Recommendation

In this festive year of the millecentenary the reader holds a special present in his hands. This comprehensive book, introducing the well-known places of pilgrimage within the boundaries of present day Veszprém County encompasses all settlements - together with the parts of hamlets that had already lost their self-administration during the bygone centuries. As a result of a wide-ranging, meticulous and untiring research-work this book manages to illustrate the surviving, definitive and materialized memories important for posterity.

The changing judgement of values in our changing history is also very well represented in this publication, the summarized result of which is graven on our memory. We are given a comprehensive picture of events and of those who were commemorated on particular occasions in various settlements. They lived and died in our country from among our illustrious ancestors and were highly respected by a grateful posterity at a given period if time, and we see how devastating wars, oppression and despotism really were. We come across various forms of homage, respect and reverence in this collection. Besides the multitude of memorial tablets and monuments, the tombs and sepulchres, stones and reliefs, busts and statues of the great sons of our history we can also find cemeteries, graveyards and belfries with crosses and traditional wooden headboards on tombs. In addition, are the memorial columns, benches and the ever-renewing commemorative trees.

Thanks to the editor and his zealous colleagues much information is available on particular memorials for anyone interested and we can learn who set up those memorials and for whom and for what event.

The commemorative lines engraved and carved into marbles of various colours, Permain sandstone, limestone and granite, basalt and bronze praise the hands of famous sculptors and both greater and lesser known stonecutters.

This representative selection is suitable for introducing settlements to their own history, also for raising their interest in their own past which is well reflected by the memorial places established after the change of regime in Hungary.

The editor should be praised for including memorials set up in the year of the millecentennary. Due praise should also be given to all those who have participated in the elaboration of this much needed work or simply supported its publication.

Let me recommend this memorial book on history to all those who wish to take strength from the bygone centuries of Veszprém County from the creative activity of our better-known or less-known ancestors in the course of their building the present and the future.

Veszprém, 20 June 1996.
	Dr. Gábor ZONGOR Chairman of Veszprém County Council