Lake Velence

The lake Velence evolved at the end of geohistory's Pleistocene epoch, at least 12.000-15.000 years ago. It developed between two parallel fault lines as the earth's crust sunk. The evolved graben was deepened further by stormy winds and precipitation. At the time of its evolvement the area of the lake was twice bigger than now and its water level was by 3-4 meters higher. Its size in the Holocene Epoch - the quaternary period - under the influence of accretion, gradually decreased.
Rich in fish and game its surroundings have been discovered and inhabited by man even in the Pre-Cambrian area. As the archeological finds prove it the lake was surrounded like a wreath by human settlements of the Pre-Cambrian, the Bronze, the Copper and the Iron Ages. Traces of human presence in the Pre-Cambrian were discovered arround the lake at Csákvár, Lovasberény, Pákozd, Nadap, Sukoró, Agárd and Velence, respectively. There are ample traces - plenties of earthworks, settlements, cemeteries - which certify that man has found shelter in the surroundings of the lake in almost every age of the geohistory.

Almost half way between Budapest and lake Balaton, lake Velence with its sparkling water-surface richly covered with islands of reed and continous reed streches and on its northern shore with gently emerging mountains and slopy hills attracts travellers of Transdanubia (the part of Hungary that lies between the Danube, the Drava and the Western Frontier of the country).

 The surroundings of lake Velence is extremely rich in natural values: the Velence mountain which runs along its northern shore being a real museum of geology. On its surface special rock-configurations, rock-streams and granite-arches alternate standing individually or in groups. Among its rock formations the rocking stones are Europe-famous. They formed as precipitation and water destroyed the less resistive strata from the huge granite blocks lying on one another, and as a result the rock masses lean against each other loosely. From afar it seems as if they were wobbling, although due to their perfect state of equilibrium, they could never topple. One of them the "Likas" stone of Meleg-hegy is also a historical monument, mentioned as boundary stone already in a document, dated to 1295. But the Gyapjaszsák (Wool-sack) of Sukoró - a group of granite blocks burnished into the shape of a wool-sack - the Gomba (Mushroom) of Pákozd, the Medve (Bear) of Sor-hegy and just as the Oroszlán (Lion), the Kutya (Dog) and the Sphinx of Pákozd are equally well-famed. The rock-stream of the Zsidó-hegy in Pázmánd is a natural rarity, a quartzite stream slashed by huge rocks, clefts and bays. Some formations took shape of granite in Csöntör-hegy.

The development of the region into a spa has started at the beginning of the 1930-s. Whereas in the first half of the century the presence of 20.000 people in one single summer period was considered as a peak, nowadays more than 200.000 people spend their time on the beach in a single hot spell week-end. The great appeal of the lake beyond its vicinity to Budapest and Székesfehérvár, is its shallow water quickly warming up and its surroundings with many possibilities for resort and entertainment. The water temperature of the lake is by 1-2 degrees higher than that of lake Balaton, being thus more "lukewarm". But this is due not only to its shallowness, but also to the fact that the granite block of Velence mountain quickly warmed up almost irradiated the absorbed heat of the sun. The water itself is not medically therapeutic, it belongs to the sodic waters containing sodium hydrogene carbonate. Due to its composition it eases physical and mental exhaustion, some sorts of dysorexia and of locomotor diseases as well as the rheumatic faver.

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