From Zsíros-hegy’s peak a breathtaking panorama unfolds. Zsíros-hegy a mountain in the Buda Hills stands proudly. Its 424-meter height offers stunning views. Administratively it’s part of Solymár near the triple border of Nagykovácsi and Pilisszentiván. Zsíros-hegy is in the Duna-Ipoly National Park and the Buda Landscape Protection Area. It’s easily accessible by car but only from Nagykovácsi.
The history of Zsíros-hegy is rich and fascinating. Its limestone has been used for centuries. Two large quarries still stand as testament to this long history. Near them a large mining settlement existed until the 1940s. Evidence remains though mostly unseen.
Brown forest soil covers much of Zsíros-hegy. In places you’ll find rendzina a type of thin soil. Until the 1920s the mountain was mostly barren. Its Hungarian and German names Zsíros-hegy and Schmalzberg mean “greasy mountain”. This referred to the bare limestone that looked like a large mass of lard from a distance. Between 1930 and 1934 extensive black pine planting took place. Most of the mountain is now forested. However a hillside below the summit was ravaged by a wildfire in the early 1990s. This area is now bare again. The summit itself is treeless. It doesn’t provide much of a view. However the bare peak offers a near 180-degree panorama to the north. You can see almost the entire Pilis basin from the Pilis range to the Nagy-Kevély massif.
Rainfall on Zsíros-hegy mostly flows down in gullies. Some water flows underground. The mountain’s only known spring is the Törökkát-spring in the southwest of Solymár. The mountain’s caves like Solymári-kisfülke Solymári-köfülke Solymári-ördöglyuk and Solymári-sziklareteg were formed in this rock.
Brown coal mining also impacted Zsíros-hegy. Mining started in the region in 1849. The Zwierzina mine opened in 1881. Its location was near the Erdész and Tölgyfa streets in Nagykovácsi. Several smaller mines and quarries operated throughout the 1800s and 1900s. The Solymár II slope mine and quarry opened around 1945. The Jóreménység-aláró and Párhuzamos-táró opened in 1947 in Pilisszentiván.
Zsíros-hegy still has visible remnants of this mining history. The most well-known is the miners’ memorial near Nagykovácsi’s Kút street. It was built using the remaining supporting pillars of a former haulage system. Another double pillar from this system sits on a hard-to-reach slope. It’s on the Zsíros-hegy side already in Pilisszentiván’s area. Near the serpentine road to Solymár large concrete pillars are visible. These are remnants of an uncompleted haulage system from World War II.
The remnants of the Solymár II quarry and its former cable car are also partially visible. The entrance was probably blasted shut. At the foot of Zsíros-hegy is the track of a small railway that transported coal from the Jóreménység-aláró to the now defunct Solymár railway loading yard.
Zsíros-hegy is part of the National Blue Trail. Many other trails lead there from Solymár Nagykovácsi and Budaliget. The Zsíros-hegy tourist house stood on the summit from 1929 to 1986. Only ruins remain. A nearby memorial to one of the key figures in its construction Klauál István can no longer be found. Today the area around the former tourist house is a popular resting place. A guesthouse the Muflon Itató operates nearby. It partly replaces the lost shelter. Zsíros-hegy has several caves. The Ördöglyuk cave is the best known. It’s considered one of the largest and most dangerous in the Buda Hills. Parts of it are accessible with prior arrangement and a guide.