SOUTHERN © LonelyPlanetPublications szárd andVillány withouttastingthelocal vintages wouldbecriminal. advantageofcurative youcantake Szigetvár, thermal waters atHarkány,andvisitingSzek- monuments have survived. ashovelshake athave beenuncovered nearthecity’sbasilica,andanumberofTurkish and historyisvery muchalive here. More RomanandearlyChristiantombsthanyoucan and theatres aboundinaplacethathasbeennamedEuropean Capital ofCulture in2010, arrives early,summerislong,winter mild. of Szekszárd andVillány-Siklós. The pleasant,almostMediterranean climate helps:spring fruit orchardsoftheZselicregion andthealmondsofPécstowines southofKaposvár settled withsmallvillages,andagriculture remains themainstayformostpeople–from in centuries. decorated withfloralpatternslong colonnadedporticoes andplasterwork, haven’t changed stepping backintime. The whitewashed farmhousesyou’llpass,withthatchedroofs and pace. It’sonlymarginally touchedbytourism,andtouringthroughthecountrysideislike (Dél-Dunántúl)isaregion ofcalm,aplacetosavourlife ataslower Transdanubia Southern 280 Many othertownshere visitingaswell.Imposingcastlesdominate are Siklósand worth Southern Transdanubiahasalottooffer travellers. museums TopofthepopsisPécs. Art This region industriallyasWestern hasnever Transdanubia. beenasimportant Itisthickly

„ „ „ „ „ HIGHLIGHTS

ExploringoneofHungary’sbest Taking the waters atthethermalbaths Riding the Samplingbig, boldreds inthecellars Viewing thewondersonexhibitat ( p308 ), southwestofKaposvár in thedelightfullyrural villageof (open-air museums offolkarchitecture) p298) in of Museumin Csontváry Zsolnay PorcelainMuseum region through theGemencForest intheSárköz Harkány Villány and narrow-gauge train ( p292 ), especiallyinwinter Villánykövesd Pécs

28 and (p298 and the ( p293) ( p285) skanzens

Harkány Szenna Pécs Villánykövesd Villány & Gemenc Forest

SOUTHERN TRANSDANUBIA

n i a l

P

t

a

e r 281 G BÁCS- KISKUN COUNTY 51 Kalocsa SERBIA Baja

River Sombor M9 51

Danube Kesely¬s M6 55 Forest 6 Gemenc Tolna Öcsény E73 Paks Bárányfok Decs Pörböly Dunaújváros Dunaföldvár Duna-Dráva Sárköz Region 56 National Park Mohács Sárbogárd Udvar 63 ver E73 Ri Hills Bátaszék Sió Szekszárd Szekszárd 6 Villány 65 TOLNA 61 00 50 km 30 miles FEJÉR Pécsvárad COUNTY (68km) COUNTY Villánykövesd Bonyhád Nagyharsány To

Palkonya ls

l

s

57 Simontornya l l l Hi Zengª (682m) ὈὈ ὈὈ

y H i H PÉCS

án Siklós

58 River e k e Vill Komló M7 Tamási 61

Orf¬ c s c Sásd 65 Harkány Siófok

Adorjás M e M com- and warm, dry summers Mild winters Máriagy¬d 1061. The Turkish occupation left Szekszárd late was repopulated deserted, but the area in the 17th century by immigrant Swabians from Germany, and the economy was revital- ised in the next century by wheat cultivation and viticulture. else Szekszárd is the gateway to Southern else to Southern Szekszárd is the gateway In fact, you can actually seeTransdanubia. start in the town’s main square the region Plain, having the Great (Garay tér), where crossed the Danube, rises slowly, transform- Szekszárd Hills. ing into the soil help Szekszárd pro- bined with favourable wines in . the best red duce some of a is the Kadarka, grape here The premier varietal and vulnerable that is late-ripening quantities. limited produced in History Szekszárd was a Celtic a Roman and later settlement The sixth Hungarian called Alisca. royal status on the town king, Béla I, conferred and founded a Benedictine in here abbey the Szekszárd Hills. It is the centre of the the of Szekszárd Hills. It is the centre the anything than but more Sárköz folk region, Kórós Dombóvár

61 Dráva COUNTY Tab BARANYA Szentlªrinc Vajszló Region 67 M7 Ormánság Tihany Sellye 67 E71 (14km) Zselic

To Veszprém Region Balatonfüred

Szenna B a l a t o n o t a l a B Szigetvár Kaposvár 6 Drávaiványi Fonyód

Uplands Balaton- L a k e k a L COUNTY SOMOGY National Park 68 68 Virovitica VESZPRÉM Tapolca Nagyatád Balatonszentgyörgy 61 Vízvár Bélavár

Hévíz

Sümeg Balatonberény E661 E661 Csurgó Uplands Keszthely Balaton- SOUTHERN TRANSDANUBIA •• Szekszárd

National Park 75 E661 E71 Nagykanizsa

COUNTY River C R O A T I A Zalakaros M7

74 Dráva Murakeresztúr

ὈὈὈ Ὀ ὈὈὈ

ver Ri

Gyékényes 74 / pop 34,700 Letenye

Late abandoned in the 17th century the The region was a focal point of the Turkish was a focal point of The region Mura SOUTHERN TRANSDANUBIA SOUTHERN

Zala River Bjelovar Vara™din Zalaegerszeg Balaton with the Danube, among seven of Balaton with the Danube, among seven of The wine-producing city of Szekszárd lies Szekszárd lies The wine-producing city of links Lake which the Sió River, south of SZEKSZÁRD SZEKSZÁRD % came from Slovakia and Bukovina in Romania and Bukovina came from Slovakia as did Saxon Germans.They left a mark that can still be seenarchi- today in local felt and certain traditions. food and tecture, settled Germans by Swabian and Southern WWII ethnic Hungarians and after Slavs, towns of Southern Transdanubia were re- Southern Transdanubia were towns of at Mohács in 1526 and Pécs was an importantat Mohács the Turks. under political and cultural centre occupation; indeed the battle that led to the occupation; indeed the battle that led to the Hungary was fought Ottoman domination of tlements prospered during the Middle Ages. during the tlements prospered (Szekszárd) and Sophianae (Pécs) and intro- The north–south tradeduced grape-growing. the set- and many of passed throughroute here, Southern Transdanubia was settledSouthern Transdanubia by the Celts and then the Romans, who built towns at Alisca History History lonelyplanet.com E65