Following the metallurgists - Cycling route around Miskolc

Itinerary

• From Diósgyőr Castle, set off eastwards (towards the city) on the Z cycling route: following Vár Street, Bodrogi Zsigmond Street, Tokaji Ferenc Street, Szervezet Street, and Muhi Street, you will reach the junction for Bükkszentkereszt; turn right towards Bükkszentlászló.
• Until Bükkszentkereszt, you don't need to leave the road anywhere; it leads straight ahead – continuously climbing – to the village (with the track bordered by P and then S cycling signs).
• Passing through the village without deviation, you will enter the forest again; the road (marked by P cycling signs) leads all the way to the Hollóstető junction, where you must turn right (towards Miskolc).
• The road leads all the way to Lillafüred (marked by K cycling signs); at the junction by Lake Hámori, turn left (towards Bánkút/Szentlélek) and cycle all the way to the Ómassa blast furnace on an asphalt road also marked by K cycling signs (opposite the open-air mining exhibition, where a bridge on the left side of the road crosses to the industrial history monument).
• From Ómassa, head back in the same direction (towards Lillafüred) from where you came. At the Lillafüred junction, turn left towards Miskolc; the road leads all the way to the city (marked by P cycling signs).
• After leaving Majális Park, it is worth turning right off the main road towards the paper mill and following the P cycling signs – paralleling the busy main road on streets with little traffic, you can approach Diósgyőr Castle via Rigó Street, Csóka Street, Székely Street, Bartók Béla Street, Bartók Court, and János Street, following the Z cycling signs from the Szinva bridge.

Detailed description of the route

From medieval times to the modern age

The starting point of the route is the Diósgyőr district of Miskolc, which is probably best known to the wider public for three things: the castle, the ironworks, and the football team. The latter will not be mentioned here; instead, there’s more about the Diósgyőr Castle: whether before the tour or after returning, it is definitely worth taking time to visit the fortress.

The current fortress's predecessor was likely a fortification from the 12th century, probably a soil castle destroyed during the Mongol invasion. After the devastation in 1241-42, King Béla IV is believed to have had the castle, which belonged to Ernye bán of the Ákos clan, built. About a century later and after several ownership changes, it was owned by King Louis I (the Great), during which time it flourished. Diósgyőr was an important station on the route between Buda and Kraków (Louis was also King of Poland from 1370) and spent increasing time there. The castle was modernized then, including creating the Gothic knights’ hall, which was the largest in Central Europe at that time. The ratification site of the Turin Peace Treaty with Venice remains visible within the ancient walls, as does the chapel dedicated to Saint Hedwig (Louis’s daughter), the queen's chamber, the metalworkers’ and alchemists’ workshops.

Stepping out of the castle gate, you leap from the Middle Ages into the modern age, specifically into a period – particularly interesting and exciting for Miskolc – around the 19th and 20th centuries. The already century-old ironworks moved to its current location in 1870, when the blast furnace was completed, followed by the building of rolling mills and forging shops. Increasingly modern technologies were introduced (Siemens-Martin and later Bessemer steelworks), the first housing estate (“colony” – the former working-class and official settlement, which by the end of the 20th century became one of the city’s lowest-prestige neighborhoods) was built, and the first tram (as the Diósgyőr HÉV) arrived; development was unstoppable. Diósgyőr was one of the centers of Hungarian heavy industry until the turn of the millennium, but since the regime change, the former ironworks has been in continuous decline, and ironworking ceased completely in 2009. Today, the emptily echoing halls testify to the factory’s present, but its past will be encountered throughout the tour.

The realm of the glassworks

Turning away from Diósgyőr at the Bükkszentlászló junction, a long climb leads towards the eastern tip of the Bükk Plateau through the exotically named Mexikóvölgy (less interesting but also called Tatár-árok), where the former Diósgyőr Machinery Factory’s arms plant once operated. Today, a limestone quarry represents industry here, and you can often expect truck traffic on the narrow, winding road – although there once was a railway line here too, whose bridge still spans the road to Bükkszentkereszt, and keen-eyed visitors may spot the old loading area on the left of the road. The narrow asphalt ribbon winds through a wild, narrow valley until it suddenly reaches houses: Bükkszentlászló – as its Slovak name, Stará Huta, also shows – was the first glassworks village in the Bükk created in the early 18th century by the owners of the Diósgyőr estate based on what was thought to be endless Bükk timber. The former Óhuta is today part of Miskolc. You leave the settlement behind with a sharp left turn and climb higher and higher; the forest around changes, with oaks giving way to majestic beeches.

When you see a hidden cross under the trees on the right side of the road, you officially (this is the border of the two settlements) leave Miskolc behind, continuing on the territory of Bükkszentkereszt. The former Újhuta (in Slovak Nová Huta) is Hungary’s second-highest settlement, located in a valley basin. Its unique location is especially striking if you take the trouble and climb to the lookout on Kis-Dél Hill (mostly feasible with a mountain bike or on foot), from where there is a beautiful view not only of the village but also of all surrounding heights and, in clear weather, even the High Tatras.

Like the nearby villages (Répáshuta, the previously mentioned Bükkszentlászló, and the now-destroyed Gyertyánvölgy), Bükkszentkereszt owes its existence to the furnace established here, i.e., the glass-melting furnace. In the 18th century, the plentiful wood from the surrounding forests provided both the potash (potassium carbonate), a raw material for glass production, and the fuel needed to heat the furnaces to the correct temperature. Both flat glass and window glass were produced in Bükkszentkereszt; in the 18th century, it was Borsod County’s second largest industrial site (after the Ómassa ironworks), employing more than 30 people. Today, the Bükk Glassworks Industrial History Museum commemorates this era, where visitors can learn about the raw materials of glass, the steps of glass production, and the tools for glassblowing. The other village attraction known far and wide is the “Bükk herbalist,” Gyuri Szabó’s herb garden, which is open to visitors.

Picturesque surroundings and even more industrial relics

A short climb leads out of the village to the forest, then almost all the way to Lillafüred, allowing you to enjoy the thrill of coasting – the tour is now past its hardest part. Along the way, you pass the source of the Szinva and the lower station of the Lillafüred chairlift. The 1080-meter-long cable car overcomes 273 meters of elevation difference, and you can even transport a bike on it – for those who want to ride down once more from Bükkszentkereszt, even a chairlift ride is possible. In the adjacent Lillafüred Sport and Adventure Park, various activities await, such as renting segways, monster bikes, and mountain scooters, or trying laser tag. Those seeking a more peaceful pastime will find in Lillafüred, mainly known for the Palace Hotel, two caves to explore the earth’s depths. Next to Egri Road is the St. Stephen’s Cave, with a 170-meter section accessible to visitors: its unique, spectacular dissolution forms (such as Mammoth Teeth, Daughter-in-law Stalks) and beautiful stalactite formations are reasons to buy a ticket to this intermittent spring cave formed by karst water coming from the surface to the depths. The Anna Cave, located directly next to the Szinva waterfall, formed in travertine precipitated from the Szinva spring water and is as old as the rock, around 150-200 thousand years. The extremely water-rich Anna spring originating in the closed part of the cave provides a significant part of Miskolc’s drinking water supply.

On the surface, it is worth looking around: here you find Hungary’s highest waterfall (20 meters), the famous Palace Hotel and its hanging garden built between the two World Wars, and the Hamori Lake in the widening valley of the Garadna stream, where you can even go boating.

When heading from this picturesque environment towards the Újmassa blast furnace, you do not need to leave the scenery, as the industrial history monument is located in the Garadna valley a few kilometers from Lillafüred. Henrik Fazola began establishing metallurgical plants in the Szinva and Garadna valleys in 1765, then built a blast furnace in Felsőhámor, next to which a forging and a nail-forging plant were also established. The blast furnace still visible today was built by Frigyes Fazola (Henrik’s son) in Újmassa – essentially we honor the ancestor of Miskolc’s heavy industry in the robust building, where at the Massa Museum we can learn more about the furnace’s history. On the other side of the road, there is a small technical open-air museum where various mining machines can primarily be examined closely. If this is not enough, you can visit the Metallurgical Museum in Felsőhámor, where, besides the history of ironworking, the secrets of iron production and processing can also be learned. The building itself was built at the end of the 1770s and originally served as the chancery of the Royal Imperial and Royal Ironworks Association of Diósgyőr.

From the blast furnace heading towards Miskolc, from the Lillafüred junction, especially on weekends, heavy traffic can be expected, so this part might be the least enjoyable. Before entering Miskolc, it is worth detouring to the zoo at Majális Park, and a few blocks away, visiting the Diósgyőr paper mill museum. The unique paper history exhibition traces the history of papermaking from its invention to the present, illustrating the production and development of modern paper and presenting the mill's over 230 years of history. The exhibition also features a banknote collection showcasing paper banknotes produced in Diósgyőr from 1920 up to the newest series. The sights are crowned by an authentically furnished 18th-century paper-making workshop that recalls the atmosphere of past times.

From the paper mill, it is advisable to roll towards Diósgyőr on small streets parallel to the busy main road (the cycling signs also lead this way). Near Felső-Majláth, you cross the tracks of the Lillafüred Forest Railway one more time, then meander a bit through residential and garden city environments. The last detour before the castle is worth taking because of the Church of the Virgin Mary in Diósgyőr, which – although appearing Baroque today – is medieval in origin; this can be mainly sensed in the buttresses and the building’s nave.