Magyar News, 2002. szeptember-2003. augusztus (13. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

2003-07-01 / 11-12. szám

Enjoying the beautiful spring afternoon, hundreds of tourists wandered around the Castle District, admiring the ancient buildings and taking photographs of the sights. But many are probably unaware that, underneath their feet, is a labyrinthine network of caverns and passageways curling through the hill. Writing in 1536, Miklós Oláh, Archbishop of Esztergom and secretary to the widow of Lajos II, noted that, "Because of the countless wine-cellars situated inside the Castle Hill, it is practically hollow."

The network of renovated caves is four kilometers long, of which 1,050m were once open to the public as the Várbarlang (Castle Cave) on Dárda utca. This is closed at present, although visitors can still enter the underground world beneath the Castle District by venturing down steep steps into the Budavári Labirintus, where an assortment of different exhibitions and events awaits.

The cellar system of the Castle can be divided into three kinds at three layers. Under the cellars belonging to the houses is a second level of deep arched medieval cellars carved into freshwater limestone and known as the Török pincék or Turkish cellars. From here entry can be gained to the lowermost natural cavities.

The caves were formed by natural thermal springs, which had traveled up through the marl - the clay-like substance forming the base of the hill.

For tens of thousands of years, the springs carried lime to the top, forming a thick layer of limestone at the hill’s peak, which were good foundations for the many buildings. Once formed, the stone layer blocked the upward movement of the hot spring water, forcing it horizontally through the softer marl, creating natural passages and caves.

During the middle ages, the existing caverns, formed by the thermal water, were linked up by man-made passages. The population of Castle Hill had started to expand after the Mongol invasion of 1242. King Béla IV ordered the building of the Buda

Castle. In Medieval Buda, 300 houses had 285 wells fed by "cave water". King Béla IV chose the hill, partly because of its strategic location, and because its wells and caves provided water and protection for castle dwellers even in times of battle. The inhabitants of the medieval castle region probably chanced upon the caves hidden in the depths of the hill while digging wells, even before the castle was built, as exploration work has revealed cave development from as early as the 11th century. It is possible that the arrangement of houses on the surface was laid out according to the cave cellars below.

Fables tell of secret tunnels and covert military actions. One legend has it that during King Mátyás’s rule in the 15th century there was a tunnel used as an escape route that led to Margitsziget. Engineers poured cold water on this theory, saying it would have been discovered when digging the tunnel for the second metro. However, one tunnel, leading all the way to Budatétény, 22km away, has been explored. The existence of another supposed tunnel to Visegrád, 40km north, has not been proved.

Rock cellars, partly filled with silt, were discovered during the reconstruction of the medieval Church of Our Lady (Mátyás templom) in the 1870s. The Civil Engineering Authority commissioned Ignác Schubert to survey all the cavities. Schubert made the first survey of the underground city in 1882, discovering 120 rock cellars in an area from Szent György tér as far as Bécsi kapu.

Following its first public opening in 1935, the caves became shelters during the war. After the caves’ facilities were destroyed by the Russians during the final battles for Budapest, they were restored as defense bunkers in the ’50s. Opened again in the ’60s for tourism, the caves were again closed in 1975 due to a lack of funds needed for maintenance. By the ’80s, roads were collapsing into the caves which led District I to begin a Ft700 million ($3.15 million) restoration project with help from the Hungarian

Government. During the 1990-97 renovation period, walls were strengthened, columns were added, sewers and new electrical networks were installed in place of the aging halogen lamps.

The Castle Cave reached its maximum development beyond four kilometers in the ’50s. Much of the labyrinth was classified top secret and certain

stretches of the system, particularly the stretch under the Castle itself, are off-limits to this day, as they are part of a military defense network. During the Second World War, life underground was self sufficient and the area became Budapest’s second city - an underground city, complete with a hospital which is still maintained to this day. The Nazis used some of the caves as one of their command headquarters.

The cave cellar system has since been declared as one of Hungary’s "exceedingly protected" natural treasures.

The Buda Castle Labyrinth occupies a 1,200-meter-long complex of caves and passageways, 16m deep inside Castle Hill. It contains permanent and temporary exhibitions, movie screens, a gallery and café area where visitors are offered a cup of tea after the guided tour.

The labyrinth is a kind of "concept cave" and visitors can wander around on their own consulting a booklet or listening to a guide explain the historical significance of the statues on show.

The Historical Labyrinth includes "millennial wanderings in the entrails of the Hill, among symbolic figures and scenes of Hungarian and world history".

The trail through the labyrinth first passes along the Shaman-passage where the shaman - Táltos in Hungarian folklore - was a spiritual leader, priest, soothsayer and healer. The Arpádian vaults with the baptismal font describes how Hungary embraced Christianity and is followed by the Tartar corridor leading down a slope to a cell from where infernal sounds emanate. Passing through winding corridors, the smell of wine suddenly becomes overpowering. In the Renaissance Hall of Rocks stands a square pillar decorated with fountains, from which real red wine gushes out. Some daring folk test the red liquid and it is the real McCoy. The wine symbolizes the strength of the Magyarok when they fought off the Ottomans.

The labyrinth is a very unusual and innovative way of presenting the history of a country to its own people as well as to visitors. Walking through the maze, one feels part of the exhibition and the events come alive much more than if they were just maps on a wall or fossils in a dusty cabinet. Other ideas include a "Night-time labyrinth", an evening tour with an oil lamp to heighten the ambience.

Having tried it, I can also highly recommend the "Personal Labyrinth - A night time individual path-finding tour for those not afraid of themselves."

This is a tour that visitors take individually in total darkness, feeling one’s way around the caves and confronting inner fears.

(Courtesy of Budapest Sun Online)

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