02 October 2024 / Dániel Ercsey
Jenő Balás Bauxite Mining Museum and Geological Park Geological Visitor Centre, Gánt
Everyone talks about Lamberg and Láncos (Luzsénszky) palaces in connection with Mór. The only problem with this is that although they are certainly spectacular from the outside, they are not really tourist sites. If you take my advice, you won't even start your trip in Mór, but you’ll get much closer to the wineries you are looking forward to seeing by travelling around the region. Have you been to Gant, for example? Here you'll find the Europe-renowned Balás Jenő Bauxite Mining Museum and Geological Park Geological Visitor Centre. The former bauxite mine at the foot of Bagoly Hill is now a very interesting nature trail. Walking along the open-cast mining trail, you can see relics left behind from geological eras, so you can wander around the Martian landscape and learn about what happened in the area over millions of years. The colours, layers and shapes revealed by the mining operations are fascinating.
Gánt
Ildikó Zsemlye's metro carriage installation, Csákberény
When you have finished marvelling at the landscape, head for the stronghold of surrealism in Csákberény, the iconic site of the Hungarian "land art" movement, the Soviet metro carriage that is emerging from the ground on the outskirts of the village. The installation was designed by Ildikó Zsemlye, Mihály Munkácsy Prize-winning sculptor and medallist. As the artist explained, the metro car symbolises hope and faith in the future, as it is breaking out of the ground and into the sky, and towards the west, which gives the former Soviet vehicle an extra meaning.
Csókakő Castle
From here, it is worth going up to the Csókakő Castle, which is unique in the Vértes, in that it’s not concealed in the forest, but standing on a cliff towering over the village, surrounded by vineyards. The view of the Mór Valley and the Eastern Bakony from the castle is truly magnificent. It is well worth a visit for lovers of ruined castles, and from here you can set off on a 14 km round hike exploring the jungle of the Harmatos Valley and gazing out over the Mór wine district’s vineyards from the steep slopes of Csóka Hill. Make sure you have a tourist map with you, as the signs are often incomplete!
The castle of Csókakő
The Old Press Restaurant and wineries, Mór
For me, Mór is about the Old Press Restaurant, which preserves Swabian traditions and the local Swabian cuisine in the most authentic way, and most obviously about the winemakers. For a long time it was thought that the Ezerjó produced here was only for the courageous because of its rasping acidity, but thanks to climate change and the development of winemaking technology, this is certainly no longer true; moreover, there are vintages when Ezerjó botrytises, and then it can even compete with sweet Tokaji Szamorodni! Taste the wines of the Geszler family, the Paulus range, Csabi Miklós or Kriszti Csetvei, and I guarantee you will not be disappointed! It's also worth taking a stroll along the Mór cellar row, where there are some outstandingly beautiful neoclassical buildings among the traditional German press houses.
Miklós Csabi Winery
The vineyards of the Mór wine district are located in the Mór Valley, which separates the Vértes and Bakony ranges, in the 1st and 2nd class border areas of the villages of Csákberény, Csókakő, Mór, Pusztavám, Söréd and Zámoly. It covers 424 hectares, making it the smallest wine region in Hungary. Its soil is characterised by loamy soils mixed with limestone debris and by rendzina soils formed over dolomite and limestone. This, together with the moderately cool and relatively rainy climate, was responsible for the high acidity of the wines in the past, but is also responsible for the freshness and zest they still boast today. Accordingly, the Mór wine district produces mainly white wines, with only 30 hectares of black grapes. The wine district’s flagship, Ezerjó, is the most widely planted variety at 68 hectares, but there are also significant plantings of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris and Királyleányka, as well as crisply acidic Zöldveltelini, aromatic Traminer, Cszerszegi Fűszeres, Irsai Olivér and charming Zenit. The cool climate and the high lime content of the soil also provides a good basis for making sparkling wine, as Paulus Winery has proven several times.
The Majk Hermitage, Oroszlány-Majkpuszta
And for a unique experience, head to Oroszlány-Majkpuszta and the Majk Hermitage, where you can contemplate the fate of the world by visiting the monastery and cells of the monks who once took a vow of silence. The Baroque building complex, unique in Europe, is a breathtaking sight in itself, but if you add the fact that Countess Margaret Károlyi and her sister lived here in cell number 13 until her death after the Soviet takeover and their displacement, the visit becomes even more exciting. Margit Károlyi was the wife of Móric Esterházy, and thus, for example, the grandmother of writer Péter Esterházy. Péter Esterházy often mentions his ‘Majki’ grandmother in his book Harmonia Caelestis, but she is also the subject of the documentary The Countess of Cell 13, which is freely available on the internet with a little searching.
