Balatonfüred-the New Centre Of Balaton
Balatonfured, the first recreational town in Hungary is situated on the northern shore of Lake Balaton, surrounded by low hills. Neighbouring towns include Tihany and Csopak. The surrounding region is famous for its wine. Sights in town include the port, the Lujza Blaha memorial house, the round church, the well of Lajos Kossuth, and the Jokai mansion with a memorial exhibition. The yearly Anne-ball draws many visitors as well.
Balatonfüred is mainly known by its climate which is very similar to the Mediterranean and its spring waters containing carbonic acid. Even the sun shines somehow more gently here. Balatonfüred and its surrounding settlements lie in the so-called „Balaton Riviera”. This expresssion refers to the special micro-climate prevailing here. This climate is created by the foot-hills of the „Balaton felvidék” (=Balaton Highlands): the so-called „Tamás hegy” (=Thomas Hill), Sándor-, Péter- and Száka-hegy (=Alexander-, Peter- and „Száka” Hill) give protection against the icy winds coming from the direction of „Bakony” mountains. Continuous air movement between the land and Lake Balaton, constant winds provide clean air free of dust for people living here and the air heals diseases of the heart and blood-vessels, too. The water from the springs is used for healing in the National Heart Hospital. But anyone can taste and heal from the famous Füred acidulous spring waters at Kossuth spring, Berzsenyi well, Szekér Ernő spring and Schneider well. Thousands of people suffering from heart disease recovered in this hospital. Rabindranath Tagore, the famous Nobel-prize winning Hindu poet was healed here in 1926 and denominated a beautiful alley close to the shore of the lake.
The town is infinitely rich in historic memorial places. These were mostly renovated and restored. It may happen that some of these have been appointed different roles noawadys than their original one but they are part of our cultural life anyway. There are numerous villas and mansions in the town that contributed to the special beauty of Balatonfüred and made the town famous in faraway places of the earth.
The three churches of Balatonfüred arise in the upper part of the town as if protecting its tranquility: these are the „Református templom” (=Reformed Church), the „Katolikus templom” (= Catholic Church) and the freshly built „Evangélikus templom” (=Evangelical Church).
The old part of the town that used to be a village has numerous old houses that belong to the national heritage. Balatonarács used to be an independent village, but in 1954 it became part of Balatonfüred, and there are many beautiful old buildings here, as well. On the two sides of the main street leading to the oldtime village there are one-storied and two-storied old buildings built in a row. In the oldtime village, or oldtime city as it is called nowadays the following buildings preserve ancient folk traditions as shown on their memorial tablets. Siske street leads into a forest, and continues in a path, which offers a wonderful place to take trips around Balatonfüred.
The „Gombás-kúria” (=Gombás mansion), built in the second part of the 18-th century, is one of the most famous buildings of Balatonfüred. Those members of he lower nobility built cellar-mansions like these all around Lake Balaton who admired beauty and were endowed with a sense of style. They spent part of the year here every year. Balatonfüred used to be a favourite meeting place especially for the nobility living in Zala county, and they built dozens of similar cellar-mansions in Baroque or late-baroque style turning the Füred mountains into a truly colourful site.
