Cseri Miklós - Horváth Anita - Szabó Zsuzsanna (szerk.): Discover Rural Hungary!, Guide (Szentendre, Hungarian Open Air Museum, 2007)

VIII Bakony, Balaton-Uplands

VIII Bakony, Balaton-Uplands Bakony evokes wooded hills and the Balaton-Uplands recall gentle slopes rising above the glistening water and picturesque volcanic hills planted with grapes and dotted with press-houses. Whitewashed gables, vaulted porches and colourful stone walls emerging through crumbling mortar catch the visitors eyes in the villages. Whilst the mountains of historic Zala and Veszprém Counties remained covered with unbroken leafy woods the houses were mainly constructed of wood with wattle-and-daub walls. Following the clearing of the woods in the 18th century stone became the most important building material. The white, yellow and grey limestone, dolomite, red sandstone and black basalt walls give villages their peculiar character Serfs and cotters used stone set in mud. The change in building material also led to a change in the structure and form of houses. The use of flat stone enabled the construction of trough vaults and vaulted cellars which