Horváth M. Ferenc (szerk.): Vác The heart of the Danube Bend. A historical guide for residents and globetrotters (Vác, 2009)

Tartalom

The fact that the Grove was the cradle of Vác is proved not only hy medieval legends hut also by a cemetery from the Age of the Hungarian Conquest. The Grove is a woodland situated at the southern edge of the town between the Danube and the Main Road No. z; it is part of the Danube-lpoly National Park. Today it is both a recreational area, a memorial place and a place of pilgrimage.

In toy 4 Prince Géza and Prince Ladislaus, two brothers from the first royal dynasty of Hungary, were stationed nearby with their armies before a crucial battle. Legend has it that the area was an uninhabited woodland at the time with only a hermit called Vác living here. The princes were promised victory in a miraculous vision, which did come true, and Géza became king. When the brothers returned to the scene of the vision, a stag appeared carrying burning candles on his antlers; he was leading them to a spot then disappeared. As a memorial to their victory Géza had a church built in the spot shown by the stag - the place of the future castle and cathedral of Vác.

When the young king died a few years later, his brother and successor on the throne, King Ladislaus had him buried in this cathedral.

The next time historiography mentions the Grove of Vác is, yet again, related to one of the turning points in Hungarian history: the Revolution and War of Independence in 1848/41). Since the troops could not cross the bigger streams with their armaments, they fought a battle for the nearby bridge.