© Lonely Planet Publications 280 Southern Transdanubia SOUTHERN TRANSDANUBIA Southern Transdanubia (Dél-Dunántúl) is a region of calm, a place to savour life at a slower pace. It’s only marginally touched by tourism, and touring through the countryside is like stepping back in time. The whitewashed farmhouses you’ll pass, with thatched roofs and long colonnaded porticoes decorated with floral patterns and plasterwork, haven’t changed in centuries. This region has never been as important industrially as Western Transdanubia. It is thickly settled with small villages, and agriculture remains the mainstay for most people – from the fruit orchards of the Zselic region south of Kaposvár and the almonds of Pécs to the wines of Szekszárd and Villány-Siklós. The pleasant, almost Mediterranean climate helps: spring arrives early, summer is long, winter mild. Southern Transdanubia has a lot to offer travellers. Top of the pops is Pécs. Art museums and theatres abound in a place that has been named a European Capital of Culture in 2010, and history is very much alive here. More Roman and early Christian tombs than you can shake a shovel at have been uncovered near the city’s basilica, and a number of Turkish monuments have survived. Many other towns here are worth visiting as well. Imposing castles dominate Siklós and Szigetvár, you can take advantage of curative thermal waters at Harkány, and visiting Szek- szárd and Villány without tasting the local vintages would be criminal. HIGHLIGHTS Viewing the wonders on exhibit at the Zsolnay Porcelain Museum and the Csontváry Museum in Pécs ( p298 and p298 ) Gemenc Sampling big, bold reds in the cellars Forest of Villány and Villánykövesd ( p293 ) Szenna Riding the narrow-gauge train ( p285 ) Pécs through the Gemenc Forest in the Sárköz Villány & Villánykövesd region Harkány Taking the waters at the thermal baths in Harkány ( p292 ), especially in winter Exploring one of Hungary’s best skanzens (open-air museums of folk architecture) in the delightfully rural village of Szenna ( p308 ), southwest of Kaposvár SOUTHERN TRANSDANUBIA lonelyplanet.com SOUTHERN TRANSDANUBIA •• Szekszárd 281 0 50 km SOUTHERN TRANSDANUBIA 0 30 miles To Veszprém (14km) M7 To Budapest M6 Sümeg VESZPRÉM (68km) Balaton- Balatonfüred Dunaújváros Uplands Zala River Tapolca National Park Tihany FEJÉR ZALA Siófok COUNTY Sárbogárd COUNTY M7 Hévíz E71 Zalaegerszeg ὈὈὈ65 B a l a t o n Keszthely Balatonlelle L a k e Dunaföldvár Simontornya 75 Balatonberény Fonyód Tab Balaton- 74 Uplands Balatonszentgyörgy 67 61 National Park Andocs E65 Tamási BÁCS- E71 Paks Zalakaros TOLNA Danube KISKUN M7 Marcali COUNTY 51 63 COUNTY Sió 6 E661 Kalocsa ὈὈὈὈ 68 E73 Letenye Ri v River SOMOGY 61 er Nagykanizsa COUNTY 65 n 61 i Mura Taszár Dombóvár Tolna Sárköz Region Murakeresztúr Kaposvár a Ri Bárányfok ve 61 M9 r Szekszárd l Kesely¬s Bonyhád Szenna Szekszárd Öcsény P Gyékényes Csurgó Gemenc Sásd Hills Decs Dráva Zselic Zengª Forest Nagyatád Region Komló (682m) 6 t Vara™din Baja 67 Bátaszék 55 a ὈὈPörböly River s Pécsvárad Bélavár E661 Orf¬ l l Duna-Dráva e Abaliget H i Vízvár 68 National Park r c s e k Szigetvár Szentlªrinc M e PÉCS 56 51 G 6 E73 Barcs 57 Mohács BARANYA 58 COUNTY Máriagy¬dVill Palkonya Bjelovar Sellye Kórós ány Villánykövesd Hills Udvar Virovitica Drávaiványi Vajszló Adorjás ὈὈVillány SERBIA C R O A T I A Ormánság Harkány Siklós Nagyharsány Region Dráva E661 River Sombor History the Szekszárd Hills. It is the centre of the Southern Transdanubia was settled by the Celts Sárköz folk region, but more than anything and then the Romans, who built towns at Alisca else Szekszárd is the gateway to Southern (Szekszárd) and Sophianae (Pécs) and intro- Transdanubia. In fact, you can actually see duced grape-growing. The north–south trade the region start in the town’s main square route passed through here, and many of the set- (Garay tér), where the Great Plain, having tlements prospered during the Middle Ages. crossed the Danube, rises slowly, transform- The region was a focal point of the Turkish ing into the Szekszárd Hills. occupation; indeed the battle that led to the Mild winters and warm, dry summers com- Ottoman domination of Hungary was fought bined with favourable soil help Szekszárd pro- at Mohács in 1526 and Pécs was an important duce some of the best red wines in Hungary. political and cultural centre under the Turks. The premier grape here is the Kadarka, a Late in the 17th century the abandoned late-ripening and vulnerable varietal that is towns of Southern Transdanubia were re- produced in limited quantities. settled by Swabian Germans and Southern Slavs, and after WWII ethnic Hungarians History came from Slovakia and Bukovina in Romania Szekszárd was a Celtic and later a Roman as did Saxon Germans. They left a mark that settlement called Alisca. The sixth Hungarian can still be seen and felt today in local archi- king, Béla I, conferred royal status on the town tecture, food and certain traditions. and founded a Benedictine abbey here in 1061. The Turkish occupation left Szekszárd SZEKSZÁRD deserted, but the area was repopulated late %74 / pop 34,700 in the 17th century by immigrant Swabians The wine-producing city of Szekszárd lies from Germany, and the economy was revital- south of the Sió River, which links Lake ised in the next century by wheat cultivation Balaton with the Danube, among seven of and viticulture..