Győr-Moson-Sopron county

This County lies at the junction of the Little Hungarian Plain (Kisalföld), the Sopron Hills (Soproni-hegység), and Alpokalja and Bakony and the Sokoró Hills (Sokorói-dombság). Its territory evolved from joining parts of the historic counties of Győr, Sopron, Moson, and Pozsony. Thereafter some municipalities in Veszprém County also joined (in several stages between 1920 and 2002).

This County, being adjacent to Austria and Slovakia, constitutes the north-western entrance to Hungary: Roads, railways, and waterways of European significance cross its territory.

Its memorable monuments include the downtown of Győr, Sopron and Mosonmagyaróvár, the Esterházy Mansion in Fertőd, the Széchenyi Mansion in Nagycenk, and the churches and mansions of its towns and villages. The Millenary Benedictine Archabbey of Pannonhalma and the Fertő/Neusiedlersee Cultural Landscape were listed by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites. Two national parks, many landscape protection areas and nature parks, and several nature reserves can also be found in the County.

 

SacraVelo – cross-border bicycle pilgrim routes in the Danube region

The purpose of the SacraVelo project managed by the Győr-Moson-Sopron County Government and completed with support of the European Union is to jointly introduce people to the sacred values of the counties of the Hungarian-Slovakian border region that are located along the Danube, so that people could spend their time actively and cycle tourism may thrive.

The network of the SacraVelo bicycle pilgrim routes follows the popular and beloved tourist destinations and the EuroVelo international bicycle route network.

The SacraVelo project package encompassing Győr-Moson-Sopron, Komárom-Esztergom, Nagyszombat, and Pozsony counties indicates a network of routes along the sacred values that is safe to cover by bicycle. There are also cycling centres in Bacsfa (Csallóköz) and Szil (Rábaköz), constituting two locations of the network that are offered and signed with plates.

The network of SacraVelo bicycle pilgrim routes assigned to Győr-Moson-Sopron County is 648 kilometres long and comprises 110 municipalities, along which 82 smaller resting-places were founded. The network in the County offers 209 sacred sights, and people are guided by 139 signboards providing maps and information in four languages. The sacred destinations are presented using both traditional and modern equipment and methods (i.e. website and mobile application), which provide cycling pilgrims and tourists with useful additional information apart from information related to finding the interesting locations and showing the sights in detail.

Category: Rábaszentmiklós

Saint Nicholas Church

Category: Rábaszentmiklós

The most notable sight of the village on the side of the River Marcal is the Arpad-era church which has certainly stood there before the Mongol invasion. The small round church built in the 11th-12th century was later extended by three horseshoe arches. The village was donated to Gregory of the Osl clan by a deed of King László IV. dated in 1287. In the 18th century a tower was added to the house of worship having a clover-shaped layout. The church was once surrounded by a cemetery and a stone wall. The village was threatened several times by the flood of the River Marcal and the River Rába – in addition to the Mongol and Turkish destruction. Therefore, the church’s altarpiece depicts Saint Nicholas, the helper of people threatened by floods, and he also became the “eponym” of the village as well.

Category: Rábaszentmiklós

Picture Column

Category: Rábaszentmiklós

In the mournful year of 1594 the Turks destroyed most of the villages of the Little Hungarian Plain, slaughtered, persecuted or kidnapped their residents, and invaded the Castle of Győr. So-called crosses of Győr were erected throughout Europe in honour and memory of the victory of the Christian armies, and of the 1598 recapture of Győr which had a key role in the protection of Vienna. One of these is the Picture Column in Rábaszentmiklós. The square-shaped, slate-covered “three-story” tower decorated by a cross was renovated in the beginning of the 1990s. Then, new paintings of Zoltán Závory were placed in the top compartments of the picture column: pictures depicting the Trinity, Our Lady Victorious, and the Archangels Saint Michael and Saint Raphael.

Category: Rajka

Saint Martin’s Church

Category: Rajka

The limes protecting the Roman Empire run along the Danube in Roman times. One of its watchtowers (in Rajka) was transformed to a chapel in the beginning of the 14th century. The stubby tower and nave-like windows with foil arches are fine examples of the Roman and Gothic style. The Baroque nave of the church was added to this tower chapel after the Ottoman times. A statue of Saint Martin can be seen in one of the compartments of the front façade. Rich and noble German families were once buried in the crypt underneath the church, but two old tombstones can also be seen inserted in the external wall. The medieval statue depicting “Christ with a Toothache” was found nearby and was placed in the compartment above the side entrance. The 18th century calvary and a world war memorial adorned with an angel statue stand in the churchyard. The inside of the church is rich in statues and murals. Next to the Saint Martin painting of the main altar are statues of Saint Florian and Saint Catherine with a chained dragon. A bilingual tablet reminds us that Polish soldiers found solace and prayed for their home in this church in 1939. Another marble tablet lists the ancestors of Franz Liszt in Rajka and quotes the composer’s saying: “There is one doctor: Christ – and one medicine: eternity”.

Category: Rajka

Lutheran Church

Category: Rajka

Rajka already had a Lutheran church in the 17th century which was destroyed during the Turkish invasion of Vienna. At the time of the Counter-Reformation the Lutherans were not allowed to build churches therefore the congregation of Rajka was left without a church. With the weakening of religious persecution the designated articular settlements could build churches but only in remote locations, without towers, and the entrance could not open on the street. The church was built in Baroque style in 1784 after the patent on freedom of worship issued by Joseph II, which is also confirmed by the tablet with Gothic script on the façade. The altar, the pulpit and the baptismal font are end-of-the-18th century pieces in Louis XVI style. In the middle of the 19th century an inner gallery was added to the church, the supporting fixtures, banisters of which are a rarity. The somewhat extraneous tower attached to the church was built in 1923.

Category: Ravazd

The Fountain of King Béla

Category: Ravazd

The retreating ancient Pannonian Sea created a tarn above the deep impermeable layers of rock in this area, of which several springs emerge around the village. One of the most famous of these is the Fountain of King Béla which is also the sacral symbol and emblem of Ravazd.The locals, the neighbours and passing travellers can draw from the cool water of the ancient spring celebrating the history of the thousand-year-old Hungarian village. The spring can be found at the Southern end of the village and comes from the 18th-century Baroque drinking fountain standing under the shady boughs of trees in the territory near route 82.According to medieval chronicles the army of Árpád the Conqueror, then the refugee King Béla IV during the Mongol invasion also took a rest at the spring which was given the name “The Fountain of King Béla” in memory of this. The water of the spring is also used today for the local bottled water named “Vis Vitalis”.

Category: Ravazd

Saint Martin’s Church

Category: Ravazd

The church of three naves was already there in 1802. The painted altarpiece of Joseph Schmidt made in 1799 depicts Saint Martin as he shares his robe with a beggar. The two sides of the sanctuary’s mural depict the kneeling King St. Stephen and Prince St. Emeric. An accented element of the altar is an ark of the covenant with two angel statues and the tabernacle under a canopy. The relief depicting Abraham in process of sacrificing his son is seen on its door. The walls of the side aisles are decorated by two former altarpieces: the Immaculate Virgin on the left (the 1856 artwork of Frigyes Kriehuber), and Saint Villebald on the right (the 1841 artwork of Joseph Schöfft). Under the latter is a copy of the statue of Virgin Mary of Csíksomlyó. The four Lutherans of the statues of the dismantled pulpit were placed on the wall of the church. The ceiling piece of the nave is a unique artwork. The painting depicts Mary’s assumption into heaven in such a way that the sleeping Virgin Mother is raised to heaven by an army of angels while close observers could notice behind the mother’s lying and fainted body the loving face of Jesus watching over the event. The paintings of the stations of the cross were made by Károly Borbély in 2004.

Category: Röjtökmuzsaj

Church of the Nativity of Mary

Category: Röjtökmuzsaj

The old church devastated by the Turks was rebuilt in 1760, then it was demolished in 1879.The current house of worship was built based on the plans of Ferdinand Handler in Neogothic-Romantic style. The Mary statue standing under the canopy above the tabernacle of the alter has a legendary story: the parishioners of Vimpác in Sopron County built the church in 1496. The peasants working on the bank of the River Lajta found a beautiful Virgin Mary statue which they placed on the altar of the new church. The statue was taken by one of the commanders of the Turkish army retreating from Vienna in 1529. The pasha became seriously ill, he almost died when one of the Hungarian prisoners advised him to return the statue and he would recover. The statue was returned and the pasha recovered. Amazing recoveries also happened in Vimpác. A Minorite Cloister was also built in the shrine in 1587. When Emperor Joseph II dissolved the religious orders, Minorites were also forced to leave Vimpác, thus, the Mary statue was taken to Röjtök.

Category: Sarród

Saint Stephen Martyr Church

Category: Sarród

Today’s form of the church built in 1752 was developed as a result of the extension and building of a tower in 1846. An atrium was built in front of the façade, the tower is covered by a stone roof. The organ standing on Tuscan columns was made in 1782 in the workshop of Fülöp König in Sopron. The altarpiece depicting the stoning of the martyr Saint Stephen was painted in 1911 by Károly Dodek who lived in Újbánya, Bars County. In the Queen of the Holy Rosary painting hanging on the side of the sanctuary Saint Dominic and Saint Mary of Árpád House kneel before Mary and the child Jesus. The two golden reliefs of the balustrade of the Baroque pulpit depict Saint Francis with his birds and the sower sowing Jesus. The parishioners deeply cherish the painting depicting Saint Rosalia of Palermo with a wreath of roses. The oldest of the sacral relics on the public square is the votive statue erected in 1717 – depicting Mary and the three helping saints (Sebastian, Roch and Rosalia) – which was erected giving thanks to the end of one of the plague epidemics. The 18th-century Pieta is a copy of the Mary statue of Sasvár in Upper Hungary which depicts Mary sitting at the foot of the cross and the dead Jesus lying in her lap wearing a crown. The Élő couple had a Mary statue erected in 1882 next to which they placed the statues of their patron saints (Anne and Joseph).

Category: Sarród

Saint Francis of Assisi Chapel

Category: Sarród

The building of the chapel was the idea of the local youth after they returned home from the Catholic World Youth Day in Cologne in 2005. The chapel was built with the partnership and support of several people by the selfless work of the locals. The chapel decorated by the artworks made in the “József Ferenczi” art camp in Sarród was sanctified in October 2007. The chapel built to pay tribute to Saint Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals and natural environment is part of the Mary Pilgrimage.The village’s second chapel was built in 2018 along the Mary Pilgrimage, which was named after Saint George, the patron of farmers.

Category: Sarród

Queen of the World Church (Fertőújlak)

Category: Sarród

The former Mekszikópuszta was one of the farms of the Esterházy estate. Its school had one classroom where the lower primary school students studied in the morning and upper primary school students studied in the afternoon. The classroom also had an altar which was covered by screen on weekdays and the chalkboard was hung on it. Following the nationalisation in 1948, the altar had to be removed from the school. The parishioners chose the old empty barn of the estate, fabricated benches and erected the altar there. The previous granary having a surface area of 200 square metres was sanctified in 1950 after its transformation in tribute to the Queen of the World. The statue above the altar depicts Mary holding the child Jesus in her arms as a queen (with a crown on her head and the sceptre of rulers in her hand). The place of worship which received wood panelling on the inside by the work of the residents of the dead end village, which is attached to Sarród, and has been named Fertőújlak since 1976 , received its current form as a result of its renovation in 2009.

Category: Mosonmagyaróvár

Mosonmagyaróvár, Piarist Chapel

Category: Mosonmagyaróvár

Education began in 1739 in the first secondary school of Moson county. Until the nationalisation of the school (1948) piarist fathers taught the youth in the town and the region. After four decades of compulsory break, since 1994 education has been managed by the piarists again. The chapel was dedicated to Saint Joseph of Calasanz, the founder of the monastery. The painting refers to the motto of the piarists: "the service of the teachers for children is an angellic role".

Category: Csorna

Csorna, Holocaust monument

Category: Csorna

Since 2005 there is a monument in Szent István Square in the honour of those deported from Csorna to the death camps in 1944. The marble boards displays the name of 655 Jewish victim from Csorna.The monument was designed by Krisztián Udvardi which is marked with a dome on the top and its floor plan shapes the Star of David.

Category: Mosonmagyaróvár

Mosonmagyaróvár, Shalom Park

Category: Mosonmagyaróvár

  On the 70th anniversary of the Holocaust, in 2015 a Holocaust monument was presented in Mosonmagyaróvár. The artwork of Ferenc Lebó, sculptor stands in Shalom Park which was established next to the Jewish cemetery.  

Category: Sopron

Sopron, Old Synagogue

Category: Sopron

The former synagogue is in the yard of two late medieval buildings in the downtown. The first written records about the Jewish in Sopron are from the 13th century. The early Gothic synagogue, which was built around 1300 and was unique in Central Europe, could not – in accordance with the then specifications – be erected on the street line therefore there is yard at its front. The building remained only in pieces but its former layout could be reconstructed. There is an exhibition in the building. "Forgotten people from Sopron".

Category: Sopron

Sopron, Orthodox synagogue and Holocaust monument

Category: Sopron

The Orthodox synagogue on the south of Paprét was erected upon the designs of János Schiller in 1890-1891 in an archaic style. The following buildings were part of the synagogue: the ritual bath built in 1911, the matzo house and the yeshiva established in 1917. These buildings can still be found opposite the park. In the park the Holocaust statue was made by László Kutas in 2004. The composition in the memory of 1800 victims deported from Sopron to Auschwitz in 1944 symbolises the changing room in front of the gas chambers. The letters of text as rising smoke refers to the prayer "Hear, Israel" and the Hebrew characters on the fence refers to the text "May the memory of the righteous be blessed'".

Category: Sopron

Sopron, Saint Wolfgang castle church and national memorial site (Balf)

Category: Sopron

The church, erected in the 12th-14th century, stands in the cemetery which is bounded by stone wall with loopholes and where a steep road leads to. The tower of the church is accessible across a vaulted "castle gate" served as a watchtower before, and from its Gothic windows the whole landscape of Fertő can be viewed. The fields between the medieval stone ridges of the temple and the triumphal arch is decorated by wall paintings made in the 20th century. The painting behind the altar depicts Bishop Wolfgang of Regensburg who lived in the 10th century, who did missionary work also in Hungary and who was the tutor of Blessed Gisela, the Queen of Hungary.

Category: Sopron

Sopron, Saint Wolfgang castle church and national memorial site (Balf)

Category: Sopron

A pathetic sculpture outside the cemetery wall commemorates several hundreds of Jewish victims who died in the compulsory labour camp in the winter of 1944-1945, among inhuman conditions. The artwork of László Kutas, sculptor and Barna Winkler, architect made in 2008 is a national literary and historic memorial site. There is an open book built in the fence wall with a message carved in the stone: "freedom is not only the matter of a nation but of the whole mankind." The author of this quote is Antal Szerb, Catholic writer who was compromised and killed because of his Jewish origin in the camp of Balf.

Category: Lébény

Evangelical Church

Category: Lébény

The church was built in 1795. According to the regulations applicable to the protestant church at that time, the entrance to the building could only be accessed through a closed courtyard. Its Baroque furnishings were purchased from the Capuchin Monastery of Magyaróvár, which was closed down in 1782. The altar and gallery, which had been integrated with the pulpit, were replaced at that time – these were originally shorter than what can be seen today. The church was renovated on the 100th anniversary of its consecration (1987-88).The old barrel-mitred tower was demolished, and a new tower with a Baroque steeple was erected. The church's interior was also renovated, a new baptismal font and chandelier were made, a new crucifix was placed on the altar, and the church organ was also renovated. A marble slab was placed above the entrance at this time, with a quote from the Book of Psalms and the date of reconstruction.

Category: Lébény

St James Visitor Centre

Category: Lébény

The visitor centre was built on part of the foundations of the medieval Benedictine abbey. The Benedictines left Lébény in 1529. In 1638, the abbey became the property of the Jesuit monks, who housed convalescent and old men in the restored medieval monastery. The rest of the building was converted into a rectory in 1838.The new rectory building was built in Romanesque style in 2002-2003, based on the designs of Péter Maráz, on the site of the medieval monastery's farmyard. Its construction was preceded by archaeological research, during which valuable medieval relics were discovered.The findings can be viewed at the Mosonmagyaróvár Museum. The building is decorated with the work (the Good Shepherd, the Virgin Mary with child) of János Reicher, a blacksmith from Gúta (now Kolárovo, Slovakia).The centre welcomes pilgrims and tourists to see the relics of St James, the first martyred apostle.

Category: Lébény

Church of St James

Category: Lébény

Benedictine monks settled in Lébény during the Árpád Era. The abbey is already mentioned in a document dated 1199. The church, which lies at the highest point of the village, was probably built in 1212. Its patron saint is St James the Apostle. The building with its Romanesque features, is 30-33 metres' high and consists of a compact nave and two side-aisles. The nave is 16 metres in height. You can enter from the west through a Romanesque columned portal, where you can admire the rich leaf decorations and the two head sculptures, which legend has it, are modelled on the faces of the commissioning abbot and the master builder. The a secco above the entrance depicts the worship of the Three Kings. The south facade is decorated with a more modest portal than the west entrance.The church is basically preserved in its original form and the barrel vaulting of the nave probably dates from the 17th century. The pulpit, the altars and the stained-glass windows were added during the 19th century renovation. There is a statue of St James on the high altar, with a miniature of the church at its foot.The height above sea level of the first step of Lébény church's main entrance is the same as the tower of the Győr town hall.