Petrikeresztúr: Church, Ceramics and Hiking Trails

Petrikeresztúr offers an unusual combination of church history, a ceramic Stations of the Cross and hiking trails that pass through or begin in the town. The Szent Kereszt Felmagasztalása Church is a prominent cultural landmark; an old small-leaved lime tree also stands in the churchyard. Those wishing to combine history and activity during the same stay will find points of interest here ranging from architectural styles and religious art to routes of varying lengths.

A Church with Gothic and Baroque History

The Roman Catholic church was built in the 15th century in the Gothic style. A church already stood on this site in 1275, but it later burned down. By 1735, the church had been restored in the Baroque style. This sequence gives the site a long historical context, spanning an early church building, a Gothic construction phase and a Baroque character.

The present building stands detached and faces east. It has a single nave and a polygonal chancel; a buttressed tower stands in front of the west façade. The single-nave layout describes the main building, while “polygonal” refers to the multi-sided shape of the chancel. This makes it possible to understand the main features of the architecture without specialist knowledge.

The Stations of the Cross are a distinctive link to the church’s more recent history: Márkos Attila created them from clay in 1973 in memory of his brother, Márkos Béla. The material, date and dedication make the work a distinct facet of art history alongside the older building phases. For a stay that combines an interest in architecture and art, the church therefore offers more than a single historical period.

Small-Leaved Lime Tree and Hiking Trails

The churchyard adds a connection to nature to the cultural focal point. A 2022 hiking report gives the small-leaved lime tree’s trunk circumference as 460 cm and estimates its age at around 350 years. The age is explicitly an estimate. The tree and the church represent different dimensions of history: the lime tree’s estimated lifespan and the history of the church site, which spans several centuries.

The Kéktúra hiking trail passes through Petrikeresztúr. A 2020 report also describes a 2.5 km educational trail through the village with ten information boards. Petrikeresztúr is named as the starting point for the Pataktól patakig educational trail; this starting-point information also dates from 2020. In addition, the section between Becsvölgye and Petrikeresztúr, designated RP-DDK-36, is 4.1 km long. Before walking this section, check the current trail conditions.

The route details offer different points of reference for planning: the described village educational trail is shorter than the 4.1 km section between the two named places and features information boards. When looking for a holiday rental, consider what you want to focus on during your trip: would you like to spend most of your time exploring the church’s history and the churchyard, or include hikes in your plans? This will help you shape your stay around the experiences that interest you most.

Ceramics as a Local Connection

A ceramics studio is also among the town’s reported cultural attractions. A 2020 report stated that Págyi Zsóka, a ceramic artist living in the Győrfiszeg district, was then teaching interested participants at the Tuttu Mikka-Makka Association’s ceramics studio. If you are interested in a course like this, check in advance whether it is currently available. Together with the clay Stations of the Cross, this points to two different connections with ceramics: a work in the church and a course that was offered at the time.

Discover more destinations: Pusztaederics, Dobronhegy, Bagod, Zalalövő, Gősfa, Iborfia, Pusztaszentlászló, Nagykutas.

For the overview of the wider area: Zalaegerszegi.