Villánykövesd is located in the South of Baranya county, at the feet of the Villány mountains emerging from the plain along the Drava, 13 kms from Siklós, and 30 kms from Pécs. This settlement is the pride of the Villány-Siklós wine route.

The sights of the settlement

The cellar-row situated on two to three levels on the hillside and consisting of 57 cellars tightly attached to one another reveals to visitors the fact that it is a wine region with a long tradition. The complex is a protected monument, an outstanding architectural curiosity and a special photo subject.

The 2 hectare park with a playground for the amusement of children can be seen from here.

Another outstanding sight of the settlement is the large cellar named after the noble Batthyány, the "wine cathedral", which is today the property of the Agricultural Production Community of Villány. The amazing sight of the baroque cellar architecture does resemble a real cathedral. The wooden barrels stored here are suitable for containing 4000 hectolitres of wine. In the second half of September the opening ceremony of the globally more and more well-known and popular International Wine Song Festival of Pécs has already taken place here for years.

The Roman Catholic church was built in late baroque style in 1780 in honour of Blessed Virgin Mary.

History of the settlement

The area of Villánykövesd was already inhabited in the 3rd millennium B.C. It has the name Kuestd in writings descending from 1290 and Kwesd in a document from 1436. The municipality was inhabited by Hungarians and owned by the Siklóssy family in the Árpád-era. During the Turkish period, Serbs settled in the village which had become more and more depopulated by that time. They were ruled by the Zrínyi family. In the 1750s numerous German families moved to this village. The Germans possessing thorough skills initiated a high-quality grape-growing tradition in this settlement. The municipality became one of the most significant grape-growing areas of the lordship of Bóly.

The village was also affected by settling and expulsion after World War II, Hungarians arrived from the environs of Debrecen and from the area of present day Slovakia. The population has preserved, however, the lifestyle and culture of the Swabians to this day.