West of Kassa, stretches a hilly district well-known through its likeness to the Karst Mountains, and its great caves. The centre of this district is Aggtelek, with its important stalactite cave, called Baradla, the second largest cave of this kind in the world. It was already inhabited in the stone-age, and served as refuge for the population during the invasion of the Mongols and the wars with the Turks; but it was only in the 19th Century, that it was properly explored.

The cave consists of a principal gallery 5797 meters long and various adjoining galleries, with a length of 2684 meters. Their inspection formerly took 16 hours. The Hungarian Carpathian Society however, had a new exit made in 1890, whereby the cave can now be traversed in 8 hours, while the inspection of the most beautiful parts alone lasts only three hours. The cave contains wonderful stalactite formations and vast halls, as much as 85 meters in height and 100 broad. The most curious part is the Witches' Mount, a cone 35 meters high, on which rises a stalagmite of 20 meters, called the "Observatory". It can be most easily reached on the Miskolcz-Dobsina line, from Tornalja or Pelsocz.

Table of contents    Previous    Next

Adapted from Illustrated Description of Hungary and its Capital