Geographical centre of Hungary

The geographical centre of Hungary is located about 1 kilometre northeast of the centre of Pusztavacs. The associated nature protection area, which forms part of the Danube–Ipoly National Park, covers 4.6 hectares, land‑registry parcel number: Pusztavacs 029/2.

The area can be reached from the village centre by a road that is not in very good condition but is almost entirely solidly paved. Interestingly, the road 4601 runs directly beside it, which formerly connected Nagykőrös with Budapest in an almost straight line, but its local section has meanwhile shrunk to an insignificant country road.

The signal tower

The tower, built at the intersection of the northern latitude 47 degrees 11 minutes and the eastern longitude 19 degrees 30 minutes, was designed by architect József Péter Kerényi. The signal tower is an 11‑metre‑high octagonal concrete pyramid with a red‑fir board covering. At its top a golden‑coloured half‑sphere supports a tower tip that marks the point. The sundial is the work of sculptor Gábor Gáti.

Among Hungary’s characteristic points, the Hungarian Nature Hiking Association also marked the centre of the country with a bronze emblem standing on a carved oak column. The emblem is circular, with a white dot on a green field indicating the notable location in Hungary, and a red dot. The background of the drawing is a golden‑coloured compass rose.

Geographical centres

The geographical centre of Hungary, created with the borders established after the Treaty of Trianon and the peace treaty ending the Second World War, is located at northern latitude 47 degrees 11 minutes and eastern longitude 19 degrees 30 minutes. Dr. Tamás Telbisz (ELTE Faculty of Science, Department of Physical Geography) reached a somewhat different conclusion on this matter, having re‑performed the necessary calculations in 2019 using the most modern geographic information system available to him, from which he deduced that the geographical centre is located in Hernád, a few hundred metres from one of the village’s outer streets (Lehel út), 8.4 km west‑south‑west of the present signal tower. (coordinates: north latitude 47° 10′ 06″, east longitude 19° 23′ 44″ 47.168333333333, 19.395555555556)

It is general international practice that the centers of countries are marked by the competent authorities. The marking of the geographical center of Hungary was undertaken by the National Environment and Nature Conservation Office in response to interest shown by state and societal bodies. Pusztavacs, the geographical center of Hungary, has attracted an increasing number of nature tourists in recent decades. The center became a truly attractive tourist destination with the signal tower erected by the National Environment and Nature Conservation Office. Beyond the point-like marking, the signal tower also serves scientific education, being an astronomical geographic observation site usable by laypeople. The surroundings of the center are undisturbed both in terms of surface morphology and landscape, representing the primarily flat terrain characteristic of the country. The determination of the coordinates of the geographical center of Hungary and its geodetic marking were carried out by the Institute of Surveying and the Cartographic Company (Dr. Pál Zombai) in the 1960s.

The calculation method, very simplified, was that the center was determined at the intersection of the diagonals of the rectangle formed by the easternmost, westernmost, northernmost and southernmost points of the state border. This is actually on a military base area beside Pusztavacs, 2800 metres southwest of the present signal tower, but it was obvious that a visitor centre could not be opened in the Hungarian Defence Forces Dangerous Materials Supply Center, therefore a more suitable nearby area was chosen. The declaration of this area as protected was agreed upon by the interested authorities and bodies at the preliminary meeting; no opposing opinion or factor contrary to nature‑conservation regulations arose during the procedure.

The first geographical centre was formed by Dikaiarchos (i.e. 336-296), who was a disciple of Aristotle. After the conquests of the Macedonian king Alexander III, the map of the “oikoumene” (the known world) expanded significantly eastward. Alexander took with him odometers (bemmatista), thus he could record fairly accurate distance data on his map. From the data it resulted that the east‑west extent of the inhabited world is one and a half times that of the north‑south. He divided the roughly rectangular area into four equal parts with two lines. A line running north‑south, parallel to the equator, passing between the Pillars of Heracles (the Strait of Gibraltar), and a meridian connecting the cities of Lusiachea and Siene, divided the world east‑west into two equal parts. The intersection of the two lines – the centre of the world – fell on the island of Rhodes. This can be considered the ancestor of the geographical coordinate system.

The location of the centre of the historic Kingdom of Hungary was measured in 1880 near Szarvas. Teacher at the main high school József Mihálfi calculated in 1880 that the geographical centre of the Carpathian Basin lies in the area of Szarvas. The locals attached extraordinary importance to the matter, which they proudly promoted using the means appropriate to the era. The Zrínyi-style windmill marking the geometric centre of Greater Hungary, however, was demolished a hundred years ago, its place for a long time marked only by a millstone. The present windmill was built in 1940 based on the designs of István Gödri. In 1932 the geographical centre of the Kingdom of Hungary was measured again. The centre corrected at that time was moved half a kilometre away from the original, to the area opposite the Szarvas arboretum, between the Holt-Körös and the Zöldpázsit ridge. On the designated point a mound and a memorial monument in the shape of a windmill were erected, made of sandstone. On 18 August 2000 the Szarvas Historical Memorial Trail was inaugurated, leading from the centre of Szarvas to the former geometric centre of historic Hungary. The monuments bordering the memorial trail were created by the woodcarver artist János Lestyán-Goda.