Tour in the footsteps of the miners

Itinerary:

• Starting from the starting point, head north following the red elf PT signs through Veres-víz Spring, Lipót Mine, Teréz Mine, and touching Jó Hill.
• On the asphalt, briefly follow the red POO cycling signs straight; at a sharp right turn, leave the paved road to the left and return to the PT sign.
• From the Telkibánya road, make a detour at the end of the tour to King Matthias Well, the Ice Cave, and the Beautiful Ilonka's Grave on the S● trail.

Detailed description of the tour:

Visit to Konczfalva

At the bottom of the Veres-víz valley, on the edge of a spacious forest clearing, a shelter from the rain, benches and tables, and a fire pit welcome the traveler. The Forester-Miner Friendship Rest was built in the 1970s in memory of the close collaboration of the two professions. Where once miners smelted ore and supported tunnels with wood from surrounding forests, foresters now use mining and metallurgy-based technical achievements for forest management decisions. Axes and saws have long ceased to work here at the bottom of the Veres-víz valley, thus our path leads through impressive beech trunks at the beginning.

The short section after the meadow is shared with our return route, which arrives along the ridge - after crossing the stream, at the fork, we turn right, following the direction marked by the red elf (PT) along the valley. This nearly one-kilometer long, very atmospheric section follows the old beech forest left intact in the valley bottom. The shallow hollow gradually ascends; at one point, the path skirts wavy surfaces, small terraces, and hills at the bottom of the mountain-side cuts. The rearranged terrain is a trace of former mining: here in the valley bottom, the altars deepened to drain water from veins leading to the shafts and tunnels. Such was the Veres-víz altar, which extended one and a half kilometers deep into the mountain to divert its water - this tunnel connection also served as a transportation route.

Among the hills, a few stone walls also emerge as legacies of the 18th-century mining revival. In the mid-medieval era, during the mining boom, there existed a mining settlement here, Konczfalva, where ore extracted from the mountaintop was processed. Constant water flow was needed for gold sedimentation, which was available here at the Veres-víz spring. The ruins of the settlement remain only as earth mounds, recalling bygone, bustling times.

Above the former village, the road bends out of the widening valley, climbing to the left on gentler terrain toward the depressions where much of the mining activity took place. This path can be shortened if time and energy allow only a short hike. However, it is better to continue uphill in the valley following the elf's guidance for the larger circuit.

On the sides of Fehér and Kánya Hills

The valley broadens into a wider basin above the fork, and the old beech forest thins out. We break through a young clearing on an increasingly narrow path that curves right onto the side of Fehér Hill, where it joins the bulldozer road of the Fehér Hill quarry. Above us, the young forest's dense canopy reveals the truly white mining wall of the hill. Kaolinized rhyolite was once quarried here for the Telkibánya stoneware factory, but the illite mine at Füzérradvány provided better raw material, causing production to halt soon.

We steadily ascend on a comfortable bulldozer road, which on the upper section winds around the valley head basin hiding the source of Veres-víz. We reach Fehérhegyi Road (the asphalt leading to the locator), which we follow briefly to the right, switching to the red KOO cycling trail. Unfortunately, the young forest on the hill side offers neither views nor forest experience, but we soon leave it behind. After the steep bend in the road, the path turns off again, following the PT sign and soon arriving at Lipót Mine, the deepest cavity of the hill.

Originally, this vertical cavity was drilled to connect different mine tunnels for ventilation purposes, and miners initially descended with the help of ladders. Continuous deepening created a 132-meter vertical shaft extending to the Veres-víz altar touched at Konczfalva. Although heavily overgrown, the tunnel's mouth is still distinctly visible - fenced off due to clear danger to life.

We descend among old beeches; the terrace formed from mined rock turns into a steep slope. Lower down, we turn onto a forest road, traversing almost one kilometer across the rugged slope in an atmospheric oak grove. Where the steepness eases, we descend left onto the asphalt lane of Fehérhegyi Road basin. We walk up a few dozen meters on it and then turn right to Teréz Mine.

Through the gated entrance, we can peep into the cavity deep inside the mountain, supported by mine timbering. This tunnel was also established in medieval times and named after Maria Theresa when reopened and further deepened in the 18th century. It extends over half a kilometer, crossing veins, but only half of its length is passable.

After Teréz tunnel, the path returns and also touches Csengő Mine next to it, of medieval origin as well, though extended in mid-20th century because of kaolin mining. We bypass the heap of tunnel debris and curve widely onto the sharply formed ridge beneath Kánya Hill, the once richest gold-bearing area, reaching Jó Hill.

Descent along the Jó Hill vein

Along the PT trail, we reach the ridge emerging from the mountainside, then descend a few meters from the forestry road into the bumpy western hillside. Here, we find special surface forms: traces of 14th-15th century open-pit mining, with depressions breaking the wavy ridge as craters. The quartz veins containing precious metals initially stood out as small ridges and rock mounds from the hillside, glistening with tiny, discoverable particles of natural gold. These quartz rocks were mined in the mid-medieval period, from which Telkibánya earned city status. The quarried vein caves gape on the mountain's surface as empty seals of former wealth.

Returning to the road, we walk comfortably down the atmospheric oak forest with mossy undergrowth along Jó Hill's ridge. Occasionally, white quartz debris appears by the road, for the ridge itself formed due to erosion resistance of quartz veins. The gentle path steepens near the end, finally returning to the branching point in bright oak forest with rich understory, where we started. We trek along the familiar route back to the Forester-Miner Friendship Rest. From here, we take a short visit across the highway to King Matthias Well, Beautiful Ilonka's grave, and the cool breath of the Ice Cave entrance.

At King Matthias Well, the mouth of the ice pit

On the S● trail, after barely a hundred meters' walk, we curve down to the streambank stretching across the road. On the shaded valley floor, benches, tables, and a fire pit welcome at the forest clearing's edge, where the cool water of the King’s Well springs at the base of the steep mountainside. Beside it, a stylized grave commemorates the legend of King Matthias and Beautiful Ilonka’s meeting.

Above the spring on the mountainside is a stone-lined entrance leading to a closed tunnel inside Nagy-Király Hill. Known as the Ice Cave, this cavity is artificial, connected to former mining, so it cannot be called a true cave. Nevertheless, we can feel the icy breath of the mountain generated by a siphon effect. The cavity used by the forestry to store seeds for seedlings barely warms above a few degrees Celsius even in summer. Due to the cool and moist climate, the valley floor trees are covered by thick moss, creating a special primeval forest atmosphere. The spirit of the place and the legend of the hunter king and the virgin girl inspired Mihály Tompa as well:

“Admiring the virgin’s face and figure: with his eyes he greedily drank her glance, but his burning lips thirsted desperately…”

“…then the fierce hunter stole her away, embraced her slender waist, and pressed a hot kiss on her red lips.

And frightened, the valley spring instantly turned icy cold…!

The handsome hunter never appeared again, - the king left the region, -

And the girl, as the tale says, with tearful eyes, pale, went

to the mossy edge of the valley spring, sitting sadly alone above it,

pondered long over the swelling water…

In her eyes tears, and faithful memory, on her lips a sigh, this silent speech!

And the silent fever from which the flower turned yellow, fell around the spring:

It took the pale girl to sleep, once the most beautiful flower…!

The burial mound is near the well; the heart already quiet, the wilderness silent.

Only the spring quietly speaks but does not tell the reason for sorrow.”

/Mihály Tompa: King’s Well/ (excerpt)