Pilgrimage walks in the region
There are three pilgrimage routes that lead to Máriacell through Western Transdanubia. Of these, the northern route goes through our region, which has been used by pilgrims from Sopron and the Fertő region to Máriacell for centuries. In Sopron, the Mariacelli cross marks the gathering place of pilgrims on Bécsi út.
Via Mariae (M05, M65)
Two sections (M05 and M65) of the northern route of Maria’s way (Via Mariae) leading across Central Europe pass through our region, which are part of the nearly 1,400 km long pilgrimage route from Csíksomlyó in Transylvania to Mariazell in Austria. The M05 road reaches the Hungarian border from the direction of Frauenkirchen (Assumption), a shrine of Mary founded by the Esterházy family in the 17th century,and later goes through Fertőújlak - Sarród - Fertőd - Fertőszéplak - Hegykő - Fertőhomok - Hidegség - Fertőboz (with the tombs of count Béla Széchényi and Hanna Endrődy at the end the line of linden trees) - Nagycenk - Kópháza - Sopron. It continues from Sopron in the direction of Ágfalva passing the Church of the Queen of Heaven in Sopronbánfalva, which is an outstanding pilgrimage site for the cult of the Black Madonna of Chestochowa in the vicinity of Sopron. Leaving Ágfalva, passing the Pauline monastery in Baumgarten in Austria, the section continues to the final stop, Mariazell.
Another trail, the M65, starts from the Church of Our Lady of Sarlós in Kópháza, one of the most significant shrines in the area, then goes through Harka towards the Sopron Mountains and passes the Muck and the Magas peaks, following the trail of the former border protection technical lock, and crosses the border at the “Urak Asztala”. This section also passes the Rosalia Chapel near Forchtenstein in Austria.
The site of pilgrimage highlighted in the Hungarian section is the Szeredi Chapel in Fertőszentmiklós and the only church in Loreto (Lorettom - Austria, the Black Madonna pilgrimage site in the Leitha Mountains founded by the Nádasdy family) with a copy of the Black Madonna in Kópháza, the Queen of Heavens in Sopronbánfalva, and the Kecske church in Sopron (Assumption of Mary church).
St Martin’s route
In 2005, the route from St. Martin's birthplace, Szombathely to Tours was declared by the Council of Europe a European Cultural Route to showcase the life and most important memorabilia of the cult of Europe's most popular saint, St. Martin. Saint Martin was born in 316 in Savaria, the ancient city in what is today Szombathely. Nowadays, there are several thematic routes which start in Szombathely, of which the section leading to Vienna (Via Vindobona) goes through this region. From the second half of the 16th century, Croatian settlers, the "Croatians of Gradiste", came to Kópháza near Sopron, and occupied the place of those who escaped from the Turkish threat. The pilgrimage route includes the church dedicated to St. Martin in the centre of the village, which originally stood in the cemetery and was rebuilt at its present location at the end of the 18th century after its demolition.
Route of the pearls (St. Margaret Route)
A 760-kilometer pilgrimage route connecting the outstanding Hungarian shrine of Mary, Mátraverebély-Szentkút and Mariazell, which leads mainly through forest hiking trails. In addition to the hiking trail signs, the pilgrimage route is marked with a string of yellow pearls.