To Bőszénfa over the waves of Zselic

Itinerary

• We start from the bus stop heading northeast on the Z trail.
• At the bend of the road, we turn right on the Z◼ trail.
• Following the Z● trail, we cross the Surján Creek bridge, then continue following it in the forest.
• After reaching the dirt road, we turn left onto the Z+ trail.
• At Sipos Hill, we keep right on the K trail.
• Passing alongside the fence of the riding hall, we turn left onto the Z trail, which leads to Bőszénfa.
• In Bőszénfa, we walk along the unmarked Szigetvári Street.
• On the P trail, turning left on road 67, we find the bus stop.

About the tour in detail

Departure from Kaposgyarmat

The beautifully situated village was first mentioned as Yormoth in a charter in 1296, and after a few peaceful centuries, only 3 peasant families remained in the area after the Turkish invasion. Its population began to grow only in the 18th century. A historical curiosity is that the first school was established in 1920 in the tavern building, which had one classroom and a teacher’s accommodation with a room and kitchen.

From the bus stop, we head northeast on the Z trail along the avenue, then at the bend in the road, we turn right onto the Z◼ trail. Soon a sign announces the tufa gorge, the area's main geological attraction. Following the Z● trail, we cross the Surján Creek bridge, named for its bushy banks. After the meadow, entering the forest, we start a gentle ascent. The humid microclimate is shown by the forest shield fern clumps mixed with hornbeam in the beech grass layer. We cross a branch of the creek, then at the end of the steep section, benches offer rest opportunities. Here we find the tufa gorge as well.

The Kaposgyarmat Tufa Gorge

One intermittent tributary of the Surján Creek cut through the Quaternary sporadic upraise of the Zselic region through the up to several tens of meters thick loess and other sediments covering the area, and underneath it reached the sediment of the late Miocene Pannon Lake shoreline zone (which forms the main mass of Zselic). With these more cemented layers of Pannon sandstone, water had less power, thus forming the small gorge and its tiny waterfall where the creek disappears underground. The small stalactite-like deposits form by slightly acidic precipitation percolating downward dissolving the carbonate minerals in the rock, and the transported lime precipitates on the surfaces and cracks of the strata. In the small gorge, cool and humid climate indicators like the club-moss fern and liverworts grow, which in their biological activity remove carbon dioxide from water, aiding calcite precipitation. However, this process is still slow, so these freshwater tufa formations need to be carefully protected. Besides the waterfall, another characteristic formation in the gorge is the dark-hued travertine rock named Buffalo Head.

Through Konkolyos and Faizó

Following our trail, we proceed on a roughly level section, then reach the dirt road where we turn left onto the Z+ trail. From Sipos Hill, we turn right on the K trail and swell through the beech forests of Balla Hill to the Konkolyos dirt road. The corn cockle was once a common weed species in sowings. Its small black seeds were hard to remove from the grain, and consumption caused severe poisoning. Nowadays, it has become rare due to herbicide use and is protected. Its scientific name (Agrostemma githago) is of Greek origin meaning "field crown," referring to the plant's usage. Its pink flowers are highly decorative. Its native area was likely the Eastern Mediterranean, but it has been widespread throughout Europe since antiquity and later reached North America and Australia in early modern times. The Bible mentions it several times, including in Matthew’s Gospel chapter 13: "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the cockle is the children of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed the cockle is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; the harvesters are angels. Just as the cockle is gathered and burned, so it will be at the end of the world." The species is also known from culture revolution examples: its germination inhibiting effect allows wheat planted with cockle to grow taller. Its developmental rhythm is adjusted to cereals; it can germinate only on bare (cultivated) soil and grows together with wheat, which ripens at the same time. Evolution can also be seen in its capsule that opens with 4–5 teeth; these may open slightly, keeping seeds closed until threshing, so offspring are sown again with next year’s seed.

Standing out among trees with freely growing root systems, heading south after the Simonfai-puszta buildings, we turn left onto the asphalt road at the area named Faizó. Faizó was a former feudal grant where peasants were given wood from the landlord’s forest. Mainly fallen and dry wood was given as firewood; if insufficient, live timber could be taken. The landlord only provided construction wood for roofs, windows, and doors repairs, and tool wood for wagons, ploughs, and implements repairs. Cutting wood beyond the specified quantity or outside the allowed period was severely punished. Peasants had to cut wood for the landlord and transport it to the designated place. The cutting was mostly done by hired laborers, while transportation was done by peasants.

Towards Bőszénfa

We leave the asphalt road at a somewhat hard to notice mark before the next bend, descending on a wide dirt road bordered by Turkey oak and acacia forests to the alder grove by the Gálosfa Creek. We reach a large clearing in the forest, where turning right we cross the creek. (Going straight, we would soon reach the Vörösalma hunting lodge.) On the far side, we start a steep ascent to eventually reach Bőszénfa in the valley between Öröm and Rózsa hills.

The village has been inhabited since prehistoric times and was among the villages donated by King Saint Stephen to the Abbey of Szentmárton, now known as Pannonhalma Benedictine Archabbey. Until the Mongol invasion, it was mostly inhabited by abbey stewards. Its name was first mentioned as Bozais in the 1237–1240 census by Albeus, a canon of Esztergom, later owned by the Derssfy, Imreffy, and Festetics families. Hungarians lived here until the Turkish invasion, then the depopulated area was acquired in 1703 by the latter family, who built the castle. The estate included Szenttamás and Kisbőszénfa hamlets and Rókamalom manor, the former a significant village in the Middle Ages. In the 1770s, Lajos Festetics, the county's first deputy lord lieutenant, resettled Hungarian peasants and brought in Swabian settlers. The current form and name of Bőszénfa formed in the 19th century, when most of the 800–900 inhabitants were German-speaking. Their livelihood was mainly connected to forestry and tar distillation, supplemented by animal husbandry and farming. After World War II, 70 Swabian families were relocated, replaced by 20 Hungarian families from Felvidék. A steam brick factory and steam mill operated in the village in the 1930s.

Saint Notburga Church and Bőszénfa

Turning left onto Dózsa György street, we immediately see the soaring spire of the Saint Notburga Church. The first church on the site was built in 1777, but its condition quickly deteriorated, so under the patronage of Pál Festetics, the church seen today was consecrated on September 13, 1902, on Saint Notburga's day. Its most recent renovation was in 2021. In the village center, the single-nave Roman Catholic church has in front a crucifix erected in 2000, sharing the square with monuments commemorating the heroes of the 1956 revolution and freedom fight, as well as World Wars I and II, and a Holy Trinity statue. Opposite the church in the park is the millennium memorial wall from 2000.

From the church, we continue along the Main Street, passing several architecturally protected houses and the football pitch, then after 800 m, the Generations Park and the decorative pond with artificial birds and piers connected by a 1200 m cobblestone promenade appear on our left. A pergola for rest stands on an artificial island accessible by footbridge. The park attracts those wanting to rest with barbeque pits and benches. From here, the bus stop marking the end of our tour is near, reached by continuing straight at the Main Street intersection onto Szigetvári Street, then turning left on main road 67 on the P trail.