Novaj: Church History and Local Traditions
Accommodation in Novaj
Novaj’s history lives on in its church buildings, a monument and customs that give the village streets a distinctive character. The first church was probably built in 1288 and rebuilt after its destruction by the Ottomans. The village also preserves the Remélés tradition and a local choral culture. If local history and traditions are your main interests when travelling, Novaj offers a clear cultural focus.
Church and rectory: historic landmarks
The church’s history includes several specific milestones. According to the Hevenessy census of 1696, the ruined stone church in Novaj was in Calvinist hands. A new sacristy and an oratory were added in 1756. The village’s history thus brings together an early church building, a period of disrepair and later structural additions.
A rectory already existed in Novaj in 1332; the present-day building dates from the mid-19th century. A disused church bell was kept in the rectory because of its size and offered for the purposes of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. These details add another historical note to the building’s history. A monument in the southern part of the village also commemorates the Turks.
Remélés and choral culture
During Novaj’s Remélés, young unmarried men, wearing masks, parade through the streets in a mock wedding procession. Clanging and music accompany the procession. The custom also includes visits to houses where young women live: participants blacken the young women and wives living there, and receive eggs and bacon in return. The disguises, music and procession through the village give Remélés a distinctly unique character.
Choral culture is also connected with local folk traditions. The founding of the Novaji Asszonykórus was supported by Palóc research in 1971; the choir keeps local folk traditions alive. At performances, it sings songs in a special local dialect and wears 19th-century clothing from Novaj. Church and architectural history on the one hand, and traditional customs and singing on the other, offer different ways to explore the local culture.
More to explore in the wider Heves destination
The wider Heves destination offers additional landscape themes. The Hevesi Füves Puszták Landscape Protection Area lies in the southern part of Heves County and covers 16,114 hectares. It was designated in 1993 and reached its present extent after expansions in 2005 and 2008. The 6.5 km Ilona Valley nature trail along the Ilona stream passes the geological features of the Eastern Mátra Mountains and the traces of former ore mining.
Another trail in the wider Heves destination, the Pély-Ludas nature trail, introduces visitors to the grassland habitats of the Hevesi-Sík. These include salt steppes, marshes, bodies of water, thickets, semi-natural wooded areas and forests, as well as the wildlife and European roller population. Culture enthusiasts will also find a distinct point of interest there: the Szépasszony Valley is home to Eger’s largest continuous area of wine cellars; wine culture and the gastronomy associated with it are among its main tourist attractions.
Your preferred focus can help guide your choice of holiday apartment. If you are planning together, consider whether Novaj’s church and local history and customs should shape your trip, or whether you would also like to include the landscape, nature trail and wine themes of the wider Heves destination. This can help you tailor your search for a holiday apartment in Novaj to the interests that matter for your stay.
Discover more destinations
Discover more destinations: Egerszólát, Erlau, Feldebrő, Egerbakta, Maklár, Felsőtárkány, Noszvaj, Demjén.
See the overview of the wider destination: Eger.
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