Our excursion boat on the Great Danube branch will make its first stop in Vác after departing from Budapest. Vác is also known as the heart of the Danube bend.
A medieval chronicle mentions Vác as a wooded place, inhabited by no other than a holy hermit called "Vácz". This is where the legend derives the name of the town from. Prince Géza, who had already returned here as king with his brother (later King St. Laszlo), met the hermit of Vácz before the decisive battle for the Hungarian throne. A deer carrying burning candles between its antlers appeared before the hunting brothers, led them to a high ground on the Danube and disappeared from their sight. The strange experience led King Géza to found the first episcopal cathedral, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, on the site of the Vác Castle. The statue of a hermit from the 1930s on Kossuth Square commemorates this story.
A statue of St Hedwig towers above a fountain on the side façade of the Church of the Whites in Vác. The daughter of King Louis the Great, the legendary Polish queen, who was recently canonised, became the patron saint of the Danube Bend a few years ago.
WE WILL NOT OPERATE ANY MORE LINES IN 2023!