Three Rivers Route around Szarvas

Itinerary

• When leaving Szarvas railway station, head west along Vasút utca (towards the city center), then turn right onto Dózsa György utca, which leads straight to the Nagyfoki backwater.
• Upon reaching the Nagyfoki backwater, turn right, then cross it and take the first left to circle around the small lake. At the end of the road, turn left, then immediately right.
• Upon reaching the Hármas-Körös dam, get onto it and turn right; from here to Gyomaendrőd you do not need to leave the dam in any direction.
• When you reach Gyomaendrőd, enter the settlement among the first houses by leaving the dam (Fazekasi utca) and continue straight, then follow Selyem utca – when it ends, turn left, then at the main road crossing the settlement turn right.
• At the Reformed Church, turn right (Hősök útja), then the first street right again (Kossuth Lajos út) – here you will find the Kner Printing.
• From the printing, return to the already known main road and turn left, heading west. There is a bike path next to the road up to the settlement border, but after that, for a short section, you have to ride on road 46 towards Mezőtúr. After rolling down from the Körös bridge, immediately turn right at the first opportunity, pass under the bridge, and follow the dirt road leading to the dam. (At higher water levels, it may be advisable to ride on road 46 to the dam and turn left there.)
• At the dam, turn left, and ride along the embankment to the old pump house. Then at the first opportunity, turn right and follow the road to the Hortobágy-Berettyó dam, then turn right upon reaching it.
• The dam leads to Mezőtúr; upon reaching the main road, turn left to soon reach Kossuth Lajos square, which is essentially the town square. From here you can approach the synagogue and the artesian well through small streets under gardens. Head south along Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út, then upon reaching Sugár út, turn right.
• Sugár út leads straight out of town and further to the ferry on the Körös. Cross the river by ferry, then turn right on the dam and cycle all the way to the Békésszentandrás weir.
• From the weir, continue on the dam, then at Temető utca turn left towards the town. Cycle along Temető utca to Rákóczi utca, turn right there, then left at the main road. From here, the bike path leads all the way to Szarvas, where you just need to cross the town and turn left before the railway crossing to reach the final stretch in front of the railway station. (However, it is worth visiting the arboretum and the National Park visitor center at the border of Szarvas, which requires a few hundred meters’ detour to the left or right.)

Detailed description of the route

The route starts from Szarvas, but since the station is on the edge of town, a more thorough look will be taken after returning. For now, head straight towards the Körös dam and Gyomaendrőd. Dózsa György utca leads out of the city to the Nagyfoki backwater – it is advisable to ride with open eyes here, as several nicely renovated, maintained old farmhouses appear on both sides of the road. Looking at the map, many similar backwaters can be found in the area on both sides of the Körös. Backwaters can form naturally or due to river regulation, but their fate is the same: they gradually start to decay, fill up, going through classical stages: from standing water to swamp, marsh, and finally to fen. Nowadays, some previously separated backwaters are preserved as natural values, though other uses are also possible. For example, the Nagyfoki backwater became a fish pond of the local Dózsa MGTSZ in the 1980s, and later its shore was parceled. The recreational area thus created is still visible in this condition, with many neat holiday homes along the waterfront, and of course fishing is also possible on the water.

Leaving the backwater behind, you reach the dam, where you cycle all the way to Gyomaendrőd. This section offers complete peace; riding on top of the embankment, you can see far across the plain without disturbance. With a bit of luck, you can spot local wildlife such as roe deer, birds of prey gliding in the sky, and waterfowl frequently appearing. Occasionally, pumps or a dam keeper's house break the monotony of the dirt road along the dam crest. When seeing the outermost houses of Gyomaendrőd, descend from the dam and continue through the streets of the small Great Plain town.

Gyoma and Endrőd

The settlement got its current name in 1982 when Gyoma and Endrőd merged. Although the two neighboring settlements were already connected, they were markedly different in many aspects. Likely similar until the Turkish era, both Gyoma and Endrőd became depopulated. After the Rákóczi War of Independence, Baron János György Harruckern acquired the area; he carefully repopulated the villages with populations of the same religion, so Gyoma became Reformed, Endrőd Catholic. Gyoma received town status in 1830 and steadily developed: community institutions (kindergarten, school) appeared, and the mills, brick factory, and Kner printing provided employment. The railway reached it in 1858.

Endrőd's economy was based on agriculture but also had a significant role for related crafts. Its population grew quickly, reaching 16,000 by the 1930s, making it one of the largest villages in the region. In the early 1900s, 11 reading circles operated in the rural area, and the settlement had a vocational apprentice school, agricultural school, and a civic school. It was among the first in the county to open a cinema and already had a gas station in the early 20th century. It's no surprise that the two 'neighboring towns' locals teased each other with nicknames: Gyoma inhabitants were called 'watch chewers,' and Endrőd's 'vacerok.'

Today, the two settlements have completely merged under the name Gyomaendrőd, where you can also enjoy the local thermal spa by the Körös. The Kner Printing Collection introduces the work of the namesake family. Among other things, they gained international fame not only through book printing but also through printing ball invitations, an interesting niche market. In Erzsébet Liget, a canopy walkway allows a closer look at the towering woody plants.

Between backwaters

Leaving the merged settlements behind, you cycle across to the far side of the Körös to continue on the dam. To the right from the embankment, you can see numerous smaller and larger backwaters, similar to the Nagyfoki backwater, some of which serve as recreational areas. If someone, upon hearing the term standing water of Szarvas, thinks about flood management, they wouldn't be far off. Before the regulation of our large rivers, locals tried to use floods to their advantage, trying to hold back water that escaped during high water levels on lower lands after the flood wave receded – backwaters, or 'fokos,' were the most suitable natural formations for this (although some dug fokos also existed). The retained water was spread over surrounding fields, pastures, or used as fish ponds. Among the fokos stands a red brick building that catches the eye from afar. Next to the dam keeper's house, a steam-powered pump station built in 1902 is still visible – from the outside. Inside, the engine room equipment with the steam engine and peripheral pump has remained in its original state; unfortunately, visiting is currently not possible (as of 2019).

Leaving the pump station, you soon leave the dam as well on the northbound road. This road passes by the Endrőd Gas Preparation and Stabilization Plant (EGSÜ), where pipelines from surrounding gas fields (Öcsöd, Túrkeve, Dévaványa, Gyomaendrőd, Mezőtúr) converge. Soon, you reach the Hortobágy-Berettyó dam, where you turn right to get on. The river, which flows into the Hármas-Körös not far from here, is essentially artificial – today it is the stretch south of the Ágota mound in Hortobágy, where previously the Berettyó flowed before regulation. It is on this interesting hydrological feature’s dam that you reach Mezőtúr.

Mezőtúr

Crossing the dual river bridge, you almost immediately arrive at the town square. In Kossuth Lajos square stands the town hall, whose tower offers a view over the city below (by prior appointment). Next to it is the fire station, inaugurated in 1929, considered by a local publication as 'one of the most beautiful fire stations in the country.' On the square’s other side is the conspicuous downtown Reformed Great Church with four Ionic columns and a tympanum at the entrance, created in 1844-45.

Leaving the square, notable sights include the former synagogue, now the City Gallery building, and nearby the Flóra fountain. The octagonal basin made of carved stone, with a statue of Flóra, the goddess of flowers, originally stood in Kossuth square as the third artesian well of the Great Plain, drilled by Béla Zsigmondy in 1890. Like in Gyomaendrőd, there is also Erzsébet Liget and a thermal spa located centrally next to the Ligeti lake. Before continuing, it’s worth noting that Mezőtúr promotes itself as a pottery center. In the mid-19th century it became one of Hungary’s largest folk earthenware production centers, a tradition still alive today with ten independent potters and ceramic workshops operating in Mezőtúr. The Túri Pottery Museum and Draskovits Ceramic Collection appropriately commemorate the past.

Sights of Szarvas

Leaving Mezőtúr along Sugár street towards Szarvas, you ride non-stop to the Körös – but most likely stop at the riverbank where a small ferry provides crossing between the two banks. After crossing to the far side, you are already in the outskirts of Szarvas, but to gain some extra kilometers and for a nearby attraction, you continue on the dam along the flow direction. After a few kilometers, you reach the Békésszentandrás weir, built between 1936-42, and was originally named after the governor’s son, István Horthy. Besides ensuring navigation, it facilitated irrigation and was also an important factor for the start of rice production in Hungary. (The Irrigation and Water Management Research Institute’s Rice Research Group still operates in Szarvas.) Next to the weir are a navigation lock and a small hydroelectric power plant built in 2013.

From Békésszentandrás, your route leads back to Szarvas—first through the settlement, then along a bike path parallel to main road 44. At the outskirts of Szarvas, turn left towards the Szarvas arboretum, and right next to it MiniHungary beckons for a last stop. The botanical garden can be toured on three circular paths lasting one, three, or even five hours – the giant sequoia is definitely not to be missed. In the neighboring MiniHungary, nearly a hundred buildings, railway, and ship models can be admired, each crafted with attention to every detail, including the Tihany abbey, Bajmóc castle, and the Dorozsma windmill.

Those who turn right from the bike path head towards the Körösvölgy Visitor Center and Animal Park. The Körös-Maros National Park exhibition primarily focuses on the natural values and wildlife of South Tisza region. In Anna-liget, surrounded by Kákafoki Körös backwater, you can take a pleasant walk among century-old trees, where besides the enclosures and pens with animals like polecat, badger, marten dog, or golden jackal, you can also see red deer, roe deer, fallow deer, wild boar, and fox. In the visitor center building, a 7,000-liter aquarium system houses the exhibited fish species.

The above alone fills a full day with activities, and just now we roll into Szarvas city over the Körös bridge above the Kákafok backwater. The area around the settlement has been inhabited since prehistoric times; the predecessor of today's town might have existed in the 12th century and was likely an important crossing point over the Körös centuries ago. Anonymus also mentions it, writing about the Székely soldiers of King Béla III’s army: “they swam the water of Kris at the Szarvas mound.” During the Turkish times, a palisade castle stood here, and the first bridge over the river was also built then. After the occupation, the settlement was depopulated until Baron Harruckern, already mentioned with Gyomaendrőd, repopulated it in 1722. His family married into the Bolzák family with Italian roots, who contributed much to the town: the first wooden bridge, the arboretum, Anna-liget, and the castle by the backwater.

Another significant figure in the town’s life is Sámuel Tessedik, a pastor, teacher, scholar, and farmer, in short, a true polymath. Besides viticulture, beekeeping, and gardening, he founded Central Europe’s first practical agricultural school, for which he wrote much of the textbooks. Amidst his many duties, he also cared about afforestation of the Great Plain and initiated the introduction of the black locust tree.

Riding along the main road, your eyes may catch old buildings long out of function. The former Bárány Inn is now a clinic, the Mitrovszky Castle stands empty, and the Árpád Leader Hotel no longer functions as a hotel. A bit further on, on the way to the railway station, you pass another type of memento, the former building of Szarvasi Iron and Metal Industry Ltd., the former home of the famed Szarvas coffee makers.