Egyházasrádóc – Őriszentpéter (DDK-02)

Itinerary :

During the route, we must follow the K marking continuously.

• After Molnaszecsőd, we cross the Rába
• We reach Döröske in the river's floodplain
• After Döbörhegy, we pass through wavy hilly terrain crossing small villages: Szarvaskend, Nagymizda, Katafa
• At Nádasd, we leave the Kemeneshát and enter the Őrség National Park area
• From Hegyhátszentmárton to Kondorfa, we advance along a long forest road
• We arrive in the world of "szerek", the typical Őrség villages
• We pass through Szalafő (detour to Pityerszer)
• Passing many szerek, we reach Őriszentpéter

Detailed description :

Egyházasrádóc – Nádasd

After Egyházasrádóc, the landscape becomes even flatter than where the 1st section ended; we continue on the Rába floodplain. After cultivated fields, we enter a forest, which after passing leads to an asphalt road—although now it is more of a patched road leading to the former barracks. At Molnaszecsőd, we just pass through, crossing the Rába at the village edge; our path continues on the Döröske paved road, first through the Rába floodplain forest, then in a straight section on the river's floodplain. The cultivated areas are only occasionally interrupted by forest patches. As pedestrians, we see mainly forest patches, but aerial photos reveal that these are oxbow lakes abandoned by the Rába.

Since Bozsok, we haven't encountered any ascent, but opposite us now lies a plateau with a church on a hilltop. After a long andante comes allegro. We reach the western edge of Kemeneshát: different villages, different landscape. A true small-village region, a ridge cut by valleys with small villages in the valley mouths. Arable fields on the flat ridge, villages in the lower valleys, so it sometimes happens that even close settlements cannot see each other.

The first village in the row is Döröske, whose small church tower with wooden shingles and whitewashed walls we have already seen from this direction. Although the Árpád-era St. James Church is not directly on the DDK trail, it is worthwhile to make a short detour of a few hundred meters. The 13th-century Romanesque church, oriented east, gained its current form after the 1992 archaeological excavation and restoration, preserving several medieval features. An interesting example is the now disused arched southern gate of the building. Previously, the road along the Rába was monitored from the church hill, now there is simply a nice view over the valley below.

On the village border, the route continues along the Öreg-hegy cellars, another local attraction: charming thatched folk cellars lead the way to Döbörhegy. The roadside crosses also reflect changes in crosses: in the Alpine foothills, statues of saints atop "Austrian" column capitals are typical; in the Vas Plain one sees crucifixes common in other parts of the country; here, crosses on bases decorated with two Corinthian columns show we are in a Catholic area.

After Döbörhegy, we go down to the valley and up the hill, alongside the ridge passing small settlements: Szarvaskend, Nagymizda, Katafa. It is important to know that Szarvaskend has a stamping place; this section of the DDK does not have stamping places in every village, given the density of small villages. From the higher arable fields or large-scale vegetable-growing plots – the horizon fades into kohlrabi – one can see far north toward Szombathely and even the more distant Kőszegi Mountains. The remnants of better times for viticulture include not only the aforementioned Döbörhegy cellars but also a few wine presses around Szarvaskend and Katafa, although nowhere as beautiful as those at Döbörhegy.

Nádasd – Őriszentpéter

Arriving at Nádasd, we leave the charming small-village but relatively poor Kemeneshát area, which Béla Hamvas in his book The Philosophy Of Wine compared to the Mediterranean. Nádasd is a slightly larger village, yet the newly built bypass of the busy road 86 contrasts strongly with the tranquility of Kemeneshát. We cross the now overgrown Körmend-Zalalövő railway line at the village edge. Continuing on a country road through fields and forest, then turning left back to the main road. The road between Halogy (stamping place!) and Nádasd is also the edge of the Őrség National Park, not to be confused with the ethnographic region Őrség itself – the latter is part of the protected area.

On clay and loess roads, passing two covered resting places, we reach Felsőmarác, the first Őrség village, a one-street Vas village. Felsőmarác, Ivánc, Hegyhátszentmárton: these three small villages are also part of the string of villages along the Rába. The river is not so gentle that building directly on its bank is feasible; settlements line the higher terrace away from the riverbed. After Ivánc, we take leave of the “wavy rail,” arriving at the broader-shaped Vasi Hills. Shortly after Hegyhátszentmárton, we turn south into a long valley covered with oak woodland and occasional pine forest. Compared to earlier small forest patches, here we have an ancient forest. We proceed along the Lugos stream valley in the pine-decorated deciduous forest to Kondorfa.

Kondorfa better reveals the typical Őrség village structure. The szerek, or smaller house groups, were built on hilltops because water collects on the clay soils of the lower terraces, easily forming marshes enhanced by frequent precipitation. Traditionally a livestock area, there are two plants whose cultivation, if not a specialty, is very typical of Őrség. One is pumpkin, from which mostly – nowadays a very fashionable product – oil is pressed; these days, almost every Őrség village has a pumpkin seed oil press. The other typical plant is the spruce grown on plantations, meaning most Christmas trees come from this region.

The earlier isolation of Őrség was enhanced by the border strip policy of the socialist era. Into the 1950s-60s, smoky kitchens still existed here, meaning the stove had no chimney, and smoke escaped through a crack above the door. The clay soil – which does not absorb much water – also caused the specific Őrség ridge ploughing: every five or six smaller furrows are followed by a larger, deeper furrow that also works as a drainage ditch.

After Kondorfa, we continue along the Lugos stream in pine forests and then on the edge of arable fields to reach Szalafő, or more precisely, first its “szer”, Papszer. The village’s name refers to the source of the Zala (locally called Szala). Szalafő is the most typical szer settlement, without a true center; it consists of several loosely connected groups of houses (szerek) built on nearby hills. The name of the ethnographic region comes from the border guards settled here at the time of the Hungarian conquest, who began building on the hilltops for practical and natural-geographical reasons. These settlements, composed of several houses, farm buildings, and yards, are called szerek, named after the families living there or some local characteristics. Two to four szerek together formed a village; the larger had seven to eight szerek. Difficult accessibility and isolation provided protection. The szerek were connected by swampy valleys and forests, offering excellent terrain for those seeking hiding places.

On the church szer, affected by the Blue Trail, we find the church, local government, accommodations, and an inn: fortunately, in the 2010s, Őrség became an increasingly popular tourist destination, and with that, the number and quality of services rose.

Although the Blue Trail does not pass it, it is worth making a detour to Szalafő-Pityerszer, where the Őrség Folk Architectural Ensemble presents the typical folk architectural uniqueness of Őrség in an authentic environment. In the open-air museum, three locally preserved farmstead buildings vividly demonstrate the traditional lifestyle and cultural heritage of their former residents. A peculiarity of the open-air museum is that it exhibits buildings standing here since the 1700s. Only here, in Őrség, can you find “enclosed houses,” where the courtyard is surrounded on three sides by buildings and protected on the fourth side by a fence. You can also walk around the locally widespread two-story kástu, a wooden food cellar roofed with thatch.

From Szalafő, we continue along the Zala river, still stream-sized here, between trees accompanying the riverbank, which is also the “Zala river study trail.” Reaching a paved road, we cross the Zala again and enter Keserűszer, which is part of Őriszentpéter, the main town of Őrség, built on nine szerek. Immediately in the Templomszer district, the Blue Trail passes a beautiful Árpád-era church, surrounded by a moat built as fortification in the Middle Ages. A sign on the road shows where to turn; one hundred meters away is the St. Peter Church, built in the early 13th century, one of Őrség’s best-known monuments. Near the church, the remains of a 15th-century brick kiln have been excavated and are freely viewable.

The national park center with a permanent natural exhibition and the Rezgőnyár study trail around the plot can be found in neighboring Siskaszeren. From the intersection near the administration, a beautiful panorama opens over Őrség, not wilderness but very charming with the szerek on the surrounding hills.

We cross the Zala valley and reach the unusual city center, incomparable with any other European settlement structure. At the roundabout, on the outer wall of Centrum restaurant, we find the Őriszentpéter stamping place, marking the end of section 2 of the Dél-Dunántúl Blue Trail.