Lake Dombay (Dombay-tó) Traditional Geocache
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(small)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
A geoláda a geocaching.hu oldalon GCDomt név alatt szerepel. Ne feledkezz el az ott szükséges jelszóról! This cache is also available on geocaching.hu as GCDomt.
The Lake Valley (Tó-völgy)
The Lake Valley is about 2 km west of the city of Pécsvárad, and in it is Lake Dombay, a charming small lake with 1.3 ha water surface.
The lake is fed by the Kisnádasdi Spring that discharges 60-100 l water per minute. In previous centuries mills lined the fast flowing creek from Pécsvárad to Püspökszenterzsébet (now simply Erzsébet). Some of the mills are still there, but used for other purposes.
Some coincidences and much easier burocracy played a big role at the birth of this lake in 1960.
János Dombay
The story start with János Dombay who was born in Veszprém in 1900, in a poor family. He worked as a chief tax officer and was transferred to Pécsvárad in 1931. He was pretty sickly, so in his free time in order to restore his health and also out of curiosity he hiked a lot in the area. Soon his interest turned to his earlier hobby, archaeology.
Until then there have never been excavations around Pécsvárad. After a long research finally he found a rich prehistoric site on the Aranyhegy (Golden Mountain), above the Kisnádasdi spring. As he was not a trained archeologist, neither he had friends, the museum of Pécs was not interested in his research. Eventially he could show his finds to the National Museum in Budapest, where they finally attracted attention and he got support. In 1937 the Baranya County Museum was established based on his finds in Pécsvárad and Dombay was appointed to be the director with the stipulation that within 4 years he had to receive his degree. He complied with this. In 1951 he became the head of the Janus Pannonius Museum and fulfilled this position until his death in 1961. Besides the finds in Aranyhegy, several other important excavations were initiated by him throughout Baranya County.
Lake Dombay
It is interesting to think about what was needed for the creation of a lake in the 1950s-1960s, and what is required now.
In 1959, the County Council held its meeting in Pécsvárad. One of the programmes was visiting the excavation of János Dombay. While doing that Mr. Dombay suggested that by building of a dam a lovely lake could be created in this beautiful environment. Sándor Palkó, the head of the county council was an avid angler, so he liked the idea instantly. Soon preparations began. The required land was expropriated and work has started. A 71 m long dam with sluice was built and some area got concrete surface. By the spring of 1961, at the cost of half a million forint, the first artificial boating lake of Baranya county was in operation. Its volume was 16 900 m3, average dept of 1.3 m, deepest point 3 m.
The Council of Pécsvárad took over the management of the lake in 1962 and decide to name it after János Dombay who died in the previous year.
Soon a small resort developed around the lake, it was chic to own a weekened house here. Besides Pécsvárad and nearby Hosszúhetény people from Pécs frequented the lake for fishing, boating, swimming.
A few decades have passed, no further investements were made and the area slowly lost its charm. Even on the hottest summer days hardly anyone spent time here, most of the weekend houses went up for sale, no one wanted to come here any more.
Finally, in 2015/16, the self goverment of Pécsvárad decided to rescue the lake. It was drained and renovations were made on the lake bed and the shore as well, making the area nicer, cleaner, more comfortable. The retro feeling is still there with the little diner and the paddle boat rental, but that is how we like it!
Sources:
http://www.pecsvarad.hu/varosunk/dombay-to
https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dombay_J%C3%A1nos
> 
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
N 500 zy pbagnvare arne gur fgnvef