Geography

The town extends on the hills of the region Őrség, where the river Zala flows through. Zala has its source ca. 10 kilometers from here at Szalafő

Szalafo

Szalafő is a village in Vas county, Hungary....

.

The town has an ancient szer structure. It consists of 9 szer: The central grain is at the river Zala: Városszer and Baksaszer, moreover the Alszer on the northern side. Also important are the Kovácsszer, Siskaszer, Templomszer, Keserűszer and Galambszer districts.

History

The village Őriszentpéter is first mentioned in chronicles from 1280. The inhabitants of the village were defenders of the border of Hungary on the west frontier. They were free people and served the king of Hungary as soldiers. They built their church in the 12th century. During the Turkish wars the religion changed and the Catholic Church became a Reformed church.

In the 17th century the leading aristocrats of west Hungary, the Batthyány

Batthyány

Batthyány is the name of an old distinguished Hungarian Magnate family. The members of this family bear the title count or countess respectively prince or princess Batthyány von Német-Ujvár...

 family became the landowner of the region. Őriszentpéter remained a leading village in the vicinity. Building of the railway between Körmend

Körmend

-Places of interest:The town is especially well known for its castle which used to belong to the Batthyany family, one of the most important aristocrat families of Hungary. Blessed Ladislaus Batthyány-Strattmann , a famous ophthalmologist who was beatified by the Catholic Church, lived in the...

 and Muraszombat helped to develop the region.

After collapsing the iron curtain the greater traffic of tourism began because of the 3 border status between Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

, Slovenia

Slovenia

Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...

 and Hungary. The new railway in 2000 between Zalalövő

Zalalövo

Zalalövő is a town in Zala county, Hungary.- External links :*...

 and Őrihodos also developed the traffic between the three countries.

Sightseeings

• Collection of the Őrség Museum
• Városszer reformed church
• Templomszer Roman Catholic Church (Romanesque style)
• Local old peasant houses

Outer references

• Digital Library of Őrség
• Street map

Literature

• Dercsényi D. (1959): Árpád-kori műemlékeink Vas megyében. (Árpád Age Architectural Heritage in Vas County). Vasi Szemle 1959. 2. sz.
• Genthon I. (1959): Magyarország műemlékei. I. Dunántúl. (Architectural Heritage of Hungray. I. Transdanubia). Budapest, 1959. 444 p.
• Gerevich T. (1938): Magyarország románkori emlékei. (Die romanische Denkmäler Ungarns.) Egyetemi nyomda. Budapest,
• Henszlmann, I. (1876): Magyarország ó-keresztyén, román és átmeneti stylü mű-emlékeinek rövid ismertetése, (Old-Christian, Romanesque and Transitional Style Architecture in Hungary). Királyi Magyar Egyetemi Nyomda, Budapest
• Valter I. (2005): Árpád-kori téglatemplomok Nyugat-Dunántúlon. (Árpád Age Brick-Churches in Transdanubia, Hungary). Budapest