From Velem to Írott-kő

Itinerary

• We start westward from the bus stop on the P trail to Írott-kő.
• On the P▲ trail, we make a short detour to Asztal-kő.
• From the lookout, we begin the descent on the K trail running along the ridge.
• From the Hörmann Spring, we follow the K+ trail, which takes us back to the starting point.

Details about the route

Upwards through Hosszú Valley

We start westwards from the Velem bus turnaround through Hosszú Valley on the Kubát Hugó memorial trail marked P leading up to the peak of Írott-kő. The section is named after the president of the Vas County Nature Lovers Association and the leader of the Electric Nature Walkers Division, who did much for the reorganization of the nature lover movement in Vas county. During the Iron Curtain era, he organized the construction of a new trail network in the accessible areas. From Sümeg to Szent Vid, with his helpers, he renewed and marked the route of the National Blue Trail.

Shortly after the houses, we reach the waterworks responsible for the village's water supply and the nearby barrier. Tall spruce trees on the left and mixed beech forest on the right provide shade. Hosszú Valley is also called the valley of asthmatics due to its location and the gently flowing Szerdahelyi Creek on the valley floor, providing a pleasantly cool, humid microclimate even in summer. Shortly after the barrier, we reach the Péterics Spring on the other side of the creek, which has moderate water flow but sadly offers little experience in its present form due to fallen trees.

We follow the creek for just over 1 km, then slightly move away from it at a big left turn; here springs the Hosszú Valley Spring. Shortly after, we stop at a board introducing the forest reserve.

The forest reserve is an area consisting of a strictly protected core and a surrounding protection zone under conservation. No human activity is allowed in the core to ensure the undisturbed natural processes of the forest, which are studied by many scientific researches. They typically feature diverse forest structure, rich and special wildlife, and natural forest dynamics. The forest reserve network in Hungary started in the 1990s and now comprises 63 such areas. Most of the Velem, Hosszú Valley Forest Reserve core area consists of 120-year-old beech forest and pine forest.

From the board, leaving the wide road, we continue straight on a narrow, steep path, quickly ascending over the creek flowing on the right, and then climb a narrow ridge with a steep S-curve. After a striking rock outcrop and a border stone erected in 1925 — before returning to the widening forestry road — we turn right.

From Asztal-kő to Írott-kő

Soon we reach a wide, gravelly forestry road, where turning left after 50 m, we reach the junction of the P▲ trail leading to Asztal-kő. After the large quartz phyllite block rises to the surface, the layers richer in lime eroded faster under the effects of erosion and deflation than those poor in lime, forming the characteristic rock shape.

Returning to the wide road, after 0.5 km, we turn back onto a small ridge with a right hairpin turn. Through a logged area, a beech forest, and finally a spruce forest, we reach the resting place at the base of the Írott-kő peak.

At the top of Transdanubia

Transdanubia's highest point was called Fenyő Hill in the 13th century and Szálkő from the 17th century. Its current name comes from the quartzitic phyllite rock about 40 m from the lookout on the Austrian side of the hilltop, which once bore clearly readable “C”, “B”, and “E” marks. This probably abbreviates Confinia Battyányiana Esterházyana, meaning Battyány-Esterházy border in Hungarian, but the letter sequence also alludes to Comes Battyány Elemér.

In 1891, locals built a lookout tower on the hilltop from wood, named Árpád on the millennium, which had to be dismantled in 1908 due to poor condition. In its place, in 1913, the already stone-built tower was erected, which after World War II, from 1945 until the border closure, could only be accessed from the Austrian side. Another interesting fact is that the state border passes right through the center, marked by a border stone set up inside the lookout.

From the building renovated in 2010, on clear days, you can see as far as Lake Balaton, which sparkles between the Bakony Mountains to the south and the testimonial hills of the Tapolca Basin. Still farther south, the Keszthely Hills and Rendeki Hill, then the Zala Hills can be seen. To the southwest, if the weather is very clear, the peaks of the Kamnik Alps are visible, but among its environment the first eastern Alpine peaks above 2,000 m, Schneeberg and Rax, stand out. The lower, yet striking cliff faces of Hohe Wand are also visible from the lookout. To the north, Vienna and the Lajta Mountains with wind turbines behind Lake Fertő come into view.

Descent to Szent Vid

From the lookout, we begin the descent along the ridge on the K trail. On the left side of the path, from the resting place, birch trees indicate the lime-rich soil, to the right are spruce, then sycamore, and red fir lining our route; then, at a clear-cut area, the view opens towards Szombathely. Afterwards, we enter beech forest, then turn down in a dense spruce forest to the Hörmann Spring on the other side of the asphalt road, which is the highest water source of the Kőszeg Mountains at 713 m.

Originally called Csarmas Well, it was renamed Hörmann Spring in the 18th century after the tragic fate of the castle captain, Mihály Hörmann. Several stories circulate about him. One says Jurisics Miklós sent him on a secret reconnaissance mission, during which the Turks captured and flayed him alive at this spring. Another theory is that Hörmann invented this execution method for those collaborating with the Turks. Once he was bribed by the enemy and was punished by the torture he devised himself. A third version claims he tried to let the besieging Turks into the castle, leading to his flaying here. A fourth supposition says that in 1620 the imperial troops attacked the Kőszeg castle with overwhelming forces; in the hopeless situation, a warrior named Mihály Hörmann ignited the remaining gunpowder to prevent its capture. Hörmann escaped but was finally caught by the enemy at Csarmas Well and flayed alive on May 27, 1621. The castle walls preserve a dagger and knife in the same sheath, with which the sentence was carried out.

According to historical documents, Hörmann managed the Kőszeg castle, which belonged as a pledge estate to Margit Széchenyiné Forgách, in the early 1600s. When his lady supported Gábor Bethlen in 1621, Hörmann let his army into the castle. The captain was later sentenced in Vienna in a regular court-martial proceeding. His memory is also honored by the Hörmann Stone erected in 1971 in the Kőszeg Castle Square.

At this popular place, the Írottkő Department of the Hungarian Carpathian Association inaugurated a 15-bed tourist lodge in 1937, later used by the border guard from 1945, then demolished in 1965. The Sunshine Retreat also operated here between the world wars. To the right of the spring, at the far end of the parking area, we can rest at tables.

From here, we continue descending in dense, dark spruce forest on the K+ trail. After crossing the asphalt road, it is only a few hundred meters to the calvary and the National Blue Trail monument. Here was the western endpoint of the National Blue Trail during the Iron Curtain era. Behind the chapel, a small detour leads from the nature trail signpost to a fenced, currently about 15 m deep clogged pit, created by a 1952 horizontal mine adit at about 30 m depth. Opinions differ about its origin: some think it is a mine shaft, others consider it a cistern.

The history of the mountain peak and its surroundings dates back to the Neolithic, but more detailed knowledge is only from the Bronze Age. At this time, residential terraces below the peak were established. The mountain was likely an important leadership center, confirmed by a gold diadem found here and the excavated bronze casting workshops from the 13th–9th centuries BC. A local specialty was the use of a significant amount of antimony in bronze (unique worldwide at that time!). The highly quality products reached North and West Europe. Later, Celts settled the area. At the mountain’s base, an amber road and a guard tower controlling the water system supplying Savaria stood here. It was also mentioned as a fortified place during the Carolingian period. In the Árpád era, it was likely both a secular and ecclesiastical center, whose castle was first mentioned in 1270 in a charter when it passed from Henrik Kőszegi to Bohemian King Ottokar II. The fortress probably was destroyed by the late 13th century, but precise data are missing. The St. Vid chapel was possibly built on one corner bastion in the 18th century. A 1757 survey shows a St. Cross church adjoining the chapel, so besides the June 15 St. Vitus Day, pilgrimages were held on September 14, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. It was significantly rebuilt at the end of the 19th century, gaining its current form then.

Back to Velem

After admiring the white walls of St. Vid chapel and the view from it extending from Bakony through Keszthely Hills to the Zala Hills, we descend down a natural stone staircase. In the second chamber of the slate outcrop towering on the right stands a statue of the Virgin Mary. Below the stairs, we turn left, accompanied by the signs of the Mountains of Cultures nature trail. Soon, we reach a deep road, crossing which we find the forestry road running near Velem border. After 100 m on it, we turn right back into the forest and continue on Nuschy (József) Promenade named after the town’s chief clerk from the 1930s–40s. After a dilapidated bridge, we can detour left to a romantic bench on a little hill of the stream valley. According to oral tradition, many loves were born in this idyllic spot. Shortly after, we reach the resting place around Vasa Well. The formerly higher yield spring got its name from the rusty sediments precipitated from its water; it’s also called Vasas or Vas Well. Its water is not drinkable! Crossing the small wooden bridge after the spring, we continue on Petőfi Street back to the bus stop.