Beehive Stones around Egerszalók
Betyárbúvó kaptárkőThe first stone we find around here is called the hiding place of the "betyár," a sort of noble outlaw in Hungarian folklore, who would live as an outcast in the country, sometimes rebel and fight injustice.
|
|
Ironically, this "hiding place" of the outlaw was the easiest of all stones to find. I big sign along the village road - full of wine and pizza restaurants - pointed in its direction and we could walk up to it on a paved road. The view is pretty and the find is impressive but lacks the "Celtic" magic of the other sites. We venture further and indeed, more curious places await...
Hiding place of the legendary Hungarian outlaw - the betyár
|
Close to the main road where you can buy pizza and wine, this site offers a nice, civic view
|
The "One Beehive" near Egerszalók has a dark and shadowy feel to it
|
Adventuring a bit further, on a downward-leading little forest path we find again the Egy Kaptárkő (One Beehive Stone) from last year. It hides there like a witch's lair and makes you gasp when you see it. Marius doesn't like its vibe and want to move on.
On the ground, we also spot the first "scarlet elf cups" of the season. These striking red, cup shaped mushrooms are edible and make nice, colourful additions to stir-fries. |
The Scarlet Elf Cup are the first harbingers of the mushroom season
|
The Stone Woman Cave (Kőasszony barlang)
|
Further down South, some truly stunning sites await. They are also quite easy to find, there are tourist paths leading from the free parking lot next to the Saliris játszótér (playground). From there, we are walking up to a site called the Stone Woman Cave. It is a truly astonishing rock structure that features two typical characteristics of Beehive Stone sites:
|
Let's find the cave!
|
1. pointy, conical shaped rocks
2. twin-peaks
2. twin-peaks
The typical conical shape of the so-called beehive stones is clearly visible at the "Stone Woman Cave"
|
As I've noticed before, the cone shape so typical for the beehive stone sites might give us a clue about their purpose. In lack of written records, archaeological finds, or the possibility for carbon dating, the origin, and purpose of these stones remains unclear. We don't know their age, either, although geological studies indicate that the human carvings may be thousands of years old, going back to prehistoric sites. (To me, many of these sites have a distinctly celtic feel to them.) In lack of historic evidence, we may only use our intuition to learn more. However, there is a bit more. The stone carry symbolic language, which was widely used by the ancients and can tell us volumes.
|
|
Up at the Menyecske-hegy (Little Bride Mountain) there is a peak with fantastic vibes and classic, semi-window style carvings.
We can see here another feature common at these sites: split rocks - which in the language of symbols can be read as entrances to another world, commonly hidden from every-day site. (It's a symbol also contained in the twin peak formations, which we have observed at many of these places.) As a nice, additional feature, we found some pine-trees growing out of rocks, similarly to Laurin's Grove in Greece, which is a place energetically related. |
Pine Trees growing out of rocks
|
Split rocks
|
Little Bride Mountain Rock
|
Semi-window carving on the Little Bride Mountain
|
|
Finally, the hiker's path takes us back to the parking lot - it all feels very civic and organised compared to other, much wilder locations. There is one last beehive stone to see, called the Kőbojtár (Stone Shepherd). It's a large, impressive rock - very conical shaped - but lacking any striking carving. There's one last, wonderful surprise: Someone placed Tibetan Prayer Flags nearby, honouring the sacred nature of these ancient sites. We leave filled with awe...
Tibetan Prayer Flags near the ancient sites
|
The Stone Shepherd
|