Ipolydamásd

Ipolydamásd is situated on the south-eastern side of Börzsöny Mountain, in the valley bordered by Rivers Ipoly and the Örgedamásd stream. The village close to the Slovakian frontier can be accessed by car on long-distance road 12, by railway from Szob, as the next railway station is there, at a distance of 3 km from Ipolydamásd. From Szob there is also scheduled bus transport to the village.

The area of the village is populated from the 12^th century, a fact evidenced by rich architectural findings. The medieval settlement was some 1,5 km farer, at the stream of Öregdamásd. It was in 1804 that the village moved to its present place, that is, to the bank of River Ipoly. There are even two castle ruins in the village, which was at one time a place of strategic importance in protecting the mining towns on the north. Zuvár, the first one, was presumably built in the 13^th century and it is situated on a 313 m high hill beside the Ódamásd valley. The Damásd castle is mentioned for the first time in 1361, as a hunting palace of the king. In 1541 the castle was captured by the Turks, and in 1581, despite of the protest of the Hungarian it was destroyed and a palisaded castle was built in its stead. In 594 the Turkish army put the castle to fire as punishment for the military success of the Hungarian. Following the peace treaty at Zsitvatorok, the former Turkish border castle was rebuilt,  as were the other border castles protecting the Ipoly valley, but after 1646, when the Turks destroyed it again, it was no more rebuilt. The only remains of the castle that still exist are some walls of the big tower, the stairs to the cellar and the barrel vault

The bank of River Ipoly and the ranges of Börzsöny are favourite destinations of hikers. The river is good for angling as well. It is worth to visit also the Roman Catholic church of the village built in 1861. A unique festivity of the village is the Carnival parade organized in February each year.

Sources: http://www.ipolydamasd.hu/, http://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipolydam%C3%A1sd, http://www.vendegvaro.hu/ipolydamasd, http://turaindex.hu/celpont/katolikus-templom245