Gellért Hill cliffs, Budapest, Hungary
N 47° 29.252 E 019° 02.910
34T E 352993 N 5261189
Gellért Hill cliffs, Budapest, Hungary
Waymark Code: WMDP2P
Location: Budapest, Hungary
Date Posted: 02/08/2012
Views: 53
Territory of the protected area: 40 hectares.
Location: The protected area is situated in the central area of Budapest at the Buda side of Erzsébet bridge.
Visitors: Free of access for visitors.
Management: Directorate of the Duna–Ipoly National Park
The 139 m tall Gellért-hill with its characteristic form towering over the Danube is one of the most well-known sights of Hungary, but much less is known about its real values. The 235 m tall dolomite mountain is the most renowned member of the chain of mountains (the Sas mountain, the Törökugrató also belong there) in southern Buda, the dolomite of which called 'main dolomite' formed in the upper Triassic and got elevated and broken up in the Pleistocene. It was in the Eocene that limestone got deposited onto the dolomite (it is still visible at the southwestern foot of the Citadella), then in the course of elevation thermal water activities resulted some travertine formations in the area (it can be spotted on the south eastern slopes). The caves of the Gellért-hill got formed along the thermal faults. The most famous is perhaps the Szent Iván cave (N 47° 29.087 E 019° 03.134), which houses a chapel of the Pauline order. There are several active springs in the mountain (Árpád-, Mátyás-, Rákóczi- etc.) and medicinal thermal baths at the foot (Rác-, Gellért-, Rudas-baths), which are also the result of this hydrogeologic process. The fauna of the popular mountain in the center of the capital is far from being natural, as the majority of its area is a public park. Still, some fragments of lime-ash remnant forests, karst scrubforests and hornbeam-oaks and – mainly on the west side – Tatarian maple-loess-oaks are recognizable. It is even more interesting, that smaller stands of open and closed dolomite puszta lawns have survived on the eastern steep rocky side, with such valuable protected plants as the (Paronychia cephalotes), the sea grape (Ephedra distachya), or the sadler imola (Centaurea sadleriana) and the hare's tail grass. The (Silene flavescens) lives only here in Hungary.
In January 2007 a new cave was discovered under Gellért Hill during a private construction. The cave is 60 m long and 18 m deep with 3 rooms. The interior is covered with dazzling white crystals composed of gypsum, calcite and aragonite. The cave was created 300-500,000 years ago by a now disappeared thermal spring. The crystal cave was immediately placed under legal protection. (Bérc street 4a - no visible)
Dolomite is the name of a sedimentary carbonate rock and a mineral, both composed of calcium magnesium carbonate CaMg(CO3)2 found in crystals.
Dolomite rock (also dolostone) is composed predominantly of the mineral dolomite. Limestone that is partially replaced by dolomite is referred to as dolomitic limestone, or in old U.S. geologic literature as magnesian limestone. Dolomite was first described in 1791 as the rock by the French naturalist and geologist, Déodat Gratet de Dolomieu (1750–1801) for exposures in the Dolomite Alps of northern Italy.
Waymark is confirmed to be publicly accessible: yes
Parking Coordinates: N 47° 29.227 W 019° 02.573
Access fee (In local currency): .00
Requires a high clearance vehicle to visit.: no
Requires 4x4 vehicle to visit.: no
Public Transport available: yes
Website reference: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
No specific requirements, just have fun visiting the waymark.