On the most beautiful peaks of Southern Börzsöny

Itinerary

• We start east from Márianosztra on the P trail.
• We follow the Calvary along the red ᵯ marks on Maria Street.
• We walk on the P trail into the center of Kóspallag.
• We make a detour to the lookout point of the Reconciliation Hill on the P▲ trail.
• We turn left onto the S trail, which we follow to the Archbishop's Clearing.
• The Z trail leads back to Márianosztra.
• We detour left onto the side peak of Nagy-Sas-hegy on the Z▲ trail.
• The summit of Kopasz-hegy can also be reached to the left on the Z▲ trail.

Detailed description of the route

Between places of pilgrimage

The history of Márianosztra is so intertwined with the church and monastery that its modern name derives from this: the Latin Maria nostra means “Our Mary” in Hungarian. The ecclesiastical building complex was founded by King Louis the Great in 1352 for the Pauline order. By the end of the Turkish period, little of the original structure remained; much was rebuilt in Baroque style in the 18th century. After the dissolution of the monastic order, a hospital and penal institution operated within its walls. Today it is still a prison, whose museum (showing the ecclesiastical past as well) is worth visiting. The nearby andesite mine has also long been an important factor in the local economy.

We head east from the village following the P trail. The slightly eclectic streetscape bears witness to turbulent times, as if flipping through an album of traces from past centuries: everything from traditional peasant houses through tub-shaped houses to panel blocks can be seen, with varying conditions. We briefly leave the P trail when switching to the red ᵯ signs of Maria Street to ascend the 298-meter Calvary Hill. Glancing left through the linden avenue, the bare summit of Kopasz-hegy appears as we approach the chapel towering before us among the stations of the 18th-century Calvary. From the former hermitage terrace, the whole of Márianosztra and its basin unfold—the prison complex draws our attention. Peeking past the small building, the hills of the Danube Bend are already visible.

Villages under the hills along the Danube

The hiking path returns to the P trail, which we follow right through initially a dirt road between weekend plots (former cellars and wine-press houses), then a pleasant oak forest path winding up to the low edge of the Márianosztra basin. The Reconciliation Hill is interesting not only for its name but also for the short detour branching right on the P▲ trail: from the bare cone unfolds not only the village but practically the entire Danube valley, with the rolling Visegrád Hills opposite. The hill was named by Márianosztra pilgrims because it is here that they first catch sight of the chapel and the time comes to lay down their spiritual burdens. Returning, we bypass the unknown German World War soldier's grave under a tree, then continue on a short forest section. We leave this to the left, resuming a narrow path. We cross a creek marking the boundary of Kóspallag's outskirts.

A long, monotonous but beautiful forest walk leads into the village. The name from the combination of words for ram and fallow indicates that the landowner settled mainly German (partly Slovak) inhabitants on the former sheep pasture. As this happened only in the 18th century, this is the youngest settlement in Börzsöny. The innermost part of the mountain range is completely uninhabited due to difficult access, and outside the edges, people settled mainly in the pre-mountain basins here (the three villages being Márianosztra, Kóspallag, and Szokolya). On the long main street, we turn left at the store and walk to the church, which we leave to the left.

Up to Archbishop's Clearing

Now following the S trail, we cross abandoned pastures sparsely dotted with weekend houses. The oak forest is crisscrossed by countless forestry access roads and tracks, so we must carefully follow the trail (which was deliberately led onto a path for uninterrupted forestry vehicle traffic; if we can see the marks well, we can confidently walk on the parallel wheel tracks as well). We ascend gently, crossing a low watershed; on the shadier northern side, beech and hornbeam appear around us. After crossing a stream, we head for Archbishop's Clearing. The wide meadow takes its name from the May Day festival once held here by the Esztergom archdiocese.

Among volcanic domes

Begins the most beautiful, most memorable section of our hike. On the barely 5-kilometer stretch back to Márianosztra, panoramic volcanic domes—the gems of Southern Börzsöny—follow one another. The hard volcanic material of these independent small eruption centers resisted erosion better than the overlying debris rocks, and thus gradually became exposed. Their conical form partly preserves the shape of a former volcanic structure, but their material mostly reveals the rocks that solidified deep underground.

Nagy-Sas-hegy

First, we tackle Nagy-Sas-hegy (Z trail)—perhaps the most testing climb, though not very long. The winding soil of hornbeam-oak forest is adorned with a small, partly already covered stone sea and several sizeable rock blocks—together creating a rather grim impression. We can make a detour to the summit if we switch to the Z▲ mark (which later re-joins our route at the foot of a dangerously steep and slippery slope), but vegetation here allows only limited views over Kóspallag and nearby hills. To understand the oddly bush-shaped hornbeams, we must go back to the times when the slope was cleared: since stumps were not removed, new shoots sprouted from them. Many shoots started in all directions, creating an impenetrable shaded forest.

If wishing to save time by skipping the extra section, we should soon visit the 576-meter side peak of the hill on the Z trail before a meadow edge to the left! From the grassy hay meadow covered ridge, we enjoy a great panorama of Kóspallag’s houses, the Nagy-Inóc massif, and the scarred face of Naszály. The landscape is dominated by the Visegrád Hills towering above the Danube, but the short ridge of Sós-hegy still covers part of the view. In clear weather, the Mátra Mountains also peek out to the west.

Sós-hegy

If we manage to tear ourselves away from the irresistible view, on the other side of the small meadow we trudge kilometers again on a forest road and arrive at the top of Sós-hegy, 584 meters high, after a short but quite steep (and slippery) climb. The suddenly unfolding panorama is truly breathtaking. From the summit, a half-circle of pasture meadows unfolds, inviting rest with magnificent views. The region is covered by dense forest shielded from nearby and distant views by further steep cones. The Danube line gleams, while the flat volcanic tops of the Visegrád Hills frame the Danube Bend on the other side. (We may also spot Gerecse and Pilis.)

Kopasz-hegy

Heading downward, we can briefly enjoy the unique atmosphere before zigzagging down a path crossing rocky stairs breaking the soil until we reach a somewhat less characteristic oak forest. The next kilometer holds no surprises, and after the branch at Lengyel-meadows, we skirt the skirt of Kopasz-hegy. On a new clearing, the deceptive Z▲ sign branches off to the left: initially the terrain only gently rises, but the climb becomes quite hard toward the end. Crossing a threshold formed by roots and rocks, we reach the bare ridge of Kopasz-hegy’s short spine. Along the path to the summit, the panorama is beautiful from the start, including exposed bedrock beneath eroded soil.

At the 539-meter summit, we share a small iron cross with a broken tension. The view is picturesque and probably the most memorable of our hike: we stand well above the neighboring regions, surrounded by low forested hills blending into the Danube valley. Below us lies Márianosztra, opposite the back of Szent Mihály Hill and across, the Visegrád Hills. Among them, the winding white ribbon of the river enters the press defined by the two mountain ranges. To the side are Börzsöny peaks (including Kóspallag), and in the distance (on clear days), the silhouette of Mátra is blue. The mirror-like Danube highlights the elegant building of the Esztergom basilica, with Pilis and Gerecse’s rough regions greeting in the background. The wild summit with its scree explains its beauty in its pointlike shape and wide, rich panorama.

We return to the Z trail on the walked path, which points left towards Márianosztra. The trail turns into a deep path with a small clearing, and within half an hour we reach the end of the street, which we follow straight to finish our hike in the village center.