Mining circle along the Által-ér

Itinerary

• From the train station, head along Fürst Sándor Street towards the town center, then turn left upon reaching Rákóczi Ferenc Road! From here, follow the bike path up to the city limits.
• Upon reaching the border of Oroszlány, the bike path continues all the way to the railway crossing near Kecskéd; cross it and follow the paved road leading to the village!
• In Kecskéd, upon reaching the northern corner of the lake, turn left, then right onto Fő Street (bike tracks and direction signs will help you navigate).
• At the end of Fő Street, turn left (following the pedestrian and bike path) onto Vasút Street, then right onto Sport Street, which you should follow straight to Környe.
• Leaving the train station at Környe, turn left onto Alkotmány Street, then follow the pedestrian and bike path leading all the way to the Tatabánya Power Plant Lake.
• Upon reaching the lake, turn right, cross the small bridge over the Által-ér, then follow the unnamed lakeside road that leads into Fürdő Street!
• Ride along Fürdő Street, then turn right onto Kossuth Lajos Street. Continue straight (Kossuth Street first changes names to Árpád, then Mészáros), and upon reaching Réhling Konrád Road, turn right.
• At the first significant intersection, turn left (towards Síkvölgyi resort), then proceed straight after reaching Síkvölgy! The pavement changes to a gravel road (Busa Street), at the end of which you must turn right.
• Passing by the Rugógyár, continue straight to the end of the road, where you turn left towards Vértessomló.
• The road passing through Vértessomló leads straight to Várgesztes; follow this all the way to the neighboring village. In Várgesztes, ride straight along the main street (Arany János Street), then turn right onto Vár Street.
• Heading back towards Majkpuszta via Vértessomló, at the second option, turn left and proceed along the road running parallel to the neat little hacienda fence until you reach the gravel road crossing the field, where you turn right!
• Upon reaching the road to Csákvár, turn right, then at the next opportunity turn left; this road leads directly to the monastery. (From the monastery, you can reach the mining museum along a dirt road running at the edge of the field.)
• From Majk, the tour returns along the Majk branch of the Által-ér bike path via the bike path built through the forest next to Majki Creek, entering back into the border of Oroszlány, where you cross Környe Road and turn left. From here, follow the same gravel road back that you started on from Oroszlány.

Detailed tour description

The lives of Oroszlány, Tatabánya, and the nearby settlements were shaped for nearly a century by coal mining, so we cannot overlook it – especially since we encounter traces of industrial activity everywhere. If someone arrives in Oroszlány by train, they can ride on one of Hungary’s youngest railway lines between Környe and Oroszlány’s terminal station. The rails were laid in 1950, as the rising coal mining demanded increased transport capacity.

In the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, exploratory drilling began around Oroszlány for coal deposits. However, based on initial trials, mining did not start, and the settlement continued its ordinary village life. The boom arrived at the settlement, likely named after the Csák family's coat of arms animal, at the end of the 1930s. The first mine was opened by the Hungarian General Hard Coal Mining Plc. in 1937, a cable railway to Tatabánya was built four years later, and the first train arrived at the station in 1950. More than eighty years after the first mining cart reached the surface, we start our tour from the city.

Brand-new asphalt strip along the Által-ér

Many consider Oroszlány a kind of socialist industrial town, and you can feel some truth in this as you roll towards the city’s northern boundary. This, however, is not necessarily bad – like in Dunaújváros, it seems efforts were made to develop the city at a human scale. Livable spaces, plentiful green areas, and friendly “boulevards” form the downtown environment, with houses on the east side of Rákóczi Ferenc Road showing scenes of (socialist) life on their beautifully renovated facades. Next to the town hall is our first mining monument: stern miners’ pickaxe-ended arms raised high.

Leaving Oroszlány towards Környe, a brand-new bike path runs along the edges of fields northward. This perfectly maintained route is part of the new bike path along the Által-ér leading to the county seat (opened in October) and is clearly popular locally – we will ride it to Bánhida (though one could continue through Tata to Almásfüzítő or Komárom). Our first stop is Kecskéd, reached after crossing railway tracks. On the village’s edge, a pleasantly atmospheric pond invites a stop, with several small resting spots for anglers, hikers, and cyclists. A small walkway allows circling the lake, then we continue straight along Kecskéd’s Main Street aimed at the church. Shortly after, a nice restaurant offers refreshments to thirsty travelers. Naturally, a mining monument made of two carts is also on our path – Kecskéd was involved in coal extraction too.

From Kecskéd’s border, we ride a mixed-use freshly paved road towards Környe, meaning agricultural machinery may appear anytime. Környe is reached again along a lakeshore – the damming of the Által-ér is a popular form of utilization here. Of course, local anglers enjoy this, and tourists find it pleasant to ride alongside. The watercourse originates west of Pusztavám and flows through Oroszlány, Tatabánya, and Tata into the Danube (the Old Lake in Tata owes its existence to Által-ér damming). A monument on the shore reflects the sad fate of the German population expelled in 1947. They were relocated by Count József Eszterházy, who had previously driven out (or at least prompted through strong Catholicization) the Reformed Hungarians settled here in the mid-16th century after the Turkish devastation. Even Romans favored the Által-ér area, as a fort named Quirinum once stood here – its gate towers were found in the parish courtyard a few years ago. Research shows that among the ten so-called inner forts built in Pannonia, Környe’s was probably the largest, but further excavation is impossible as the village was fully built over it.

From Környe, the cycling path runs directly beside the Által-ér, crossing it over a bridge. The tall chimney of the Bánhida power plant becomes visible, with the Gerecse mountain range in the background. Those with good eyesight can spot the Miners' Lookout and the Szelim Cave in the distance. It’s worth pausing at the Power Plant Lake before reaching the county seat. Like the Bokod Lake on Oroszlány’s edge, here also smaller and larger houses were built on or near the lake, though less prominently. However, the power plant's torso towers over the water, adding a unique atmosphere to the colorful little houses seemingly floating on the lake. In 1930, building on the Tatabánya coal deposits, electricity production began at the Bánhida power plant, which also holds railway history significance as it was the first fully electrified segment supplying power along the Budapest-Hegyeshalom line. Production stopped in 2004, and the condition of the buildings has visibly been deteriorating since.

Coal, coal, coal everywhere

What was said about Oroszlány applies even more to Tatabánya: the city owes its existence to coal mining and related industries. Naturally, several villages (Alsógalla, Felsőgalla, Bánhida) existed in today’s county seat area when coal extraction started in the Tatabánya basin in 1896. The Hungarian General Hard Coal Mining Plc. continued mining until nationalization after World War II, with Tatabánya once producing two-thirds of Hungary’s coal. This practically required a new city’s construction, supported by the mining company, which was keen to attract workers. People came from the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and regions beyond the Leitha River, Galicia, and the Czech lands.

How these workers lived can be imagined by visiting the Mining Industry Open-Air Museum, where industrial relics, two colony houses, and an old school building (our favorite exhibit is an essay about iron collection on a bulletin board) can be seen. The museum is located at Shaft XV, preserved as it was when the mine closed: the bathhouse (now used for contemporary sculpture exhibitions), office building, shaft tower with the shaft house, compressor house, and even a mini deep mining gallery equipped with all sorts of mining machinery and locomotives. Despite limited information on displayed items, one can easily spend at least one and a half hours wandering here. Those interested can cycle up to the Turul Monument (the somewhat aggressive bird has been intimidating the public since 1907), near which the Gerecse Gate Visitor Center awaits tourists.

We leave Tatabánya towards Síkvölgypuszta, a recreational area of the city, where weekend houses and holiday homes are built around a disused mining lake. Quiet garden plot zones are crossed by a good-quality dirt road heading towards the northern ridges of the Vértes Mountains, where the proximity of nature is felt thanks to abundant greenery. Leaving Síkvölgypuszta, we also pass the Tatabánya Spring Factory, then mostly low-traffic roads and forest-field environments lead us back to Oroszlány. We must never forget what lies beneath our wheels, as soon Környebánya is reached – here a characteristic mining colony can be found in a handful of streets. By the 1930s, mines here had been exhausted, with removed mining equipment being transferred to Pilis mines, along with many miners.

In Vértessomló, although not visible today, the Eocene lignite deposits of the range were first explored around the settlement at the Eszterházy manor mine, one of Hungary’s first coal mines. Today, the village mainly impresses with calm and neatness. It’s worth riding into it (especially since, for example, the shop is not found on the road to Várgesztes). Vértessomló’s chapel is worth a brief detour; on a small hill east of the village stands the Church of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary, said to have been built over a ruined forest chapel discovered by newly arrived settlers in the 18th century following the sound of a bell.

Only a few kilometers lie between here and Várgesztes, a hamlet nestled among the Vértes hills, boasting a castle ruin. The castle was built in the late 13th century by the Csák clan and followed the usual path for local strongholds over centuries: frequently changed ownership and reconstruction, then deterioration after soldiers left following the expulsion of Turks. Stones were later taken for building the Majk Camaldolese hermitage and other constructions, turning the castle into a ruin. Still, from 1932 a tourist hotel operated here, and the fortress was visitable until recently; today it’s surrounded by a fence. Near the castle, a careful observer can spot a stairway built into the steep valley wall, leading to a small stone niche known locally as Lurdosz, a Lourdes cave.

White monks – black miners

The road from Várgesztes to Majkpuszta crosses a field – it's better not to turn left onto the pavement immediately at the village border but at the riding hall instead, ensuring a well-passable road all the way. Majk is recommended for a detour to the Camaldolese hermitage and the local mining museum. The white monks were settled here in Mid-18th century Majkpuszta by József Eszterházy, the landowner, but had to leave by the end of the century following Emperor Joseph II's suppression of monastic orders. The monks, named after their silent vows and white garments, had houses around the church and a convent building hosting the prior and communal rooms. Visitors can tour a cell house and some renovated parts of the convent, experiencing a particularly special atmosphere in the complex.

Not far is Shaft XX, which, like the Tatabánya Shaft XV, hides a mining museum. Industrial heritage enthusiasts will find this a treasure trove, as everything is preserved as it was the moment the mine closed. Inside, one gains insight into everyday life of Oroszlány miners, while outside, mysterious steel machines rest on the grass. The "F-machines" sound ominous but were peaceful tracked trench boring equipment aiding miners underground. The shaft tower now serves as a lookout; the original mining machine (winder) and a special lift (cage), plus the wire ropeway sending station, are important industrial history relics. There is also a working mining railway and a short mining gallery created for visitors. Those who enter can spend several hours exploring this unknown world. The aptly named "Sabotage in the Mine" escape room offers a challenge for logical minds. Only a few kilometers remain to the Oroszlány train station, where opting for the shorter route passing through a small forest back to the Által-ér bike path is advisable.

Hop on the bike, and good luck!