The Hungarian puszta stretches to the horizon, a vast grassy plain where the sky feels twice as large as anywhere else. Hortobágy National Park protects this ancient landscape of marshes, meadows, and grazing herds. Grey longhorn cattle with wide horns stand motionless in the heat haze. Racka sheep with spiral horns wander past traditional wells with long sweep poles. Hungarian horsemen called csikós gallop across the steppe in flowing white shirts, performing tricks that date back centuries. The Nine-Hole Bridge, Hungary’s longest stone bridge, arches over the marshland. Hortobágy is not a manicured park. It is wild, open, and timeless.
Hortobágy National Park – the Puszta is situated around the village with the same name – Hortobágy and covers an area of 70,000 hectares. In 1999, Hortobágy National Park was inscribed into the UNESCO World heritage Site, but was established already in 1973 and such it is the oldest national park in Hungary.
Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by Attila Hajdu
For those travelling through Hortobágy National Park probably seems that there is nothing, just an endless horizon. You can hardly see some well, pub, or settlement, smaller trees and shrubs. So why Hortobágy got onto the UNESCO list? It is a cultural area where the coexistence of man and nature dates back to 2000-year old history. It is the largest natural moor in Europe, which was not created by grubbing up of forests. It is also the oldest national park in Hungary As typical animals in the moor, everyone firstly thinks about such as gray cattle, sheep, seagulls, Mangalica pigs and Nonius horse. But Hortobágy is also the famous place due to bird world. So far, there are 342 registered different species, of which 152 nest in the Hortobágy. Among them there is a number of strictly protected species.
Hortobágy National Park consists of steppe, extensive pastures, ponds and swamps. In the area of the park you can see growing some plant species which usually grow at sea. Park protects primarily large number of different species of birds. During the night, the park is a home to nesting but also migratory birds. Around the lakes you can be observed Waders.
You can access Hortobágy National Park from the tourist centers that acquaint visitors with the local nature, past and present of the park. The most popular are Szálkahalom, Hortobágy, Nagyván and Mátapuszta.
View Hortobágy National Park – the largest natural moor in Europe Hungary in a larger map
Birdlife and Wildlife of the Hortobágy Puszta
Hortobágy National Park is one of the most important bird habitats in continental Europe, designated as a UNESCO World heritage site and a Ramsar wetland of international importance. The vast open puszta plain, punctuated by seasonal marshes and shallow alkaline lakes, provides a staging ground for hundreds of thousands of migrating birds each spring and autumn. The most celebrated resident is the great bustard, one of the heaviest flying birds on Earth, with males weighing up to 16 kilograms and sporting wingspans of over two metres. The Hungarian population of great bustards, estimated at around 1,500 individuals, finds its stronghold in Hortobágy. The best time to see them is in April and May, when the males perform their elaborate courtship display on the open grassland.
The park is equally famed for its heron colonies. The grey heron, the purple heron, the great white egret, and the little egret all nest in the reed beds, and the black stork and white stork forage in the wet meadows. Raptors are abundant: the red-footed falcon hunts dragonflies and voles, and the Saker falcon, a rare and powerful raptor, hunts ground squirrels. The short-eared owl, visible hunting in broad daylight, glides low over the grassland. Birdwatchers should bring a spotting scope, as the distances on the puszta are deceptive. The park information centre produces a weekly bird report during migration seasons.
The Visitor Centre and the Traditional Shepherd Museum
The Hortobágy National Park visitor centre, located just behind the Hortobágy village at the far end of the Nine-Hole Bridge, serves as the ideal starting point for any exploration of the park. The modern building features a permanent exhibition that explains the geological formation of the Great Hungarian Plain, the traditional pastoral economy of the puszta, and the biodiversity that the park protects. Interactive displays allow visitors to listen to bird calls, feel the texture of different sheep wools, and trace the migratory routes of the birds. A well-stocked gift shop sells field guides, maps, local honey, and paprika produced in the nearby Tisza valley.
A five-minute walk from the visitor centre is the Puszta Animal Park and the Shepherd Museum, housed in a traditional 19th-century farmstead. The museum collection includes elaborate hand-carved shepherd axes, embroidered coats, leather water flasks, and the distinctive fur hats that marked the rank of the chief shepherd. Outside, the animal park encloses the iconic Hungarian livestock breeds: the Hungarian grey longhorn cattle with their enormous sweeping horns, the curly-horned Racka sheep, the woolly Mangalica pigs, and the sturdy Nonius horses. Demonstrations of traditional horsemanship, including the famous csikós whip-cracking show, take place daily from April through October.
Have you ever seen a landscape that made you feel completely small? 🌾
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