Szigliget is a village in

Veszprém county Veszprém ( hu, Veszprém megye, ; german: Komitat Wesprim (Weißbrunn)) is an administrative county (''megye'') in Hungary. Veszprém is also the name of the capital city of Veszprém county. Veszprém county Veszprém county lies in western ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

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The village can be found on the northern bank of

Lake Balaton Lake Balaton () is a freshwater lake in the Transdanubian region of Hungary. It is the largest lake in Central Europe, and one of the region's foremost tourist destinations. The Zala River provides the largest inflow of water to the lake, and th ...

in the vicinity of

Badacsony Badacsony () is the name of a region on the north shore of Lake Balaton in western Hungary, a mountain top and a town in that region. The nearby basalt mountains are unique geological relics, and the habitat of many rare plants and animals. Thes ...

and

Keszthely Keszthely (; also known by other alternative names) is a Hungarian city of 20,895 inhabitants located on the western shore of Lake Balaton. It is the second largest city by the lake and one of the more important cultural, educational and economi ...

. The village was built between and on volcanic hills. It can be reached by car on the 71 highway or by train on the

Székesfehérvár Székesfehérvár (; german: Stuhlweißenburg ), known colloquially as Fehérvár ("white castle"), is a city in central Hungary, and the country's ninth-largest city. It is the regional capital of Central Transdanubia, and the centre of Fejér ...

–

Tapolca Tapolca (; german: Toppoltz) is a town in Veszprém County, Hungary, close to Lake Balaton. It is located at around . The town has an outer suburb, Tapolca-Diszel, approximately 5 km to the East. Etymology The origin of ''Tapolca'' is ...

-railway stopping at Badacsonytördemic-Szigliget station.

History

The settlement existed in the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

and

Bronze Ages The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

and Avar archaeological finds were discovered in the vicinity. The ruins of a parochial church, built in the 12th century, can be seen. Until 1822 the area was an island in Lake Balaton. The island was connected to the mainland in 1822 by rearrangement of the bank-dams around Balaton.

Sightseeings

Avas church ruins

The church was built in the Árpád era (12th century), of

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

. The old tower is still standing.

Castle Szigliget

The ruins of the medieval fortress stand atop the 239m Várhegy hill. It was built by

Favus of Pannonhalma Favus (died 1265) was a Hungarian clergyman in the 13th century, who served as Pannonhalma Archabbey, Abbot of Pannonhalma from 1252 until his death. Abbot of Pécsvárad His origins, early life and career, his studies are unknown. Prior to the p ...

between 1260 and 1262. Recently restored, the castle looks out on a panorama of Lake Balaton toward the Tapolca Basin. Poets have praised the beauty of the village and landscape.

The manor of Count Esterházy

The manor house, built in the 19th century by the

House of Esterházy A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

, is a modern home for artists, surrounded by the arboretum of 9,2 hectares.

Gallery

Image:Szigliget,_avasi_templomrom.JPG, Avasi-church ruins Image:Szigliget_aerial1.jpg, Fortress from above Image:Hungary, Szigliget (castel) 9.jpg, Fortress Image:Szigliget - Palace.jpg, Eszterházy-manor house

References

External links

Szigliget homepage

Szigliget.lap.hu

Szigliget on the Vendégváró homepage

Szigliget on aerial photographs

{{Authority control Populated places in Veszprém County Romanesque architecture in Hungary Volcanism of Hungary