SeeUinHungary Miskolc, Diosgyor castle, Bukk Hills, Lillafured, Thermal cave

MISKOLC

The third largest city in Hungary with estimated 180000 people.
Miskolc is one of the oldest cities and living areas in Hungary. People are continously living here from 10000 b.c., many tools, stones and bones were found in the surrounding caves in Bukk hills. in the 20th century Miskolc was the steal city, nowadays try to get new edge and image based on tourism and the knowledge base of University.

Miskolc is in the northern part of Hungary, surrounded by Bukk mountains. Miskolc is ideal place to spend a few days and discover the surrounding villages and sights. Such as Miskolctapolca cave bath, Tokaj wineyards, Mezokovesd thermal bath or Lillafured and the Bukk mountain.

Get know more about history of Miskolc

Walking tour in downtown area
Let start from an important and well known place in Miskolc the so called "villanyrendor". It means traffic light, and the square got its name after the first traffic light in the city. You can easily arrive here by tram from the train station. If you take a short walk on the left side, you will arrive to the Szinva creek, which is actually flowing through the city from Bukk hills. Nowadays the whole square are renewed, and called "Szinva terasz", with cafes, restaurants, a small waterfall. Szinva terasz is a popular place in Miskolc.
If you go toward and go across the bridge over the Szinva creek, go across the main street to Deryne street. (Deryne, was an actress of the local Theatre).
You will recognize the Theatre of Miskolc on your left hand side. This is the oldest theatre which made of stone in Hungary.
Go along the Deryne str, you will pass the theatre museum, cafes and bars and arrive to Heroe's Square, which offers nice place to sit and watch the city life in summertime with waterfalls and fountains. The red building front of you is the Ferenc Foldes Secondary School (one of the oldest in Hungary), and the Catholic Church. Post office lays at your right hand side and the old jewish temple at your back.
You can go across the street, pass the red colored secondary school and arrive to the Ortodox church and museum , which can be found at the back of the school. (at least you can see the tower from the street).

Museums
Rákóczi house - gallery of fine arts
Open from 9am till 5pm (except sundays and mondays)
Herman Otto Múzeum - art gallery, local heritage gallery
Entrance fees :
children : 200 HUF, adult : 400 HUF
Theatre, movies
National Theatre
House of Arts - exchibitions, concerts, movies, cafe
International Opera Festival

Getting around
Miskolc has very good mass transport system.
Trams : there are 2 lines, go across the city from the Tiszai train station till Diósgyõr district. If you are going into the city centre it is the best way.
Buses : many lines, you can have access almost every part of the city with buses.
Few examples how to go to major places :
from train station to Lillafured
you catch bus number 1, and go until the last stop. Change line to number 5. Number 5 bus stop is opposite the bus station next to the road.
from train station to Miskolctapolca
you catch bus number 1 and take off at the second stop Buza ter. Change to bus number 2 at the bus station.

In summertime you can catch narrow gauge train to Lillafured. It is a nice 40min. ride.
Take tram number 1 from train station and go until you see OMV petrol station on your left. or take bus number 1 until OMV petrol station.

Prices :
You can buy tickets at the bus or/and tramdrivers 250HUF
Or any newsagency 160HUF
Tourist ticket for 3days 1750HUF (only at bus stations)

Avas cellar and lookout tower
The Avas has been the storage and hiding place of the town for centuries. More than 800 cellars were scooped into the dry and damp-proof andesite tuff of the Avas. The hollows run parallel to the inner side of the building 6-7 metres distant from each other. Most of them are 10-20 metres long but there are some 50-100 metres long hollows as well. The temperature of the hollows varies between 6-10 °C depending on their depth. It is the same in winter and summer. Most of the cellars are at least 300 years old and hardly any of them are younger than 200 years. The houses by the cellars are not particularly old because there was some kind of wine house in front of every 10th cellar only. Nowadays there are no vineyards on the Avas any more. According to the document of the Pozsony Chamber dated in the 18th century the wine of Miskolc could be distinguished from the wine of Tokaj-Hegyalja as far as its good quality is concerned. The vineyards were completely devastated by the filoxera between 1885 and 1889. There has always been some kind of a lookout tower on the top of the Avas Hill showing a beautiful view to the visitors. The last tower made of wood was burnt down. The present one was built on the 203 metre-high platform between 1962 and 1963. The lookout tower is 71 metres tall and was planned by Hofer Miklós.

Ortodox church and museum
It is a historic building of outstanding value of our town. It was built in baroque style. Building began in 1785 by the Greek community who had escaped from the Turkish rage in the Balkan during the 17th-18th century. It took 21 years to finish building it. Its inner decoration, such as the 16 metre tall iconostas made by Jankovich Miklós, its biblical scenes, sacred images and paintings on the columns fascinates the visitor. The Russian Tsarina Katherine 2nd presented the Mary of Kazan devotional picture, which can be seen in the nave, to the Hungarian Greek Church.Next to the church there is the Hungarian Orthodox Church Museum, which was opened in 1985. The artefacts of the museum were gathered from nine Hungarian orthodox churches.

Diosgyor Castle
In the place of the ring-shaped stand castle standing here before the Conquest building of the huge stone castle commenced in the second half of the 13th century. In 1271 a new castle was mentioned in the charts. The Diósgyor Castle was developed into a strong fortress and furnished in luxurious style by Ernye ban's family. It was an unattainable fortress by the offensive weapons of that period. It was further extended by Lajos (the Great) and it became an important political centre due to the Polish connections. At that time the castle was in its hey-day. From the time of Zsigmond's reign until the Mohács Disaster it was the residence of the current queen. Afterwards it was given in gage to different families. By this time it had lost its strategic role but it still defended Miskolc and the neighbouring villages against the Turkish troops wanting to levy a payment on the territory. The deterioration of the castle started during the Turkish reign. In 1673 it got into the Kuruc's hands and therefore the commanding officer of the imperial army in Kassa sent a troop of 1500 soldiers to occupy it. This was the only siege of the castle that is known. The castle was set on fire and was destroyed. It became a ruin on 11th July 1678. On this day Kuruc troops prevented German troops from moving there when they arrived and destroyed the outer walls extending inside the ditch and the two barbicans protecting the entrance of the drawbridge. After this the castle became the stone-source of the buildings of the area. The exploration and restoration of the castle began in 1953. Owing to the constant restoration the Diósgyor Castle is one of the most important medieval monuments of the country. During the exploration several findings, objects and wings of building connected to the history of the castle were found. The Diósgyor Castle is not only a beauty spot but it also holds international and national open-air performances.
Ticket prices : Adult : 700HUF, Children : 350HUF

Herman Otto Museum is on the foot of the Avas Church, you will see its yellow building from the church. Check out its exhibition of the stone age, which was quite busy in Miskolc area. (you can even visit some of the caves in the Bukk hills).

From the Avas lookout tower you can see on the foot of the Bukk hills the Diosgyor Castle. If you wish to visit the old diosgyor, you can take tram number 1 until the last stop and take a short (5min) walk.