Vas-hegy, Geographical small region in Vas County, Hungary
Vas-hegy is a low mountain range on the western edge of Vas County, divided by the Pinka River's gorge at Felsőcsatár. Its oldest rocks are Devonian dolomite and limestone, with limestone blocks folded into phyllite near Vaskeresztes. The range lies on both sides of the Hungary-Austria border and is part of the Sopron wine region.
The Romans mined stone here and buried their dead on the slopes. Vine growing and wine later made the range known, and today it belongs to the Sopron wine region. The 1920 Treaty of Trianon split the mountain between Hungary and Austria; after 1989 infrastructure improved, and Schengen accession restored its unity.
Local wine producers serve their own bottles at cellars called Buschenschank, a tradition kept on both sides of the border. Hundreds of cellars in Csejke, Felsőcsatár and Vaskeresztes are locally protected, and the medieval-origin Chapel of the Virgin Mary in Felsőcsatár is a restored listed building. Kékfrankos, Zweigelt and Pinot Noir are the main grapes; Vaskeresztes also has a bottling plant and a distillery.
The region is accessible by road 89 toward Narda or from the northern route 8714 starting at Pornóapáti. Hikers should check locally about trail conditions and any seasonal restrictions that may affect access through the gorge.
The Pinka's largest recorded flood struck on 22 April 1965, measured where the river breaks through the range near Felsőcsatár. The Pinka drains a catchment of 696 km² before entering the gorge. A mill on the Felsőcsatár stretch, built in the 16th century, generated electricity from 1927.
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