Among the Makovecz buildings in Southwest Hungary are the architect’s first sacral buildings. Right around the time when these structures were constructed, Imre Makovecz summarized his thoughts on building churches. This coincidence renders additional weight to his words:
“… I would like to start at the beginning. I would like to say that a church, the building with the people in it and the particulars of the rituals, do not illustrate anything. A church is not a simile. A church, in this sense, should not be “beautiful”. We should re-examine certain basic concepts. For instance, that a church is the house of God. If anyone were to take this seriously, even for a moment, whether he sits in church with many others or in solitude, he would have to fall on his knees, or better yet, he’d have to fall down on the floor with his face to the ground in the fashion of friars. I cannot take anything else as my starting point except this.”

With one exception, the buildings in this region are also connected by a unique circumstance: All of them were designed in an especially fruitful, three-year period in Imre Makovecz’s career, their construction took place almost simultaneously, and they were delivered for use in the same fashion, too.
Therefore, the recommended route in this region is identical to the itinerary that Imre Makovecz used to complete regularly when visiting each construction location within the same day for on-site supervision.

The one exception is the Sió Inn at Szekszárd that belongs to the legendary series of Makovecz buildings constructed in the 1960s (Szekszárd, Balatonszepezd, Velence), each characterized by a bold, revolutionary design.

At the time of compiling this publication, the Sió Inn was in poor condition and was closed for the public. After several years of deterioration, the inn seems to escape decay thanks to its new owner.