Heves megyei aprónyomtatványok 19/E
EGER * Egervár - Vécsey Valley - Bajusz Hill - Nagy-Eged (Big Eged Hill) - Bikk-bérc (Bikk Crag) - Várkút - Felsőtárkány Approaching the foot of Kis-Eger (Little Eged Hill) you can see an artificially retained lake. A vine-growing area, which is the highest sited vine-land in Hungary, may also be found there. The steep path passes by the side of the vine-lands and leads to the top of Nagy-Eged. Being so steep the rise is a great challenge to tourists, but the panorama will satisfy anybody. Eged Hill could be the symbol of the town of Eger: it isof a unique shape, resplendent in the thousand shades of green in the summer, dressed in bronze red in the fall, and wearing a glaring white snow cap in the winter. This famous silent sight of Eger tells tales of long-forgotten mysteries. According to the popular legend the hill was named after a hermit called Saint Egedius, who lived there at the time of St. Steven I (the first Christian king of Hungary) and spent most of his time by religious meditation. An easy path from Nagy-Eged to Bikk-bérc (Bikk Crag) is on the crest of the hill. There is a forester's lodge on Bikk-bérc. The final destination is the shelter-hut of Várkút. The village of Felsőtárkány may be accessed from Várkút; the village is located to the north of Várkút in a valley enclosed by mountains. A protected flower called cypripedium (lady's slipper) grows in the close vicinity of the village. Cypripedium grew in large numbers there in the past, but nowadays there are less and less of this slim, slipper-shaped flower which is the symbol of Felsőtárkány and may be seen in the coat of arms of the village. Eger - Egerszalók - Verpelét - Tarnaszentmária - Sírok - Eger There is a hot spring enclosed by pine woods in fully natural surroundings in the vicinity of the village Egerszalók. The medicinal water is recommended to people having locomotor diseases. The spring itself is a marvellous sight: steaming water running down the hillside, natural steps formed by the thick deposition of salt, and the landscape behind the ascending steam. The village of Verpelét, famous for its tobacco and vine, is in the valley of Tarnapatak (Tarna Stream). The village had a reputation of wealth as early as the 18th century. The residents of the place call the tourists' attention to the famous blacksmith's workshop where relics of an ancient and vanishing profession have been preserved. The first blacksmiths started to work there at around King Matthias's time. It is said that the king himself visited the village once and had his horse shoed. Another village recalling the memories of historical ages is Tarnaszent- mária to the north of Verpelét. The early history of the village's Norman style building was puzzled out pretty slowly: finally it was discovered that the building had been erected in the first half of the 11th century, probably at the time when Saint Steven and the heads of the pagan Hungarian clans had been fighing each other for the crown and ancient passions had clashed. The carvings on the bearing piles of the nave are like a message from the sunny East. The influence of the goldsmiths' craft of steppe people may be felt, and there are also traces of Caucasian stone architecture. The above two kinds of influence show that the craftsmen ofÁrpád's people were respectful of theirtraditions. According to the present state of knowledge this church, which calls up the atmosphere of ancient times, is the country's oldest church in use.
