Turistvandi Water Mill

The mill at Turistvandi stands over a channel of the Tur, a timber building on stone piers with undershot wheels turned by the river, built in the eighteenth century and worked commercially until the middle of the twentieth. It has been kept in running order rather than turned into a display: the wheels turn, the gearing engages, and the millstones can be set grinding for visitors, which makes the noise and the shaking of the floor part of the visit. The Tur here is a slow lowland river good for paddling, and the mill pool below the wheels is used for swimming in summer. The surrounding Szatmar-Bereg region is flat, wooded and among the least visited in Hungary.

What you actually see

• Wheels turned by the river - the mill still in working order.
• Millstones set grinding - the machinery demonstrated for visitors.
• The timber structure on stone piers - eighteenth-century construction.
• The mill pool - the swimming and paddling water below.

When to go

May to September, when the mill is demonstrated and the pool is used. One hour. Demonstrations run at set times or on request. Winter opening is minimal.

Honest expectations

It is a single small building and the visit is short. Demonstrations depend on staff being there. The region has thin public transport and few restaurants. The pool is a river, with the water quality of one.

Nearby

Szatmarcseke is east; Csaroda lies north.