Vizsoly

Vizsoly is a village of a few hundred people with a Romanesque church whose walls carry medieval frescoes uncovered under later plaster, and with a place in the history of the Hungarian language: between 1589 and 1590 the first complete Hungarian translation of the Bible was printed here, the work of the pastor Gaspar Karoli of nearby Gonc and a printer brought in for the purpose, in an edition of around seven or eight hundred copies. The Karoli translation shaped written Hungarian in the way Luther's shaped German, and it remained the standard Protestant Bible for centuries. One of the surviving copies is kept and displayed in the church, along with a working replica press.

What you actually see

• A surviving 1590 Vizsoly Bible - a copy of the first complete Hungarian translation.
• Medieval frescoes - painting uncovered under later plaster.
• The replica printing press - the process shown in the church.
• The Romanesque village church - the building the printing happened beside.

When to go

April to October. One hour. Opening hours are limited and the church may need to be opened on request; check locally. Services take precedence.

Honest expectations

It is one small church in a poor village and the visit is short. Hours are unreliable outside summer. Interpretation is in Hungarian. There is nothing else in the village.

Nearby

Gonc is north; Boldogko castle lies west.