Bajóti Öreg-kő circular hike: people in Gerecse

Itinerary

• Starting from the Nyergesújfalu railway station, we reach the Z◼ marking at the edge of the town, at Radnóti Miklós square, which we follow through the German valley to Bajót.
• In Bajót, on the main street at the savings bank, we switch to the K◼ marking, which we follow to the resting place on the eastern side of Öreg-kő, reaching the National Blue Trail.
• We take a detour to the caves on the side of Öreg-kő on the KΩ marking.
• We follow the K marking of the National Blue Trail eastwards from the resting place at the foot of Öreg-kő in Bajót to the main square of Mogyorósbánya.
• At Mogyorósbánya's main square, from the bus turning loop, we head west-southwest along the Z marking until we return to Nyergesújfalu, at Radnóti Miklós square.
• We return to Nyergesújfalu railway station on the section known from the start of the route along the Z◼ marking.

Detailed description

From Nyergesújfalu to Bajót

We start from Nyergesújfalu railway station towards the hills south of the town on the Z◼ marking. The settlement’s name preserves the memory of our saddle maker ancestors who settled here during the Hungarian conquest. The area was inhabited already in Roman times: along the route that connected Aquincum and Brigetio, border defense fortresses in today's northern Buda and Komárom region, lay the ancestor of Nyergesújfalu, Crumerum. It is no coincidence that the town's coat of arms features a mounted courier. Nyergesújfalu was famous both for horse breeding and transportation via "fast peasants," i.e., couriers who could reach Buda in 3 hours. Following the expulsion of the Turks, only the stagecoach station remained from the depopulated settlement.

Due to the strategic role of the Danube valley, important military and commercial routes have crossed the area in all eras; furthermore, from the time of King Matthias, a river crossing operated between the two banks. During the Kuruc era, to guard this pontoon bridge-equipped strategic junction, a trench fort was built on a hill west of the settlement at the site of the old Roman fortress (Sánc Hill), later destroyed by the German imperial troops.

Leaving the urban streets to the town edge, at the Z marking fork, we turn right. We cross the dams of the standing waters formed by mining, the Fishponds, and after a few sharp bends and a couple of hundred meters, beyond a carved Székely gate at the foot of Sánc Hill, we enter a quiet little valley lined with press houses and covered in vineyards. The loessy slopes characteristic of the Danube valley provide excellent soil for viticulture, with which locals have created a small fairy-tale world in the secluded corner of the German valley. As the name suggests, in this area belonging to the Neszmély wine region, the German settlers from the Rhine region revived viticulture. The "four Ws," water, forest, vineyard hill, and meadow (wasser, wald, weinberg, wiese), essential for the Germans known in Hungary as Swabians, were present here. The Danube was an excellent transport route for the wine, which otherwise would have been disrupted and muddied on the old rough roads. The locally produced wine could be shipped far along the Danube to Austrian and German lands.

In the grove above the vineyards, we leave the valley and enter the slope of Magyar Hill, from where we get increasingly good views over the Danube valley and the forested mountains flanking it. As we reach the hilltop, Bajót, nestled among the northern outcrops of Gerecse, appears with its houses and church among the wooded hills, inviting us from afar. Unfortunately, the marking descends into the village via a rather overgrown water erosion.

From Bajót to Mogyorósbánya

Bajót was already inhabited in Roman times and the conquering Hungarians settled in the protected valley along the Danube. At the beginning of the Árpád era, a castle still stood around the church. The first owner of the settlement was Bajóti Simon ispán of Spanish origin, who defended Esztergom with his archers against the Tatars. The bishop's mitre and arrowhead in Bajót's coat of arms commemorate this. However, the storms of history destroyed the settlement several times; the Turks and the labanc devastated and depopulated Bajót and many other inhabited places in the area. Yet the village always rose from its ashes as though not an eagle but a griffin sat in the center of its coat of arms.

It is worth resting a bit in Bajót and setting off refreshed along the K◼ marking behind the church towards Öreg-kő. The cart road cut into the loess initially crosses the pastures above the village, offering good views of the settlement below as it unfolds more distinctly; then it turns off into a path that wanders into a thicket. Our environment takes on a more mountainous character. At first, the hornbeam-oak forest becomes denser, then the cooler climate-favoring beech appears gradually, and after crossing the saddle of Öreg-kő, we reach increasingly steep, rocky terrain. On the eastern side of the mountain, descending gently, a resting place with benches and a shelter awaits us, from which we can visit the exciting limestone world riddled with caves towering above us on the KΩ marking.

The cave-marked path climbs the steep mountainside aided by stairs. At the first fork, turning right, we can see the rocky entrance of the 1st shaft. The closed cave section is less visible from the outside; the 34-meter-deep shaft is accessible only to cavers and hides mineral rarities in its steep passages.

The left branch of the stairway leads deeper into wilder terrain to the mountain's most spectacular rock formation, the Jankovich cave. The unrealistically soaring, swirling shapes break through the ceiling at the 20-meter-high vault of the cave, thus illuminated by natural light, presenting this unparalleled natural formation. The cave was also a shelter for prehistoric humans; significant archaeological finds linked to the eponymous Jankovich culture were discovered during the excavation of cave deposits. Nowadays, only bats inhabit this special chamber emitting a faint game preserve smell. If we arrive in good weather, we might see climbers practicing conquering the cliffs next to Öreg-kő cave. Extreme difficulty climbing routes once led over the cave's arching walls, but this has been banned due to the area's high protection and the fragile cave ecosystem. Only rusting safety points and István Ilku's commemorative plaque on the ceiling remind of the climbing past.

Next to Jankovich cave, we can see the more modest sized, cauldron-like dissolution cavity of Baits cave. Continuing further on the path along the rocky hillside, we can also explore the maze-like passages of Szalay cave. For exploring Szalay cave, we should carry a lamp to admire the interesting, perfectly spherical internal halls. We should move carefully inside and not disturb the bats living there, as we are only guests in their home. From the cliff in front of the cave, there's a great view of the northern outcrops of Gerecse and the Danube valley all the way to Esztergom. On a clear day, we can see the basilica and behind it the extinct volcanic cone of Börzsöny.

After the cave adventures, we return to the resting place below the mountain and continue our journey towards Mogyorósbánya along the National Blue Trail K marking. Descending the gently sloping hillside, we cross a small meadow at the foot of the mountain, where a goat herd grazes during the summer months. Arriving at the saddle of Mogyorósbánya through an oak wood bordering the foothill fields, the Mária Path joins us from Péliföldszentkereszt. On the far side of the saddle, through a deeply loess-cut, stone-paved cart road, we enter Mogyorósbánya.

From Mogyorósbánya to Nyergesújfalu

Despite the protection offered by the mountain basin, the settlement had become depopulated during the busy and often fatal periods of the Danube valley's history. The village destroyed during the Turkish destruction and the labanc reprisals was repopulated by representatives of the surrounding ethnic groups. The population, mixed with Slovak and German minorities, mostly settled here for coal mining discovered in the area. Nowadays, only the scars on the landscape and monuments remind us of the once lively times. The village has returned to harmony with its environment; the embrace of forested hills shapes the atmosphere of the settlement.

Leaving the center following the Z marking, we leave behind the tiny settlement nestled amid emerald green forests. Ascending the ridge, our path again leads through a pleasant oak forest. In the middle of the forest, we reach a rest area full of benches grouped around a memorial pole erected in memory of the area's deceased foresters.

Descending gently along the hillside with some winding, we leave the forest surrounded by the fields and pastures of Nyergesújfalu, soon returning to the wide Danube valley. The winding Z marking through the garden city streets leads us back to the Z◼ fork, closing our circular route after nearly 20 kilometers. If we counted skillfully, we still have time to rest at the terrace catering unit next to the bus stop and reflect over a "bambi" on what we saw, the storms of history, and renewal.