In the footsteps of panoramas and springs

Itinerary

• From the bus stop, we pass under the railway bridge and follow the Z▲ mark southwest, which turns northwest at the next railway crossing, and after Király-kút transitions onto a small path.
• We reach the ruins of the Zamenhof Lookout on the ZL mark.
• From the lookout, the less steep Z▲ mark leads to Köves-mező.
• From Köves-mező, we continue on the K mark towards Törökmező.
• We continue past the Törökmező tourist house. We reach the Fehér Spring Group with a detour on the Z● mark.
• Following the Z◼ mark, we cross the ridge of Só Hill back to Kismaros.

About the hike in detail

Kismaros is located on the left bank of the Danube between Nagymaros and Verőce. The village was repopulated with German settlers between 1697 and 1705 after the Turks were expelled. From 1770 until the early 20th century, it was part of the Visegrád crown estate. It received a charter from Maria Theresa on September 16, 1776. In the 19th century, the settlement was devastated by a large fire and flooding of the Danube. On December 31, 1974, it was merged with Verőce under the name Verőcemaros, then reestablished as an independent municipality on January 1, 1990.

Spring, ruins, panorama

From the bus stop, we pass under the railway bridge, then follow the Z▲ mark southwest, parallel to the main road, which turns northwest at the next railway crossing. After the holiday homes, on the left side of the road, we find Király-kút and its associated resting area. Continuing, the mark changes to a small path a few meters from the gravel road and climbs steeply through the Downy Oak woods to the junction with the ZL mark leading to the ruins of the Zamenhof Lookout. The lookout was built in 1973 by the esperantists of Vác in memory of Lazar Markovics Zamenhof, the creator of Esperanto, a neutral artificial international auxiliary language designed to provide equal-language use independent of nations. The hill on which it stands is also named Esperanto Hill by them.

The Z▲ mark from the lookout leads less steeply to the beautiful viewpoint called Gubacsi-hálás. From there, we pass through the warm-loving oak forests of Kapu and Fehér Hill to reach Köves-mező. Fehér Hill got its name from the white-colored sedimentary limestone formed during a Miocene volcanic-era marine transgression, which was mined in several places nearby.

Wooded meadow trail to Törökmező

At Köves-mező, we emerge from the forest onto a wooded pasture, called a meadow trail. Its long, narrow shape indicates it was mainly part of a large drove road, not primarily used for grazing. Its origin goes back to the Middle Ages, when Hungarian grey cattle were driven on foot even to Nuremberg — the animals have a statue there, as one herd arrived at the city in the midst of a famine, saving the population from starvation.

On the K mark, we continue our path from Köves-mező. The resting spot at the northern end of the meadow trail commemorates Mór Déchy, a traveler, geographer, and explorer who was among the first researchers of the Caucasus and the first or first Hungarian climber of several mountain peaks. From the benches, there is a beautiful view of the High Börzsöny mountains.

From there, we descend steeply into the valley where we cross the dried-up stream bed through a young Downy Oak forest. Later, we reach a resting place, then turn left. Continuing, at the junction with the P mark, be careful not to be misled by the blue mark pointing backward — continue straight ahead!

The wonders of Törökmező

We soon arrive at Törökmező, once one of Börzsöny's largest pastures. According to tales, sultan armies gathered here to besiege Visegrád Castle, and even fired at the castle from here. The grassland hides several protected plant species; among the two most common are the yellow-flowered, poisonous spring adonis and the military orchid, Hungary's most common orchid species. Many European sousliks once lived in the area's pastures, but with the cessation of animal husbandry, the grasslands became overgrown, the species disappeared, and as a result, the southern Börzsöny population of saker falcons also declined.

As mentioned, the area owes its name to the sultan troops who camped here in 1684-85. On September 12, 1683, during the battle known as the Battle of Kahlenberg, Polish, Bavarian, Saxon, and imperial troops led by Jan Sobieski and Charles of Lorraine defeated the Turkish army besieging Vienna under Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa. The resulting counter-attack liberated Esztergom from Turkish rule among others. On October 7, at Párkány, the Turks inflicted heavy losses on the Polish, who had greatly outpaced the Austrian army. The next day, the combined relief army of 28,000 troops arrived, forcing the Turks to retreat to the right bank of the Danube. After they blew up their pontoon bridge, they lost Párkány. This was followed by the siege of Esztergom, during which Ibrahim Pasha surrendered the castle, freeing Esztergom after 130 years of Turkish occupation. The surviving Turks, as their escape route along the Danube's right bank south and west had closed, retreated to Törökmező. Due to Austrian resistance, the allied armies could not unite to liberate Hungary, allowing the weakened Turkish army to camp undisturbed at Törökmező for another two years.

Leaving the asphalt road behind, we pass through the adventure park to the historically significant Törökmező Tourist House, built in 1938-39 by Credit Bank tourists, and the adjacent animal park. We continue in front of the house on the Z◼ mark. Before turning east, it is worthwhile to take a small detour on the Z● mark to the Fehér Spring Group at a large old beech tree. Exiting the forest, we traverse a shrub-covered grassland among patches of blackthorn and hawthorn. The mark heads southeast at a large Turkey oak and eventually reaches the Kóspallag paved road, where we head northeast, then turn east at the northern edge of the grassland. Along the forest edge road, we encounter two protected plants: the spiny sleeping thorn and the goldenrod blooming in autumn. We return to Kismaros through the dry oak forests on the ridge of Só Hill, following the Z◼ mark.