Cultural walks in Tata
Walk with Count Nick – The mansion and the manorial centre
Being the centre of the Esterházy estate of Tata-Gesztes, in the 18th century Tata witnessed unparalleled development. Construction work and the organization of the estate took place in the second half of the 18th century, including the building of the count’s mansion in an area next to the former royal castle. The second golden age of the mansion came after 1867, when Miklós József Esterházy, nicknamed Count Nick, ran a training establishment and organized regular horse races in Tata. Stations: 1 Esterházy Mansion, 2 Turkish bath, 3 Castle theatre, 4 Riding school.
Walk with the sculptor – Antal Schweiger’s baroque statues in Tata
Statues erected in public places are essential in a baroque town. The master of those in Tata is the sculptor Antal Schweiger, who came to the town in 1768 as a decorator of the faience factory. While producing a variety of designs such as dishes decorated with lifelike crabs, bottles in the shape of parrots, and earthenware statuettes (all exhibited in the castle), he was also commissioned to make large-size statues. Stations: Golgotha group of statues (Crucifixion), Holy Cross Parish Church – High altar, Maria Immaculata (The Immaculate Virgin Mary) statue, The statue of St John of Nepomuc, Griffins in Angolkert (landscape garden).
Nature-related cultural walks in Tata
Route of the Stones – Quarries and the use of stone in Tata
The starting point of our walk is Kálvária-domb (Calvary Hill), Tata’s highest point. Calvary Hill acquired its old name Marmorberg (Marble Hill) owing to the fossiliferous red limestone uncovered here. The locally available stone made Tata a famous centre of masonry. During our walk we can observe the extensive use of stone on the buildings of the town. The red limestone called marble served as the material for plinths, stairs, ledges, door and window frames, as well as the panelling of basements; the blue stone quarried on the southern hillside was used for the construction of earlier buildings such as the castle, whereas the fresh water limestone found on the eastern side was a favourite decorative element on romantic-style buildings (for instance the artificial ruins in Angolkert [ landscape garden]).
Stations: The strata of Marble Hill, The craft of quarrying, The stone as building and decorative material, The pulverulent stone quarry, The craft of masonry.
Route of the Waters – On the trail of Tata’s mills
It was the abundant crystal-clear sources of water that once served as the attraction of Tata, also called “the town of waters” in the past. Kristály Brook, fed by the sources spouting to the surface in the landscape garden, would have driven the wheels of a number of mills. However, the predominantly 18th-century baroque millhouses were not only used for crushing grain into flour; in the so-called fulling mills fullers would press woven wool in water. During our walk along the brook we will come across eleven flour-milling and cloth-fulling mills, all of which are historical monuments today. The last of them is Cifra-malom (Fancy Mill) built in 1753, with four wheels driven by the brook flowing from the lake. Stations: The sources of Tata, Sándor Mill, The mills of Kodály tér (square), Pötörke Mill, József Mill / Nepomucenus Mill, Fancy Mill.