The village of Zalaszántó is surrounded by a beautiful environment. The Keszthelyi Hills reaches the South Bakony here in the Szántó Basin. South of the ruins of Rezi, north-east the ruins of the Castle of Tátika show. The area is part of the Upper Balaton National Park since 1997.

The museum presents the history of red pepper ever since its crossing through the ocean. Although the plant entered our country through Turkish mediation, it became the most tipically Hungarian spice. In Napoleon's time black pepper was substituted by red pepper which turned out to be a good medicine for certain deseases, too.

The Vas County Museum Village represents two centuries of archeologic civilization and lifestyle of the rural population. Besides the local buildings of various styles, visitors can also see Croatian, German, Slovene dwelling-houses of the region.

Did you know that the Hungarian word paprika is used in many languages and comes from the southern Slavic word papar meaning pepper?

The Museum of Pataj was established in 1959 by the history teacher Pastyik István who was the manager of the museum for the next 40 years. There were only a few objects in the collection at the beginning. Objects he collected were placed in one of the smaller rooms of the Primary School. However, a few month was enough and the room was too small for the collection. Then, the manager singled out a peasant house with a barn. The institution bought it and renovated it after which it opened in the summer of 1962. The first visitors were the composer Kodály and his entourage.

The works of the Hungarian egg painters are exhibited in regional units. Some Israeli, Chinese and Indonesian pieces are seen, too. Pieces of popular and applied arts are displayed in the glass-cases as well. Postcards and replicas can be purchased of the nicest pieces in the exhibition. The museum offers a whole set of paints, other tools and counsels necessary for egg painting at home.