Hungary > Irott-ko

Irott-ko

Nature Park From Koszeg, the road leads up through forests to the highest peak of Pannonia, an 883-metre summit called the Iirott-ko (Written Stone). From the top you can see the Austrian-Hungarian border. This hill, rich in rare plants, conceals the first fortress of the region, the Upper Castle, from Arpad's time, built on a six-hundred-metre high rocky outcrop. Beautiful villages were built on the banks of the streams running down from the hill. In Velem an old wooden bridge-spaas the stream. On top of the hill on the village border stands the famous thirteenth-century St. Vid Chapel. In neighbouring Bozsok, the air is especially clear and healthy, not only because of the proximity of the Alps, but also because of the abundance of water in this area.

The village is famous for its seventeenth-century mansion and its ancient park. The nearby village of Cak is famed for its thatched, whitewashed cellars, which are listed monuments.