In the footsteps of the watermill on the Hortobágy river
Location:
Malomháza
Rekonstrukciós látványterv
Bálint Lach
Research and Data Provision:
Interspect Kft., Hortobágy National Park, MATE Department of Landscape Protection and Restoration
Year:
2023
In the heart of the Hortobágy National Park, south of the Nine-holed Bridge, Malomháza was once a thriving center of milling life. The project aimed for a scientifically rigorous reconstruction of the dammed water mill and its environment, which had 15th-century roots and reached its heyday in the 18th and 19th centuries. The research was based on Interspect Kft.'s aerial surveys with centimeter-level field resolution (orthophotos, digital elevation models) and the archival research provided by the Hortobágy National Park Directorate.
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Based on archival descriptions—such as the 1820 inventory, which mentions a "stone room, plank attic, and three pairs of millstones"—and using the analogy of the Túristvándi water mill, I created the reconstruction drawings and visualizations of the building complex and its associated structures (sluices, canals). During the visualization process, we depicted not only the building itself but also its organic landscape connections, illustrating how the power of water was harnessed for the benefit of the puszta community.