Apartments, Houses and Chalets for Sale in the county of Vas, Western Transdanubia, Hungary.

County of Vas

The county

Western Transdanubia

It’s worth considering buying property in county Vas, the westernmost county of Hungary. It’s a much diversified region; plains, mountains and hilly areas too. All of its smaller and larger towns have their own natural, historical, architectural or cultural attractions.

One of the main characteristic features of Vas County is its small villages. 127, that is 59%, of a total of 216 communities have fewer than 500 inhabitants.

As far as the degree of urbanisation is concerned, some 56.2% of the population live in urban areas. The most striking differences can be seen at the level of micro-regions: the two extremes are Szombathely with 72.1% on one end of the spectrum, while Őriszentpéter (in the Őrség region, the western corner of the county), with 0% is on the other end since there are no towns there at all.

Town Centre Kőszeg, Vas

There are nine settlements of town rank in the county, none have more than 100,000 inhabitants. Only Szombathely has more than 50,000. The population in four more towns exceeds 10,000 (these are Sárvár, Körmend, Celldömölk and Kőszeg). Szentgotthárd is only slightly below this figure (9001). In the towns of Vasvár, Csepreg and Répcelak, there are fewer than 5000 inhabitants.

Vas County, Hungary

Its administrative center, Szombathely is a town with great history, one of the oldest towns founded in Hungary. The city was established in the Roman times by Emperor Claudius in 43 AD. Its establishment is due to its location along the Amber Road, which was an ancient trade route which connects the Baltic Sea with the Adriatic Sea. See: Amber Road

Szombathely

Szombathely, Hungary

The oldest city in Hungary, it is known as the birthplace of Saint Martin of Tours, and the Duke of Armbrust.

Szombathely, Hungary

The history of Szombathely, the regional capital of Vas County and an episcopal seat, started in the Roman Era.

Emperor Claudius Caesar (of "I Claudius" fame) founded the city named Savaria in 43 AD it functioned mainly as a military center. One can still see some relics from this era in the garden of ruins at Templom tér 1-3: remains of Savaria's forum, an almost 50-m section of the 2000-year old Amber road.

The Isis Sanctuary from the 2nd century in the park of the Iseum Ruins provides a background to the Iseum Open Air Theatre performances in summer.

Reconstruction of the Isis Sanctuary, Szombathely

Szombathely in Literature

Leopold Bloom - Poldy

In Ulysses, Joyce has set out to write the great Irish novel (and, coincidentally, the greatest novel of all time), which would have made nationalistic Irishmen exceedingly proud. But then who does Joyce pick as the hero of his novel? He picks someone that most of those same nationalistic Irishmen wouldn't have thought of as a fellow patriot; they would have thought of him as a second-class citizen. Leopold Bloom the Jew from Szombathely.

Leopold Bloom is the protagonist and antihero of James Joyce's Ulysses. His peregrinations and encounters in Dublin on 16 June 1904 mirror, on a more mundane and intimate scale, those of Ulysses/Odysseus in The Odyssey.

James Joyce’s characters Rudolf Virág, and his son Leopold Bloom in Ulysses, were said to come from Szombathely.

Thatched cottages in Vas County

Vas County is also famous for its fortresses and castles. The classicist style Batthyányi-Strattmann castle in Körmend with the castle park is a nice place to visit. The medieval Nádasdy fortress in Sárvár is surrounded by a moat that today serves as a great park.

Nádasdy fortress

The most beautiful medieval castle is located in Kőszeg, adjacent to the charming old town with traditional restaurants, cobblestoned streets, and old fashioned houses. Kőszeg lies in the foothills of the Kőszeg Mountain, in the valley known as Gyöngyös creek.

Kőszeg Castle

Wines

Kőszeg and Vaskeresztes are particularly well known for the Kékfrankos, or Blaufränkisch grape variety and consequently their masterpieces tend to be strong dark red wines such as Zweigelt and Blauburger. However, they also produce some splendid Merlots, Cabernet Savignons and Pinot Noirs, as well as a number of lesser known gems such as the light, Hungarian red, “Kadarka” and the inimitable “Cserszegi Spicy”.

Vas County Wines

The Oszkó wineries, on the other hand, prefer ungrafted vines and grape varieties such as the Othello, Noha, and Isabella, which are unfortunately often grown for personal consumption only. White grapes are popular here, and a number of typical Hungarian wines can be found including Szürkebarát (similar to an Auvergnat gris), Hárslevelu (a full-bodied white with a linden-honey fragrance), Irsai Olivér (a fine, aromatic white) and Királyleányka (the “Royal Princess” of whites).

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