Tihany small circle

Itinerary

• We start north from the Tihany boat station on the Z trail.
• From Lepke row, we enter the forest at a resting place.
• From Óvár hill, we descend on the ZT trail to the foot of Kiserdő hill.
• The Z▲ sign also joins us to the top of Kiserdő hill.
• Descending from the small height, we follow the ZT trail along the Inner Lake.
• After Aranyház, we make a loop to the left on the Z⩍ trail.
• Turning right on the ZT trail, we return to Aranyház.
• We follow the S+ sign to the abbey.
• From the abbey lake, we continue on the Z trail along the Pisky promenade.
• Before Echo Hill, we turn right on the Z▲ trail.
• Upon reaching the lakeshore, the boat station is only a few hundred meters away.

Detailed description of the hike

We start north from the boat station on the Z trail. Soon, we pass the impressive monument of Ignác Darányi, former Minister of Agriculture. The obelisk over ten meters high and its double-arched gateway were erected by the Balaton Association in 1938. From here, we walk about 500 meters along the coastal promenade, which offers a beautiful view across the lake towards the northeast, in the direction of Balatonfüred. Our trail soon turns left. We enter the hillside forest and continue on the comfortable walking path made in 1913 towards the hermitages – before them, however, we pass the Ciprián spring. The water source formerly referred to as Orosz-kút is named after Abbot Ciprián Gáspár Halbik, who is said to have discovered the water source. Nearby, the traces of repeated landslides are clearly visible, caused by the underlying, waterlogged Pannonian sand layers occasionally slipping on alternating wet clay layers.

The hermitages

On a gentle ascent about 600 meters ahead, we glimpse the grottoes of the hermitages. King Andrew I came to Hungary with his wife Anastasia of Kiev along with Byzantine monks, some of whom settled in Tihany. The Benedictine abbey founding charter also mentions this place under the name Petra (likely used by the monks). Subsequently, from the 13th century, it also appears in several documents under forms such as Vruzku (Oroszkő). Caves carved into the pyroclastic rocks on the eastern side of Óvár developed into priories, with Saint Nicholas as their patron. The bishop’s cult survived even after the Turkish era and still appears in the abbey’s coat of arms today, thanks to Abbot Ágoston Lécs (1698-1760), protecting sailors and fishermen. The minor church’s significance is evident as its leaders were members of the Tihany convent.

The remaining cells form the only relatively intact hermitage complex in Central Europe, inhabited by monks until the mid-14th century. Several rockfalls have been recorded after its establishment (e.g., before 1810, in 1859, 1942, and 1952). Such collapse may also have caused the abandonment of the hermitage in the 14th century. Around 1737, Mátyás Bél reported 10 hermit dwellings; during Béla Dornyai’s 1942 excavation, 10 rooms and 8 small niches were also uncovered. In 1983, István Eszterhás identified only 7 caves, including the so-called Maiden Dwellings, about 300 meters east-southeast from the hermitages along the cliff continuation, possibly originally belonging to the site. It is also possible that they were dug by a widow serf named Ferencz Keszi and her unmarried daughter who used them as cellars between 1740-50 and even lived in the western cave for years. After the death of the old man (allegedly mentally ill according to some sources), his daughter lived for years in the larger cell.

In 1982, a complex archaeological, monument protection, and geological research began to save the hermitages, during which human skeletons were found in the cells after two years. The largest room of the eastern, cell group No. 1, served as a chapel. Underneath it was a crypt, and on its eastern wall surface, archaeologists unearthed an Árpád-era altarpiece. In front of it was the cemetery, where, besides human remains, a sciphatus (bowl-shaped bronze coin) dating from the time of Béla III was found. After a preservation work in 1994, the cells were given new outer walls, stabilizing the premises, allowing visits again from then on.

The Tihany volcanism can be divided into four distinct phases. The 400-meter-long and about 40-meter-high cliff in front of us reveals a section of a layered series originating from the first Surtsey-type eruptions. The lower, several-meter-thick volcanic breccia layer lying on the Pannonian sandy-clayey formation formed a few tens of meters below the original surface during steam explosions. The elongated plastic-structured clay bombs originating from the Pannonian layers (in which original bedding is also recognizable) indicate that the ejected material was loose, water-saturated, mud-like sediment. Moving upward, the amount of clay bombs decreases, and the proportion of volcanic breccia increases. In this operating phase, the crater walls sometimes collapsed, whose material was thrown onto the surface by subsequent steam explosions caused by ascending magma as high-energy basal landslide deposits. For example, this explains how the large, "bagged" red sandstone bomb got into the stratigraphic sequence of the first cell.

From the ceiling height of the rock temple (in the middle section of the excavation), based on solid phyllite veins originating from deep underground, the epicenter of the explosions developed much deeper, several hundred meters down. These layers may be remains of dense material flows deposited relatively low around the mud-filled crater and settled not far from it. Due to the approximately 20 meters thick section, the deep-nested eruptions could stabilize even for hours, while the water replenishment necessary for the explosions was ensured from the remains of the Pannonian Lake and karst water flowing from the Bakony region.

The uppermost, 10-meter-thick, increasingly layered section is covered by lapilli tuff. Its formation phase saw the cessation of karst water replenishment, so the explosive nature of the eruptions decreased, and instead, more gas-rich magma flowed to the surface, as indicated by the increasing amount of basalt scoria.

The path passes beside the other cells and continues up towards the top of Tihany's Óvár, from where we enjoy another beautiful view of Lake Balaton.

The Óvár

Built in the 17th-15th centuries BC (lime plaster culture), Óvár flourished in the late Bronze Age (12th-10th centuries BC) and Early Iron Age (8th-5th centuries BC). After a long hiatus, the Celts lived on the earthwork-surrounded area until the Romans appeared. The nearly 1 km-long, 400 meter-wide plateau is protected by a 1200 meter-long trench, representing the best-preserved and largest earthwork fortress in the Balaton region. The plateau’s steep eastern cliff facing Balaton and the western side, between it and the Upper Castle, form a terraced landscape. It was likely a tribal seat where aristocrats lived. The entrance to the settlement was probably on the southwest side, indicated by burial mounds uncovered in the 1970s near the hill’s foot, parking area, and surroundings, erected alongside roads leading to earthwork fortresses. Cremation burials occurred in the mounds; pottery shards, bronze jewelry remnants, and charred wheat grains were found inside. Archaeological excavations were led by Judit Regenye from 1999-2000.

Below the shallow 20-40 cm soil, freshwater limestone deposited by thermal springs about 2 meters thick covers the fortress area, used as flooring. Based on post holes uncovered, about 20-30 houses existed in the area at different periods. The best-preserved had a 7x3.5 meter floor area with thick rammed clay flooring and burned down with all its furnishings. Many deer bones and complete skeletons were found during the excavation. The late Bronze Age trench was reinforced with the Celts’ characteristic wooden frame technology. Subsequently, in the 10th-12th centuries, an early Hungarian earthwork fortress was built by modifying part of the trench. At this time, the Upper Castle’s 5-meter high east-west dividing rampart was constructed, a moat was dug in front of it, and the earlier trench section was heightened. The area’s name may refer to this era.

From Óvár, we descend on the ZT trail to the foot of Kiserdő hill, from where we climb back to the top following the Z▲ mark.

Along the Outer Lake

On the Mediterranean-like hillside, we find the Szélmarta Rocks, offering a beautiful view over the Outer Lake towards Apáti Hill and the Watchtower lookout above it.

The Outer Lake may have been the site of Tihany volcanism about 8 million years ago. The layered series of hermitages touched during the tour stems from ejected material of this volcanism. During the fourth eruption phase of the temporarily inactive volcanic field, the Outer Lake’s crater reopened, but a maar crater deepened here, now the peninsula’s largest closed depression. The current Outer Lake formed here.

Since the peninsula was formerly mainly used for pastoral livestock farming, in the 19th century, a significant part of the abbey’s livestock fodder demand was tried to be met with meadows gained by draining the Outer Lake. By 1809, the lake area was already canalized, which is still clearly visible today. The water was led from a ditch dug in the ancient crater flank between Apáti Hill and Diósi to a Roman-era ditch, draining most of the lake, turning the basin into a slightly salty marsh meadow until the early 20th century, used as meadow. The sluice gate of the ditch was closed in 1974 for conservation purposes, after which precipitation refilled the basin, creating a large open water surface. Later, aquatic plants appeared over an increasing area of the lake; reed cutting took place along the shore until the mid-1990s. The lake’s rich insect, amphibian, and reptile fauna attract many birds, and a family of otters has lived here for several years.

The Szélmarta Rocks reveal primary pyroclastic sediments ejected from the volcanic crater and fallen back or flowed back, so their inclined position is not due to later collapse. They formed during deeper-seated violent explosions, evidenced by xenoliths—rocks ripped off from deeper bedrock and incorporated into the layering. Pyroclastic landslides formed around what became the volcanic eruption center (maar) near today’s Outer Lake, creating an increasingly large depression, into which water flowed through the crater walls. The resulting mud exploded, ripping apart underlying rocks. After volcanic activity ceased, mainly during the ice age, strong air movements transported sand that sculpted the Szélmarta Rocks into their shape, deeply carving softer rock layers, while relatively soft basalt tuff in cracks is also shaped and formed by freezing water even today.

Shortly after the Szélmarta Rocks, we reach the top of a cliff. The lower section of this stratigraphy is the same as at the previous location, on whose noticeable erosion surface a weakly layered, rounded accretional lapilli tuff about 10 meters thick was deposited. This rock is a remnant of tephra deposited on the inner wall of the crater and transported anew. Based on the algal crust covering the rounded lapilli, the transported sediment was deposited in water. The rock layers incline towards the former crater, today’s Inner Lake. This section is a transported, eroded remnant of volcanic crater and cone infilling.

The Inner Lake

We descend from the elevation and cross to the southern shore of the Inner Lake following the ZT trail. The sparkling water surface waves 26 meters above the water level of Lake Balaton. Due to its location near the village, nutrient loading was formerly from livestock and today mainly from tourism. In the 1970s, Asian herbivorous fish, grass carp, were introduced. This species almost completely eliminated the aquatic vegetation, and with its excrement further increased the organic content of the water, leading to blooms of various algae species and visible white foam even today. Later, the grass carp died out; only two East Asian fish species, silver carp and Chinese razbóra, tolerate the oxygen deficiency and alkaline (pH: 9.3-9.6) chemical environment. The national park supports natural self-cleaning processes by protecting reed and submerged vegetation; thus, stork-like wading birds also fly over the Outer Lake hunting fish, and glossy ibis, little bittern, and great crested grebe nest in reed beds surrounding the water. The grassy shore hosts a strong population of European ground squirrels introduced in 2003, attracting birds of prey, while a herd of grey cattle grazing there helps maintain species-rich, dense-rooted grass, significantly preventing nutrient inflow into the lake.

Walk among the thermal spring cones

Our trail leads into another secondary forest, where we reach the rock called Aranyház. The peninsula’s most famous thermal spring cone is colored in various shades of yellow by beautiful lichens. Besides them, expressive crustose lichens, bladder lichens, and wart lichens encrust the rocks. We also find two smaller cavities here, the lower and upper cavities of Aranyház, dissolved into the hard rock by hot waters.

From here, we head south again, soon reaching the Átjáró cone by turning left on the Z⩍ trail, perhaps Tihany’s most complexly developed formation of this type. Its formation can be divided into six phases, well explained by the nearby information board. The cave was dissolved towards the end of its formation by carbonated thermal waters.

Following the trail southwest, we reach the Kalapos cone, whose special shape is partly thanks to mining activity that long destroyed the cones. The upper part cemented hard by thermal waters protects the underlying brecciated rock like a cap against weathering, though selective erosion slowly destabilizes the thin-necked stone block resting on it. Keeping our direction, we pass beside the Borsókő cone. Carbonated thermal waters created a porous stone, later permeated by iron-rich thermal waters; inside the formed chimneys, pea-shaped and other types of lime precipitates were left by the repeatedly rising solutions.

Turning right on the ZT trail, we return to Aranyház, then go left along the S+ trail, turning onto an unmarked path that offers a splendid view of the peninsula from the Hármashegyi cone. From here, we return to the meadow beside the Inner Lake, and following the trail, reach the abbey buildings in Tihany streets, as well as the nearby Source Cave, the peninsula’s second-largest natural cave. Its passage is only 14 meters long with two chambers, the walls formed by geyserite similar to other thermal spring cones. We can peek inside through the entrance grille equipped with automatic lighting.

The Tihany Abbey

Founded in 1055 by King Andrew I in honor of Saint Anianus and the Virgin Mary, the abbey’s founding charter is the oldest written Hungarian linguistic monument. Saint Anianus’s title is almost unique in the Carpathian Basin, likely linked to the founding king. Today, the medieval building complex has almost vanished without a trace, with only a few stone carvings and the 11th-century crypt, where the founding king was buried, remaining. During the Turkish wars of the 16th-17th centuries, the abbey was turned into a fortress and fortified. After the liberation wars, the abbey and its estates paid only the royal chamber and could return to their former owners in exchange for a so-called “ransom of arms.” Since the Benedictines did not have enough money, in 1702 the Benedictine abbey of Altenburg in Austria bought the complex and its estates. The Pannonhalma Benedictine Abbey could only repurchase it in 1716.

Subsequently, Abbot Villebald Grassó organized the basic conditions of monastic life and financially stabilized the monastery estates. Reconstruction of the church and monastery began in the 1720s and was completed in 1774 under Abbot Ágoston Lécs's direction. Since Emperor Joseph II dissolved (among others) the Benedictine order in 1786, its members only returned to the abbey in 1802. By the mid-19th century, the church and monastery, in very poor condition, were fully renovated between 1889-1890. At that time, beautiful frescoes were painted by Lajos Deák-Ébner, Károly Lotz, and Bertalan Székely. Due to nationalization, the monks moved away again in 1950, and the monastery was first converted into a poorhouse, later a museum. The Hungarian state returned the monastic complex to the Benedictine order in 1994, whose restoration had already begun two years earlier. In spring 2012, the abbey became an independent priory again.

From the abbey, we continue along the Z trail on the Pisky promenade, offering a beautiful view of the eastern part of Balaton. The namesake, István Pisky, was a captain famous for his duels with the Turks during the late 16th century at Tihany Castle. At the Tihany Echo, we turn right and follow the winding Z▲ trail on the sloping streets, returning to the lakeshore, where we turn left to arrive back at the boat station within minutes.

The detailed description of the hike is available under the Directions menu item.