The land of the warm breeze

A mosaic showing today’s Hungary, overlaid on it is the map of Hungary from before the Treaty of Trianon. The patriotic mosaic is purposefully large in size so it can be seen from the platforms of the railway station located on the opposite side. Photo: Wiktor Trybus

While travelling this route, we turn our faces to embrace the breeze. The hills on both sides gradually get taller and leafier, while the towns become smaller and smaller. Finally we cross the pass that was once the border between Lesser Poland and Upper Hungary, and then we continue to follow this historical route.

Czechoslovak Riviera 

Passing into Slovakia, we are welcomed with a reminder of the past – a collection of heavy Soviet weaponry rusting away. The equipment was stationed here in the autumn of 1944 and abandoned shortly after. They are monuments to the Battle of Dukla Pass. As we pass the town of Svidnik, the hills are lower and the valleys are wider. Southwards one can see the emptiness of the rural landscape of the Slovak Carpathians. Between the hills the surface of the Ondava Lake shines and allures. Not surprisingly, Veľká Domaša, the town which sits on the lake, was once called the Czechoslovak Riviera. Later it became a popular destination for Polish tourists who longed for warm sunshine at a reasonable price. However since Slovakia adopted the euro currency, the village has become eerily empty. The only visitors who come here now are the most devoted fishermen.

As we continue south, we pass the town Vranov nad Topľou. We soon expect to see signs indicating Budapest, or other Hungarian cities. Instead, we see signs pointing to Slovenské Nové Mesto – a small village in the middle of nowhere. The road takes us through the village and then turns towards an extinct volcano. At its foot are the rusty remains of the Slovak-Hungary border crossing – an artefact of times before the Schengen agreement.

Athens on Bodrog

On the other side of the former border, which is also the other side of the volcano, is the small Hungarian town called Sátoraljaújhely. From here the road takes us to Sárospatak, which in English means “muddy stream”. The village is located on the Bodrog River, which means “frog river”. For a river that is only around 60 kilometres in length, its width and depth are striking. The Bodrog collects water from the mountains in eastern Slovakia and the Ukrainian Carpathians. It flows slowly to irrigate the nearby Tokaj region and finally empties into the larger Tisza River.

Sárospatak was a city for thinkers. That is why it was called Athens on Bodrog. The local Calvinist college was once very famous for its scholars and world-class library. Starting in the 18th century through to 1939, the famous Queen Sophie’s Bible was kept here. It was the first, although incomplete, translation of the Bible into Polish. Unfortunately most of the priceless antiques were lost when the Red Army occupied Budapest. The Catholic church, located in Sárospatak right next to the Protestant church, prides itself with the oldest wooden altar in Hungary. It was constructed in a Baroque style. The church’s patron, Saint Elizabeth, was a Hungarian princess and member of the Franciscan order; and it is possibly even her who is presented on the beautiful sculpture at the church’s entrance, which depicts a woman with a soldier on a horse.

Sárospatak’s most precious historical treasure is the castle. It is protected by bastions and medieval walls on the one side, and a river on the other. Its importance to Hungarian history is attested by the fact it can be found on one side of the 500 Hungarian forint banknote. On the other side of the same banknote, is a portrait of one of the castle’s owners – Duke Francis II Rákóczi. The aristocrat led the last anti-Hapsburg uprising before the mid-19th century Spring of Nations.  

During the uprising, the duke famously travelled through the mountain passes to support the rebellion of the people (the kuruc) who were oppressed by the empire. The insurrection was joined by representatives of different states, religions and languages. For a few years the insurgents controlled Transylvania, Upper Hungary and now-Ukrainian Carpathian Ruthenia and part of today’s Hungary. In 1711 the uprising fell and Rákóczi fled into exile. He passed away in the same empire as did the unlucky Cossack Hetman Ivan Mazepa. The duke spent the last years of his life in Redestos, not far from Istanbul; whereas the hetman stayed in Bendery, a city which at that time belonged to Moldavia and was subordinated to the Ottoman sultan’s power.

It is interesting to look at the similarities of the fate of these two romantic warriors fighting for the freedom of their people. With the help of world powers (Mazepa from Sweden, and Rákóczi from France), both fighters challenged empires. They gave up an affluent and carefree aristocratic life for a gambling strife. Eventually, they became political refugees under the sultan’s protection. In the 18th century the Ottoman Empire fought against both Russia and Austria, the two states that wanted to take as much land as possible from the Turkish hands.

It was also in Sárospatak’s castle, in a room called “Under the Roses,” that Rákóczi held some secret diplomatic talks and listened to reports from spies and emissaries. One can say that the first Rose Revolution took place two centuries before the peaceful protest was organised in Georgia. To this day, roses can be found on every corner of this small town.

Hot springs

Architecturally, Sárospatak’s more modern buildings date back to the 1970s. They were built by architect Imre Makovecz who was inspired by Hungarian art and mythology. His experiment, for which he received permission from the communist authorities, turned into a huge success. Makovecz’s buildings are perfectly matched with the old fashion urban layout and harmonised with nature. The houses, which are covered with red tiles and have white walls, are small (mostly one-storey buildings) and are composed with greenery of orchards and vines. Shops in the old town also look like they were taken from the turn of the 20th century. In a small restaurant we attend, the people sitting next to us were speaking Italian. We wondered if they were tourists. Or maybe Hungarian emigrants who returned to the place they were born and grew up? Or maybe they were Italians who were doing businesses there. Indeed, in the period of late communism/early capitalism Hungary was a popular destination among Italians.

Thermal springs were discovered here in 1959. A swimming complex was soon built. At that time the Hungarian communist leader, János Kádár, wanted the society to quickly forget about the nightmares of the Second World War, Stalinism and the 1956 uprising. Kádár was labelled a traitor who, during the 1956 revolution, hid under the wings of the Soviet Army. To repair his reputation, he made some moves to liberalise Hungarian communism. Small businesses were allowed to operate and the state opened itself to foreign tourists. Germans, Italians and Austrians began visiting more frequently. For that reason, new pools with hot water gushing from underneath were built and opened to the public. Today, many of Hungary’s thermal baths have been renovated thanks to funding from the European Union.

Eastwards, in the direction of the Ukrainian border, there is a village called Karasca – about 30 km from Sárospatak. It is home to a beautiful small Roman church called Arpadi Templom. The walls of the temple are made of red sandstone and the roof is covered with shingles. Apparently the church was built by medieval Hungarian kings who were direct descendants of Árpád – considered to be one of the founders of Hungary.

Wine capital

We continue driving westwards and then take a turn to the south. To our left there is a waving plain, while on the right we see the forested Tokaj Mountains. This is the very end of the Carpathians. The warm side of these mountains is home to more vineyards than snowbound wilderness and howling wolfs. The famous city of Tokaj is also located by the Bodrog. Tokaji wines are well-known all over the world. Wine-making is helped here by the warm and sunny climate as well as the volcanic soil that is found in this part of the Carpathians.  People usually pick the white grapes, aiming at harvest before the first autumn frost. After 1920 the lands of the former Zemlin komitat (an administrative unit) were divided by a borderline. Today, EU law allows Slovaks to produce Tokaji wine but only if they pass evaluation by Hungarian specialists. Centuries ago Polish and Lithuanian nobility imported Tokaji wine in large quantities. Hence, the Slavic name of one its types – samorodni (which means “self-made”). The grapes were dropped into the barrels and fermented on their way to Poland.

Back in the day, wine trails led from different Hungarian regions, such as Tokaj and Eger, all the way to the Carpathian mountain passes. As a result, cities in the borderlands blossomed. This was true for Bardejov (today’s Slovakia), Nowy Sącz, Krosno, Sanok and Jasło or Jaśliska (today’s Poland). These days Jaśliska is the capital of a small Polish local commune and a town that was once known for the film Strawberry Wine. Some old wine traditions are now starting to come back here. On the sunny hills of this small Subcarpathian town, new vineyards are being planted and more companies importing wine from Hungary are being set up.

Poles are probably also the biggest group of foreign tourists who visit Hungary’s wine regions. For this reason, there are plans to establish a rail connection between Krosno and Sárospatak via Lupkov Pass. Unfortunately these plans have not gone beyond the symbolic and occasional “friendship trains”.

The capital of the Tokaj wine region is majestically located at the foot of the Tokay Mountain – the withered volcano – and at the junction of the Bodrog and Tisza Rivers. It comes as no surprise that this area, nestled in the mountains and protected by the rivers, was chosen as a location for human settlement and the castle. Today it is a popular tourist destination. Most visitors come from Poland and Slovakia, but there are also many Hungarians. There are also Brits and Americans. Tokay is not only a city of wineries but also a fish-lovers paradise. On the riverside there are plenty of fish restaurants while the banks of the Bodrog and Tisza are full of families who go fishing. The multi-generational element is visible: grandparents with parents and children. Over the city, towers the top of the inactive volcano that overlooks the Pannonian plains. Steep valleys lead up to a forest, or rather to a grove.

After we leave the grove, the road continues among the beautiful vineyards. Then the trail goes along a cliff with engraved cellars. To enter it we pass a small bar where you can sample local wines. Behind the cellars we see on the bluff a billboard with a mosaic showing today’s Hungary. Overlaid on it is the map of Hungary from before the Treaty of Trianon. Marked in blue on the map are Hungary’s great rivers – the Danube, the Tisza, the Mureș and the Sava. The patriotic mosaic is purposefully large in size so it can be seen from the platforms of the railway station that is located on the opposite side. It reminds everybody that the 1920 defeat hurts Hungarians until today. Such maps can be seen around in other places, like the wine shops and restaurants.

Just like our leader

We head back to our hotel. On our way there we see old lovely fishing boats and a huge anchor in the courtyard of a house on the shore. It looks as though it could have served as a battleship. Maybe it is an anchor from a ship of Admiral Horthy, the interwar Hungarian leader? Next to the hotel is a huge monument commemorating anti-Habsburg insurgents. From the majestic horse, one of their leaders, Emeric Thököly, is looking at us in a somewhat threatening way. By the way, he was the stepfather of Francis II Rákóczi.

In the front office of the remodelled hotel that dates back to Soviet times, a young receptionist is replaced by an older colleague. Hearing that the hotel is hosting a guest named Viktor (one of the authors of this text) he gives a hearty pat on Viktor’s back, saying in broken English: “Viktor! Just like our leader!”

Translated by Monika Szafrańska

Katarina Novikova is a PhD candidate at the institute of religious studies of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. She is a freelance translator and journalist and co-ordinator of the interdisciplinary scientific and cultural project – (Post)socialist City (Kraków-Kyiv).

Wiktor Trybus is a blogger and freelance journalist. He is a graduate of Ukrainian studies at the Jagiellonian University and of history at Rzeszów University.

Hungary, Poland, Tokaji, travelogue