Last time, when the sun finally came out again after 2-3 rainy days, I set out to walk from Tinnye to Zsámbék.
Tinnye is an important small village in our family, because on my mother’s side, members of the previous five or six generations lived or were born here. My parents lived opposite each other in the neighboring Piliscsaba village – then called Piliscsaba-Jászfalu – and got to know each other.
When I arrived in Tinnye, the first thing I did was to find the Romanesque Reformed church, because my grandmother and her parents lived a few houses from there, in the same street.
While I was looking for the houses, I noticed that a memorial plaque from 1908 had been left on a neighboring, completely renovated house, which read: “Built by Sándor Hajdár for András Naszvadi”. Sándor was my great-grandfather, who was born in 1853. I found out from a Facebook group that András Naszvadi was Sándor’s brother-in-law.
The settlement started to develop after the Turkish times, in 1715 only 23 taxed farms were registered, but in 1825 there were already 1364 inhabitants in the settlement. Our family may have appeared in the early 1800s. Between 1843 and 1846, Lajos Kossuth lived here.
I left Tinnye for the west. There was mud everywhere, but the weather was beautiful. The strongest shades of blue, green, yellow and brown covered everything; it’s like walking in a painting. I walked among riding stables and stray dogs, stopping every now and then for a photo, and I thought that from my grandparents, great-grandparents, great-great-grandparents, and great-great-great-grandparents to my great-great-great-great-grandmother and great-great-great-great-grandfather, this branch of my family all lived, worked, cried and laughed here. It’s a pretty strange feeling.
In a south-west direction, following the county border, I reached the Nyakas Peak, which is almost 9 km away, where I stopped for a lunch break.
Nyakas Peak
The Nyakas Peak is one of the easternmost ranges of the Gerecse Mountains, stretching approximately in a north-south direction on the western edge of Pest County, only 319 m high. There is no good view from the summit point itself, because it is surrounded by taller bushes.
After lunch, I headed to Zsámbék.
Giants’ Staircase
The Giants’ Stairs are only one and a half kilometers away. It’s not a big attraction, but it’s not worth missing if you’re in the area. This is actually a forest road, which slipped apart in the stony ground due to the level differences as if there were stairs. It used to connect Tök with Anyácsapuszta.
Passing small gardens and rows of cellars, you can walk to Zsámbék, as if you were hiking to Badacsony; looking to the east, you can see the entire Buda Hills. When I arrived in Zsámbék, I rested at a drinking fountain and then walked up to the ruined church.
Ruined Church of Zsámbék
It was originally built between 1220 and 1234 in late Romanesque and early Gothic styles; It was rebuilt in 1475, but was badly damaged during the fighting against the Turks. The complex suffered damage due to a major earthquake in 1763, which led to its current state of ruin.
After the Turkish occupation of Buda in 1541, Zsámbék came under Ottoman rule, and the area was converted into a fortress. Restoration work began in the 19th century, and between 1896 and 1900, key conservation work was carried out. Today, the ruins are a protected historical site, with an accessible interior and a stone exhibition.
The reconstructed and restored parts of the building were deliberately built from a material different from the original, so the medieval details of the church can be easily distinguished. The three-nave basilica system has two Romanesque façade towers, between them a pointed gable, a rose window and a pointed arched gate.
As a curiosity in Hungary, the stone-built, gently inclined spire of the southern tower has been preserved. The helmets of the tower of the church in Ják were reconstructed on his model. On several capitals of columns, there are also carvings consisting of artistic, plant motifs.
Next to the remains of the church, there are the ruins of the former Premonstratensian monastery, an exhibition presenting the history of the church and a collection of carved stones in the stone collection established in the former dining room, which unfortunately cannot be visited temporarily due to the danger of collapse.
