Via Sancti Martin

In 1866, during a hunting trip, the owner of the forest was Count Zsigmond Berchtold of Pereszny, whose three-year-old son Lipót (later Foreign Minister of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy) was lost in the forest, and three days later was found unharmed under a huge oak tree with a picture of Mary hanging from it. From that day onwards, the tree with the image of the Virgin Mary became a place of pilgrimage for the Count's family, and the Count ordered that a Mass of thanksgiving be celebrated on that day. This Mass became the basis for the subsequent processions, which were attended by Hungarians, Croats and Germans from the surrounding villages. 

Every year, the shrine is dedicated to the patron saint of an occupation or profession. Today there are about thirty statues around the small chapel in the woods. This year, it was the turn of the horsemen and horse-keepers, who consider Martin their patron saint. For the first time, the sculpture on display is not made of stone but of bronze. The relief of Saint Martin on horseback sharing his cloak with a beggar was made by sculptor Gábor Kékesi.