Most of this region has been declared a
nature reserve, due to its beauty, relative intactness, and the
special flora and fauna. It is officially called the Szentgyörgyvölgy
Nature Reserve. However, not only is it rich in natural treasures,
but it is a unique region from the point of view of ethnography.
People and nature here live in a rare harmony with each other.
All the different villages in this region have the same unique
structure, called "szeres". Groups of houses, formerly inhabited
by relatives within a big family, are connected like clusters
of grapes, and these form the settlements, because traditional
villages would not fit in the landscape which is cut up by streams
and hills.
Őriszentpéter represents the centre of the region. This large village
creates a link between neighbouring villages and acts as a contact point with
the two nearby county capitals, Szombathely and Zalaegerszeg. Tourist paths start
off from here in all directions. The Roman catholic church, originating from
the 18th century, is one of the most beautifully located and famous Romanesque
village buildings in Hungary. An exhibition of local history is on display in Őriszentpéter.
Only six kilometres northwest of Őriszentpéter lies Szalafő,
which is the most archaic village in the Őrség region. It consists
of eight distinct clusters of buildings, the most attractive of which is called
Pityer-szer. Houses in the centre of the village have been fully renovated and,
forming a coherent unit, they are open to visitors as museums: a surrounded house
(residential and farm buildings form a square that surrounds the yard), a two-level
kastu (a building used as cart shed and pantry), a residential building with
reeded, thatched roof, and naturally, the barn.
Velemér boasts with a Gothic style, single-aisled church with a tower
in the front façade, which represents one of the most beautiful examples
of religious buildings originating from the second half of the 18th century.
The interior of the church was decorated by János Aquila of Radkersburg
with finely shaped figures painted in 1378. The self-portrait of the artist in
the church is one of the oldest of its kind.
Magyarszombatfa is a village famous of its folk pottery. Visitors to Fazekas-ház,
a small museum set up in the former home of a potter may peek into the life and
work of craftsmen in the old days.
Pankasz is home to a wooden belfry built around 1730 in the shape of a tent,
being wide at the bottom, called a belfry in skirt. This is one of the oldest
and most beautiful pieces of folk architecture in Western Hungary.
Similarly to other areas of the Alps, the Őrség has many small lakes
hiding between the hills. One of these is Lake Vadása, which has been
formed after the Vadása spring had been dammed up. Hegyhátszentjakab
is a small village next to the lake, and it is very different from others in
the region, because the majority of inhabitants are bricklayers who have built
and improved the houses for themselves. Another lake located among these hills
is called Borostyán (Ivy), with the picturesque village Zalalövő at
its shore.
A beautiful forest road leads from Felsőszölnök to the top of
a neighbouring hill, where we might stop for a pleasant picnic at the borders
of three countries: Hungary, Austria and Slovenia.
