site description

Dörgicse, lying only 155 kilometres from Budapest, is close to the northern banks of Lake Balaton. Seeing three medieval church ruins in such a small area is a unique experience in Hungary. Kisdörgicse, and especially Alsó- and Felsődörgicse are significant and valuable monuments in Hungary because of their long ecclesiastical past, their beauty and architectural peculiarities.

The church in Felsődörgicse is one of the most interesting medieval church buildings in Hungary as it was actually formed from two churches (one erected in the 11^th, and the other in the 13^th century) built next to one another. The ruins of the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Alsódörgicse rise on the hilltop like an exclamation mark. The western gable of the 13^th-century Romanesque fortress church is 22 metres high, its upper section is broken by three double windows of which the southern one is renovated while the others are in their original state. Wandering up to the ruin garden, visitors may admire the foundations and the arches of the northern gable (steeple). The acoustics of the ruin is also fascinating. The rest area next to the church ruins offer a remarkable view of the surrounding area and Lake Balaton.

Leaving Dörgicse for Kisdörgicse and passing the old stone bridge, visitors can see the ruins of the tiny church erected in the 13^th century. The building standing on the meadow of the Bere brook was dedicated to Saint Nicholas.