Hortobágy National Park - the Puszta

Brief Description

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Justification for Inscription

Criterion (iv): The Hungarian Puszta is an outstanding example of a cultural landscape shaped by a pastoral human society. Criterion (v): The landscape of the Hortobágy National Park preserves intact and visible the evidence of its traditional use over more than two millennia and represents the harmonious interaction between human beings and nature.

Long Description

The landscape of the Hungarian Puszta , an outstanding example of a cultural landscape shaped by a pastoral human society, preserves intact and visible the evidence of its traditional use over more than two millennia and represents the harmonious interaction between human beings and nature. The Puszta consists of a vast area of plains and wetlands in eastern Hungary. Traditional forms of land use, such as the grazing of domestic animals, have been present in this pastoral society for more than two millennia.

The Hortobágy National Park is part of the Tisza plain of eastern Hungary. It is surrounded by settlements to the south, east and west. The two main settlements are Tiszafüred on the Tisza River and the city of Debrecen. The two are linked by the main historic communication ridge route.

Numerous peoples migrated from the east into the Carpathian Basin in prehistory. The nomadic group who arrived around 2000 BC at the end of the Bronze Age were the first to leave their imprint on the natural landscape in the form of many burial mounds (kurgans ). Their dimensions are variable - 5-10 m high and 20-50 m in diameter - and they are generally conical or hemispherical. They are always to be found on dry land, but located near a source of water. They were often used for secondary burials by later peoples, and in some cases Christian churches were built on them by the Hungarians. Also to found in the park are the low mounds (tells) that mark the sites of ancient settlements, now disappeared. Settlement in the Middle Ages followed the Debrecen-Tiszafüred route. The main group was in the area defined by the existing settlements of Hortobágy, Naghegyes, Náduvdar and Nagyiván. Documentary records have shown that many of these had churches.

The Hungarians arrived in what is now Hungary at the end of the 9th century under their leader, Arpád. As the area was ideal for animal husbandry, they occupied the lands around the Tisza River in the 10th and 11th centuries, and by the early 13th century there was a dense network of settlements, whose economic base was pastoralism, in the Hortobágy, the main axis of which was the trading route from Buda through Tiszafúred and Debrecen into Transylvania.

With the progressive depopulation of the region from the 14th century onwards, the settlements disappeared. The only manmade features in the wide plains of the Puszta were light temporary structures of reeds and branches, used to provide winter shelter for animals and men. The sole surviving structures from this time, which were public buildings built from stone, are the bridges and the csárdas . The Nine Arch Bridge at Hortobágy is the longest stone bridge in Hungary. A wooden bridge known to have been in existence as early as the 14th century was replaced in 1827-33 by the existing structure in classical style. The Zádor Bridge in the southern part of the National Park was built in 1809 with nine arches, but the two side piers were swept away by a flood on the Zádor River in 1830 and never replaced. The csárdas were provincial inns built in the 18th and 19th centuries to provide food and lodging for travellers.

The typical csárda consists of two buildings facing one another, both single-storeyed and thatched or, occasionally, roofed with shingles or tiles. A tavern was normally set up on the side of the road with a railed-off counter in a room that had access to the wine cellar. A few also had one or two guest rooms. On the opposite side of the road from the csárda was provision for horses and carriages. The best known of the csárdas are at Balmazújváros (18th century), Hortobágy (first built in 1699 and reconstructed on several occasions), Nagyhegyes (early 19th century), Nagyiván (mid-18th century), and Tiszafüred (c . 1770).

In the early 19th century, water regulation systems were set up, notably control over flooding of the Tisza River: this resulted in the draining of former wetlands, which were converted to arable farming. Reduction of the water available for the natural pastures decreased their fertility, which was the cause of serious overgrazing in the early part of the 20th century. Efforts were made to diversify the land use of the Hortobágy, the most successful of which was the creation of artificial fishponds between 1914 and 1918 and again in the 1950s.

Historical Description

De nombreux peuples ont migré de l'est vers le Bassin des Carpates pendant la préhistoire. Le groupe nomade qui est arrivé autour de 2000 av. J.-C. à la fin de l'Age du bronze fut le premier à laisser son empreinte sur le paysage naturel, sous la forme de nombreux tumuli (kurgans). La région est en marge de l'Empire romain et, à l'époque, occupée par les Sarmates, un peuple cavalier venu d'Asie. Les Avars sont arrivés au milieu du VIe siècle, suivis par des colons slaves.

Les Hongrois s'installèrent dans ce que l'on appelle aujourd'hui la Hongrie à la fin du IXe siècle, menés par leur chef, Arpád. Comme la région se prêtait à merveille à l'élevage, ils occupèrent les terres autour de la Tisza aux Xe et XIe siècles. Au début du XIIIe siècle, un réseau dense d'établissements, dont l'économie reposait sur l'activité pastorale, s'était développé dans l'Hortobágy. L'axe commercial principal reliant Buda à la Transylvanie passait par Tiszafúred et Debrecen. Une tribu Cuman venue du sud de la Russie s'installa pacifiquement près de Nagykunság au sud-ouest de l'Hortobágy au début du XIIIe siècle.

La région fut cependant dévastée par la horde mongole qui déferla sur cette partie de l'Europe en 1241-1242 et de nombreux villages ne furent jamais relevés après le départ soudain des Mongols à la mort de leur Grand khân. Pendant la grande peste, au milieu du XIVe siècle, de nombreux villages se vidèrent de leur population et furent abandonnés. Simultanément, Debrecen se développa et attira les habitants des autres villages.

La région tomba entre les mains des Ottomans lorsque Debrecen fut prise en 1543. D'autres villages furent abandonnés durant les guerres qui dévastèrent la région entre 1593 et 1608, après l'incursion des Tatars de Crimée en 1594 et la guerre de quinze ans qui refoula les Turcs hors de Hongrie en 1711.

Les 150 ans de gouvernement turc ont renforcé l'économie pastorale qui devait dès lors dominer l'Hortobágy. De grands troupeaux de moutons et de boeufs étaient gardés sur les prairies ouvertes du début du printemps jusqu'à l'automne, puis conduits vers les abris d'hiver à proximité des sources d'eau. Au début du XIXe siècle, ce système prit fin, ruiné par la dévastation économique causée par les guerres napoléoniennes et les changements d'habitude alimentaire. Simultanément, des systèmes de régulation des eaux ont été mis en place. La domestication des eaux du fleuve Tisza élimina les crues et les inondations et draina les marécages qui furent transformés en terres arables, tandis que les prairies naturelles, privées d'eau, perdirent leur fertilité. Les maigres ressources ne suffisaient plus à nourrir les troupeaux et la région connut une grave surexploitation au début du XXe siècle.

On s'efforça de diversifier les activités dans l'Hortobágy, dont la plus réussie fut la création des étangs à poissons entre 1914 et 1918 et à nouveau dans les années 1950. Les étangs et les lacs couvrent actuellement une superficie de 65km2. L'introduction de la culture du riz dans les années 1950 fut un échec, de même que les projets de reboisement dans les anciens marais asséchés au sol alcalin.