Szentbékkálla is the gem of the Káli Basin, located on the northern area of the basin sourrounded by the Boncsos-top, the Black Hill and the Sátorma Hill.

Due to the location of the village, not only  the view is special and the natural sights of interest are numerous but it has a relatively protected climate, where the sun shines for over appr. 2 thousand hours per year. The not too extensive fields around it are mostly woody and hilly, open only towards the south, but even there the land is marshy at most places.

The first part of the name of Szentbékkálla originates from St Benedict, whose sons, as monks, did the most to save the descendants of Kál and Vérbulcsú (two leaders of the ancient Hungarian tribes). The first church of the village was erected in honour of St Benedict.

The Roman Catholic church was reconstructed at the end of the 18th century according to the  plans of the architect Jakab Feiner employed by Károly Eszterházy, the Bishop of Eger. The new church, built on the remains of the early medieval church is of baroque style. On its fresco appears the valiant soldier of Kál and a monk of the St Benedict order converting the people of Kál.

The wall-painting was made by the Budapest-based painter Ernő Jeges. The plaques on the side of the church are commemorating the victims of the 1st and the 2nd World Wars.

In the direct neighbourhood of Szentbékkálla lie the ruins of the Palace of Veléte, which is a gothic historic monument from the 11th-12th century and the ruins of the Töttöskáli church which was built in Roman style in the 13th century.

On the old houses of the village – some of which are official historic monuments - the traditions of folk-architecture can be discovered. A typical example of this is the Istvándi-house, built in 1828.

The Birkás-cellar and house is a nationally significant monument of the large classic presshouses of the Upper Balaton Region. It was designed by Jakab Felner in 1763 and originally belonged to the Seller family.

The one-time swimmingpool which was built, in 1930 by Gáspár Németh, a local citizen is ruined by now. This bath, fed by the mountain source, was operating until 1960.

Along the western border of the village lies the famous Sea of Stones. Once the flint acids and thermal waters which had erupted here following the volcanic activity cemented the loose sand sediments just to be reformed by the wind, the rain and the erosion. The size and height of the stones are surprising. Some of them reach the size of a house others could fill a whole room. As if a giant had been walking here throwing gigantic pieces of rocks for fun.

Beside the village emerges the Black Mountain, which is an excellent place for walking. It is worth to visit here the Karoly Eötvös Viewpoint which was built of basalt stone in 1950, then replaced  in 1978 by a view-tower made of red pine.  From here you can have a wonderful panorama not only of the picturesque Kali Basin, but also of the so called witness mountains of the Tapolca Basin, the Tihany Peninsula and the lakes of the mountaintop.

The latter are tiny, drainless depressions of the land, called stone-plates or crater-lakes. These depressions have appeared simultanously with the development of the lava cover, since the lava was not able to fill completely the old cavities that had been formed previously on the base under the basalt. It is only in the rainy season when most of the lakes are filled with water and even then they become only shallow marshes covered with cane. The lakes are the following: Lake Bika, Lake Bonta, Lake Barkás, Lake Monostori, Lake Kálomis, and the „Double Lake”. From the Black Mountain, by the side of the ditch leading towards Szentbékkálla, flows the water of the Bocskor Well source. To the south the water filtering through the cracks of the dolomit rocks beneath the lakes emerges to the surface as an abounding spring: it is called the Old Mountain Spring or Well.

Maps

Home


 

HTML Help Site
Copyright © 2008  A honlapot közösségi összefogással a www.kalidekor.hu készítette.