The viewpoint

If you walk up to the viewpoint above the village, you can not only enjoy the spectacular view, but also get a sense of the mystical nature that the people of the area attributed to their natural environment for centuries. The local tales – told by the admiring and humble people - present a world where people do not dominate nature, but submit to its laws, and in return, nature gives them all the good things they can imagine.

From the viewpoint, you can see the Szegi castle hill to the left. According to local folklore, the fairy castle on the hill was once home to fairies who often passed the time by playing ball. Sometimes the ball would fall and the fairies would cry. River Bodrog was told to be formed from their tears. 

This beautiful river still fascinates visitors to this day. In the spring, during the flood period, the river appears as a single, continuous expanse of water, many km long, with only the foliage of trees and branches of bushes visible here and there. You can take a boat to the floodplain to see special birds and plants that are unique to the area. In summer it calms down, providing excellent opportunities for kayaking, canoeing, boating and fishing. Fishing is no longer common, but there were once 20 fishing families in Bodrogkeresztúr who would set off for the river Bodrog at dawn, often returning late at night or the next morning only. Water demons and ghouls often appear in their stories. In one story, for example, a child emerged from the water, playing on the surface of the water, and when he disappeared, a giant tree suddenly stretched out from the middle of the river and struck fear into the hearts of the fishermen.

On the right, you can admire Kopasz hill, the meeting place of the witches of the area, according to the tales. According to one story, the wife of a blacksmith in Bodrogkeresztúr was also a witch. Her husband noticed that she often disappeared from home in the evenings, so he asked his servant to find out where she went. The witches met at the stone cross after dark to continue the night on Mount Tokaji. The blacksmith's wife threw a stirrup onto a barrel, which immediately turned into a horse, and this is how made their way up to the top of the hill, Nagykopasz, while the servant was hidden in the barrel. At midnight, at the end of the witches' meeting, the witches went back to the cross, where the horse became a barrel again when the stirrup was removed - but the servant suddenly jumped out of the barrel and threw the stirrup at the witch - so the witch became a horse. He led the horse into the blacksmith’s workshop and had the blacksmith shoe it the next day. When the witch turned back into a woman, she had the horseshoes on her hands and feet, which is how it was found out what she was doing at night.

The fairytale world of the region can be explored in more detail in the Treasure Trove of Keresztúr, and the water world of the Bodrogzug region can be explored from SUP and canoe.