The most remarkable monument of the town is the medieval Dominican church and monastery, bearing memories from almost all eras of Vasvár. The complex now serves partly profane and partly sacred purposes, as it is a museum and an accommodation for pilgrims. Apart from the collection of the Dominican order the museum also harbours a county history exhibition and the heritage of the sculptor Richárd Török.
The cemetery church built also on medieval foundations is also worth a visit, as it offers a magnificent sight onto the plains of the Rába river. The so called Piece House, which originally was the office of the capitulum of Vasvár, the legend says that the Peace Treaty of Vasvár was signed in this house 1664.
Vasvár is one of the most well-known pilgrimage sites, even today several thousand people visit the votive statue of the parish church, the cemetery church and the spring in the beautiful surroundings of the Szentkút on the name day of Virgin Mary. In the vicinity of the Szentkút there is an open-air stage, the Rowing-Lake and the Szentkút Spa. The town offers several cultural delights as well: one of the most prominent events are the Hegyhát Days in August. The new scenery of the multi-hued cultural life is the Community House, inaugurated 2006. Tourists visiting the town can choose from a wide range of places of accommodation.
The Roman, or Vasvár entrenchment is closely related to the past of the settlement. The remnants of the early Hungarian border protection system can still be traced down between Vasvár and Győrvár; its reconstructed part, the Vaskapu, and he surrounding park forest are a special sight.
Vasvár Entrenchment
There is a large information sign on the main road 76 leading from Zalaegerszeg to Vasvár only a few hundred metres from the town of Vasvár to indicate the Road of Soldiers and the Vasvár Entrenchment.
After a distance of 800 metres on the Road of Soldiers, which is a cobbled forest road and in use today, you can reach the entrance of the Vaskapu park-forest, from where there is a study path leading to the Entrenchment. It is the internal line of early Hungarian border protection and it enclosed the Vasi-Hegyhát plateau, the natural pass on the water catchment area of the rivers Rába and Zala, between Győrvár and Vasvár on a length of 8 kilometres.The Entrenchment was erected somewhere in the second half of the 10th century, once the plundering campaigns to the west were finished, as a part of a fortification system protecting the entire Transdanubean region. In this region it was meant to protect the Road of Soldiers, the road leading from central Hungary to the Hegyhát and Őrség regions towards the Pomurje region (Slovenia) and over to Styria, as far as Northern Italy. The entrenchment had a pair at the historic border, between Murska Sobota and Bad Radkersburg, the actual march with the historic Őrség-region as the centre, where only the border-guards lived, was located between the two entrenchments.This protection system was used until the middle of the 12th century, when the stone castles were built to take over defensive roles. The Entrenchment, once having lost its defensive role, survived the next centuries as a borderline. Its good condition is the result of it being surrounded by forests.
The entrenchment originally consisted of a trench with an earth-wooden wall behind it; once it deteriorated only the trench and the fill behind it remained, yet it is still a remarkable construction. The architectural memorabilia, which in itself is a remarkable construction, was made even more spectacular following reconstruction works in the year 2000 in connection with the Hungarian Millennium at the point where the Road of Soldiers passes the Entrenchment. This was the only passage between the two sides of the Entrenchment until recently. This place in common parlance – probably bearing a century long name – is called Iron Gate. The reconstruction of the gate of the Entrenchment was completed in cooperation of the town and the forestry: a few parts of the wall made of earth-filled beams and the gate tower itself.
The Entrenchment, the Iron Gate and the surrounding forest are not only memorabilia, but also places to rest and make excursions in a beautiful natural environment with several paths leading to regional sights.
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