Kőszegi Tájvédelmi Körzet

The area of the Kőszegi Landscape Protection Zone is 4,200 hectares, of which 550 hectares are intensively protected. The landscape protection zone falls under the administration of the Őrség National Park Directorate.

Location

The landscape protection zone is the area of the Kőszegi Mountains west of Kőszeg. In 1980, before the regime change, the Kőszegi Landscape Protection Zone was established, but at that time some areas were not accessible to hikers. This isolation was the reason that the natural values of the mountains have been able to remain to this day. The 4,200‑hectare area includes Kőszeg as well as five small settlements of the Kőszegi Mountains and the Kőszeg foothills: Bozsok, Cák, Kőszegdoroszló, Kőszegszerdahely and Velem.

Characteristics

The Kőszegi Landscape Protection Zone is located in the Kőszegi Mountains, which belong to the Alps. The mountains are rugged because of deep valleys. This landscape is characterized by a cool summer, relatively mild winter and abundant precipitation, sometimes more than a thousand millimetres per year. Many mineral springs emerge in the mountains. While walking through its beautiful scenery, within a few hundred metres one can feel as if one is either in the Alps or on the sunny clearings of the Bakony. The mountains themselves are larger in area and higher – the highest point, Írott-kő, is 882 metres, and from its summit on a clear day one can see from the Alps to Lake Balaton.

Flora and Fauna

The Kőszegi Mountains are still almost entirely covered by forest, primarily characterized by beech‑oak or mountain beech. The extensive forests are adorned by planted fir (lucfenyves) and remaining stands of spruce (jegenyefenyő). In the water‑carved valleys of the mountains, at the lower courses of streams, mountain alder carrs often develop, sometimes forming smaller swampy, marshy areas.

The southern slopes of the mountain were formerly adorned with gentle chestnut groves, now only smaller copses remind of them. In the beech woods of the upper regions that evoke high mountains and on the slopes, forest cyclamen, alpine rose, mountain gentian, cornflower, hairless lady's slipper, white saffron, black bilberry and many other interesting, rare and often only locally occurring plants bloom; mountain ledge, alpine saxifrage, three‑leaf candelabra.

The humid meadows and valley slopes host rare plants such as the Lapp hare’s‑tail, ostrich fern, white thistle‑leaf and Siberian lady‑fern. In the gorge forests, turban lily, broad‑leaf bellflower and moon violet flower.

The mountain’s fauna includes several alpine insect species – some of which occur only here in Hungary, such as the alpine sawfly. The fauna is also characterized by many valuable and rare species, for example numerous strictly protected butterfly species (e.g., giant swallowtail) and dragonfly species (e.g., forest dragonfly), and similarly valuable beetles (the especially valuable species is the ground beetle). In the clear‑water streams live the stone loach, the brown trout, the increasingly rare stone crayfish, and in moist habitats the spotted salamander and the yellow‑bellied toad. Along the mountain streams the red‑bellied toad also occurs, and the beautiful and elsewhere rarely seen spotted salamander is particularly common, an everyday sight.

The very rich bird life is represented by several mountain species: fire‑head kingfisher, crested tit and pine tit, crossbill, and the whistling warbler in the area. The black stork, the bearded vulture and the bee‑eater nest in the mountain. Unfortunately the characteristic great bustard of the region, the mute swan, has already disappeared from the area, but the imperial eagle has not, and the cavity‑dwelling blue pigeon is also relatively common.

The botanical value of the Kőszegi Tájvédelmi Körzet is further increased by the presence of the following species:

green spleenwort (Asplenium viride)

black spleenwort (Asplenium adiantum-nigrum)

rock fern (Ceterach officinarum)

ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris)

long-beaked lady fern (Polystichum lonchitis)

royal fern (Blechnum spicant)

little moonwort (Botrychium lunaria)

mountain vetchling (Lathyrus lanifolius var. montanus)

triple-leaved bittercress (Cardamine trifoliat)

great yellow rattle (Dictamus albus)

hairy chervil (Chaerophyllum hirsutum)

red lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea)

spotted orchid (Orchis tridentata)

autumn ladies' tresses (Spiranthes spiralis)

military orchid (Orchis militaris)

pale orchid (Orchis pallens)

long-leaved helleborine (Cephalanthera longifolia)

white helleborine (Cephalanthera damasonium)

red helleborine (Cephalanthera rubra)

fly orchid (Ophrys insectifera)

coral root (Corallorhiza trifida)

small-leaved helleborine (Epipactis microphylla)

broad-leaved helleborine (Epipactis helleborine)

marsh helleborine (Epipactis palustris)

Cultural values

The rich cultural heritage is characterized by the fact that the mountain area has been inhabited since the Bronze Age, with Bronze Age graves, smelting sites and mines uncovered in several places, and the traces of an ancient city revealed next to Szent Vid Hill near Velem. Researchers also found the Roman water supply system that provided drinking water to Savaria (Szombathely). After the Hungarian conquest, the area was considered a border zone and served a defensive function.

Calvary

The baroque church was built on a Jesuit initiative between 1729 and 1734 after the plague epidemic. A hermitage was built a year later next to it. Among its residents was the church’s first painter, Count Weisz Henrich. From the hilltop there is a beautiful view of the town of Kőszeg. Not far from here stands the three‑armed Trianon cross erected in 1936, from which one can look into neighboring Austria. At the foot of the hill a plaque reminds of a former bunker where, during the Szálasi government from December 1944 to March 1945, the Holy Crown was guarded.

Seven Springs

One of the most popular hiking spots is the Seven Springs, which emerges in the Rőtfalvi valley near the Austrian border. The current spring enclosure was built in the Millennium year, when it was named after the seven Hungarian leaders. The names Álmos, Előd, Ond, Kond, Tas, Huba and Töhötöm can be read on small stone tablets. The crystal‑clear, rather cold water of the spring supplied water to the Óvár or Felsővár that rises above it. Its old name reflects this: Várkuta, Óvárkút. The present appearance of the spring enclosure was formed during the renovation in 1994. Nearby, the ruins of a former border guard post await a better fate.