the 18th century, but of course, heritage protection was not yet a concept then, so some parts were lost forever. Today the lower castle can be accessed from the parking lot side over a small wooden bridge (likely once a drawbridge); the cashier below the gate tower admits visitors. Inside – fitting for a venerable old castle – visitors can embark on an exploration journey: archaeology and military history exhibitions, numismatics display, flag and heraldry exhibitions, a blacksmith workshop and a castle prison, as well as Central Europe's largest tin soldier exhibition depicting famous battles from Hungarian history await visitors. The Old Tower, the castle’s oldest part, is also visible inside, but the most spectacular is undoubtedly the observation bastion under the southern tower: the small tower on the protrusion is connected by a narrow cliff to the rest of the castle, and a wooden corridor on top provides the connection.

From the castle, we head towards Korlát along a dirt road, where a gothic church stands in the village center. (In rainy weather, a small detour can be made on asphalt roads to reach the neighboring settlement, or you can continue towards Vizsoly, skipping the Korlát detour.) The whitewashed building’s pointed, traceried windows immediately reveal it was built in the 15th century. The flying buttresses also indicate medieval construction, and inside the church, the star-ribbed vault above the octagonal sanctuary is a striking testimony to the prevailing architectural style of the time.

In Vizsoly, a similar building can be found: the famous Bible is displayed in the local Reformed church, partly built in the gothic style, although some parts suggest the oldest sections (the sanctuary and the original small nave) were built at the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries. The building is surrounded by a stone wall and can be entered through a small visitor center. The Vizsoly Bible is the first complete Hungarian translation of the Scriptures, thanks to Gáspár Károli, a preacher from Gönc (hence it is also known as the Károli Bible). The first copy, weighing 6 kilograms with 2412 pages, was completed on July 20, 1590, and, due to its ornamentation and artistic execution, truly qualifies as an art piece. A total of 800 copies were produced within a year and a half. One copy can be seen under glass in the church, and visitors can also try a 16th-century printing workshop at the Mantskovit Printing History Museum to experience how the printing press worked at that time.

Leaving Vizsoly, we first reach Vilmány (this village also boasts a gothic church, though it is unfortunately in rather poor condition), followed by Fony and Mogyoróska, following the Z cyclist sign. Turning towards Fony, a little roller coaster begins as we get closer to the Zemplén mountains – a preview of the elevation differences awaits on a serpentine out of the village. The Regéc castle also appears in the background. After leaving Mogyoróska's last houses we begin the climb on a dirt road. The fortress does not give itself easily but is worth the effort: from the top, there is an excellent panorama of the surroundings, and we get to know another Zemplén castle. This stronghold was probably built in the 13th-14th centuries, likely by members of the Aba clan. Among many owners, the last ones were the Rákóczi: George I Rákóczi, prince of Transylvania, captured it from Miklós Eszterházy in a siege in 1644. The later prince, infant Francis II Rákóczi, was brought to Regéc by his mother Ilona Zrínyi in 1677 and spent his early years within the castle walls. Following the capture of Imre Thököly, Habsburg troops took the castle without firing shots in 1685; a year later, imperial orders demolished it. Restoration began in the late 1990s and still continues. So far, the old tower has been newly built with four exhibition levels and partly rebuilt palace wings.

Glassworks, dense forests, Rákóczi and Makovecz

From the castle, it is an easy roll first to the asphalt road leading to Háromhuta, then from there to the Újhuta junction. The first glassworks was founded in 1698 in the forests belonging to Regéc by Francis II Rákóczi, and glass production continued here until 1916, mainly producing Tokaj wine bottles. In Óhuta, the Glass Barn, we can learn about local industry history: information boards on a small resting place explain glassmaking secrets, and there is even a furnace model here, while opposite the road, the founder Rákóczi’s bust watches visitors. At Újhuta’s gate, we pass a beautifully renovated castle built in the 1840s by Duke Ferdinand Bretzeinheim as a hunting lodge. Later it became the property of the Waldbott family, today operating as Bretzeinheim-Waldbott Hunting Castle hotel, with a restaurant open to visitors. In Újhuta, at a junction, we pass a neat small bell tower, which may have been Háromhuta's first built place of worship.

Leaving Újhuta, we enter the dense Zemplén forest and begin the final climb to Gerendás meadow. On the way, we can stop to rest at Flórika spring – near this resting place in the branches of the Tolcsva stream, a childless medieval couple often hiked here and drank from the spring, hoping for blessings of children. When their daughter was born, they named the spring after her, Flórika spring, and the name is carved in stone above the lodge. At Gerendás meadow, a covered forest resting place with benches and tables stands beside the road, where you can also eat a muesli bar preparing for the final meters of the climb. Leaving the Eskála forest house (National Blue Trail stamping place), we cross over the slope, and from here, we can prepare for an almost endless roll to Makkoshotyka along the valley of the Hotyka stream.

Sárospatak is just a hop away, and those still with energy can take a detour to the Megyer Hill tarn before visiting the city sights. In the town, we head straight towards the castle, stopping only at the basilica, while other city sights are viewed on the way to the railway station. On the site of the current church, King Andrew I once built a rotunda (small round church), as Patak was a royal lodging. The small royal chapel later became the ossuary of the cemetery after a Romanesque style church was built in its place, followed by the present three-nave gothic hall church completed in 1492. During the Turkish era, the Patak castle was also reinforced; the northern wall of the church became part of the defense. In a later exciting period, after the Wesselényi conspiracy, a mercenary army occupied the castle, bricking up all gates, and for twelve years – until Thököly freed Patak castle – entrance was only possible through two large arched gates cut in the northern and southern walls of the church. Before and during the Rákóczi War of Independence, ownership changed several times between Kuruc and Labanc forces. In 1708, the last parliament of the uprising took place here, where, upon Francis II Rákóczi’s proposal, present nobles accepted the liberation of serfs from landlord jurisdiction if they took up arms for the homeland.

The castle itself – whose name is inseparable from the Rákóczi family – consists of two parts separable even to the naked eye. The heart of the castle (and its oldest part) is the so-called Red Tower, a five-story massive building whose lowest level walls are pierced by gun holes, while higher floors have windows and protruding balconies. Once a kitchen, steward’s house, chancellery, treasury, and archive all fit side by side on the lowest level. To the north, a diamond-shaped castle palace joins, whose most famous parts are the so-called Lórántffy loggia (a column-arched staircase connecting the eastern wing and the tower, named after its builder Zsuzsanna Lórántffy, wife of George I Rákóczi) and the Sub Rosa balcony, which hides the eponymous room. Its name comes from the stylized rose decorating the keystone of the painted vault. The room with Renaissance motifs hosted the secret meetings of the Wesselényi conspiracy with participants including Francis I Rákóczi, Ferenc Nádasdy, Péter Zrínyi, and Ferenc Frangepán.

The castle hosts numerous permanent and temporary exhibitions, including a distinguished one about the Rákóczi family, and features the knight's hall in the Red Tower, the reception room of George I Rákóczi, and Renaissance door and window frames. Among the sights are casting workshops and casemates.

From the castle, we head back towards the city center, where we first take a closer look at two buildings designed by Imre Makovecz (though a third can be visited as well), then turn towards the famous college. First, we admire the Bodrog store, then, in Makovecz Square, opposite the building of the Comenius faculty of Eszterházy Károly University (named after a famous teacher from Patak), the institution named House of Culture and Library, rated by the International Union of Architects among the ten most significant architectural works of 1983. The wide embracing mass forms a courtyard facing the square, before which two sculptures stand on columns: the Miraculous Stag and the Ascension (the latter referring to a scene from the Nagyszentmiklós treasure). The works of this domestic master of organic architecture also include the renovation of the Borostyán Restaurant, the Bodrog Store, the Árpád Vezér High School, and the apartments on Hild Square, all in the city.

The final stop of our tour is the Sárospatak Reformed College, one of the country's oldest educational institutions, founded in 1531 by crown guard Péter Perényi as a cornerstone of the Reformed education system established in the wake of the Reformation. Among its many famous students were politicians, writers, and poets, such as Lajos Kossuth, Géza Gárdonyi, and Zsigmond Móricz. Among pastors sentenced to galley slavery in the early 17th-century Counter-Reformation wave, 22 were students here. From the college building, the station can even be reached through the atmospheric School Garden. In front of the station building, at the end of the tour, you can admire the Dance Flower fountain (featuring five dancing girls as the composition).