Lovászi Summary
Lovászi
Summary
Summary
Lovászi lies next to a road connecting Lenti with Letenye, on the right bank of the river Kerka forming a valley, in the South-West side of Zala county. The name of the settlement makes a reference to the fact that the people living here in the Arpadian age were royal servants. The first written mention of the community is known from 1322. According to this charter re-formulated in 1335, King Charles Robert returned his estates to Miklós, the son of ban István Lyndvai – the ancestor of the Bánffy family. In 1347, Miklós and Márton Lyndvai, as well as their sons in co-operation with the chapter of Vasvár, restored the earlier destroyed old landmarks. Later, a charter from 1408 mentioned Jakab Nagy from Lovász, one from 1416 mentioned Bálint Lovászi, and another one from 1452 made mention of János Lovászy Elles as the local nobility. In 1415, King Sigismund donated a partial estate consisting of 7 and a half units of land held in villeinage to Miklós Széchy. János Lovászi Barkóczy as a royal person appeared in charters in 1469. Tamás Széchy sold his estates here to István Hegyi in 1503. We know of a certain Tamás Hegyi from 1512, who at that time owned a plot of land here.
László Barkóczy – having been accused of disloyalty – lost his possessions here in 1557, and the king donated them to András Kerecsenyi, but Jób Barkóczy managed to object to the entitlement successfully. This estate later was added to the possessions of the Bakács family through Kata, the daughter of Jób Barbóczy. In 1570, the Hegyi family fell into disloyalty also, and their confiscated estates were obtained by László Bánffy. Albert Rajky – who was a relative of the Hegyi family on the mother’s line – pursued a successful legal procedure to regain the aforementioned properties. This family continued to be the owners right until the beginning of the 18. century, when their share was obtained by the Somsits family, while the share of the Bakács family was gained by the Jakasics family.
The village successfully survived the Turkish times. Although the major part of the village was ruined in the course of a large-scale Turkish raid in 1593, when part of its population also fell into captivity. With all that, the inhabitants of the adjacent villages, which were frequently burnt down and destroyed during the 17. century, took refuge exactly in here.
The present village was only established in 1964, when two ancient settlements, Lovászi and Kútfej were merged. The first known owner of Kútfej was Miklós Lyndvai, the son of István Haholt. The village was owned by the descendants of the family until 1644. The estate descended from them to Tamás Nádasdy, and later to the Treasury, after the latter had been decapitated. The village became fully devastated during the Turkish times. Its re-settlement started in 1676. The estate was obtained by palatine Pál Eszterházy in 1690, and the family owned it until 1848 as part of the Lendvai estate. In 1770, there were 14 serf- and 7 house-owning cotter-families living on 6 full allotments of the Eszterházy family. In 1780, Lovászi was owned by four landlords. At that time, there were 43 serf-families, 19 house-owning cotter families and 2 cotter families without houses cultivating the hired lands of about 500 holds.
In addition to land cultivation, the vineyards around the Kerka ensured a significant source of living. Some charters in the 12. century already mentioned these cultures. The vine hill of Lovászi was mentioned in 1374. According to the charter, the border of the village was drawn long among the vines on the hill. After the tax registration in the 18. century, it was also registered as a village “producing noble wines that can be kept well”. On the wine hill here, there was a small wooden chapel here as early as in 1714. In 1747, this chapel was reconstructed in bricks by András Jakasics. This chapel was destroyed during the second World War.
As a result of the Peace Treaty of Trianon, the future of the community, already in a peripheral situation, became hopeless. In 1930, the 1074 hectar land area of the village was cultivated in 290 farms in Lovászi. Kútfej was in a similar situation. In 1935, 205 out of the 235 farms were not larger than 5 holds. Due to the lack of work, many were forced to work as seasonal contract labourers. They mainly had to work in Tolna, Fejér and Baranya counties.
And this was the situation with almost no prospects, when oil appeared. MAORT found excellent quality oil around Lovászi, Kútfej and Tormafölde. The first producing well was put into operation on the first of December 1940. For only one year, 22 wells were deepened in the region, all of them successfully. The pace of production kept growing dynamically. And soon the plant was also built between the two villages. And next to the plant, MAORT also built an independent housing estate established on the oil. The “camp” – as the site was called – was a special world. Apartments and shops, social facilities, roads, public lighting and gas pipelines were built. MAORT constructed a school and a church. New life was started in the community, which had been doomed to destruction just a few years before.
Oil production reached its peak by the 1960-ies. By this time, more than 400 wells had been bored. The administrative centre of the oil industry was also here for a while. Since the sixties, however, the “oil” people started to move out of the village as production was slackening gradually. This process seems to be unstoppable.
The development of tourism may be a breakout point from this pressing situation. The favourable location of the village, the natural resources of its neighbourhood, the ancient beeches of Vétyem, and the vicinity of the thermal bath in Lenti provide a good basis for this.
