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Budapest · Mysteries & legends

Witches' Hill: Legends of Gellért Hill

At the foot of Gellért Hill, on both sides of Elisabeth Bridge, Budapest keeps its strangest stories: martyrs, witches, healing hermits and imprisoned monks. We carefully separate what the documents say from what tradition tells.

  • 5 stops
  • 2 km
  • 1 h 45 min
  • Free
Start with GPS Read about this stop 1
Staircase, waterfall and statue of St Gerard on Gellért Hill

The route

Stop by stop

  1. 1 Contra-Aquincum and Pest's Oldest ChurchUnder a sheet of glass, the walls of a Roman fort; beside it, a church that was once a mosque and, by tradition, once held a martyr's grave.
  2. 2 St Gerard's Statue and the Witches' HillA bishop who, legend says, was hurled down the hillside, and a hill that for centuries was said to draw the witches of Hungary.
  3. 3 Rudas BathsA 16th-century Ottoman dome over hot springs that were rising from the hill long before the city existed.
  4. 4 Cave ChurchA church carved into the hill, which the communist police walled up behind concrete in 1951.
  5. 5 Liberty BridgeA green bridge from 1896 crowned by four turul birds, the bird of the dream that, legend says, foretold the Árpád dynasty.

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Start with GPS

Guide mode

Walk it with GPS.

Open guide mode on your phone: you’ll see your position and the distance to each stop, and we’ll let you know when you arrive. Then read or listen.

Start with GPS

  1. Turn on your location

  2. Walk to the spot

  3. Check the photo and listen

What you’ll discover

Witches' Hill: Legends of Gellért Hill

Two thousand years in one walk

From the Roman ruins of Contra-Aquincum to a church carved into the rock, by way of a 16th-century Ottoman dome.

Legend and record

The barrel of nails, the hill's witches and the turul bird: what the chronicles say, and what imagination added.

Along the river

A flat riverside route with just one short climb, up to the statue of St Gerard.

Keep exploring

More routes in Budapest

Back to Budapest
HistoryBudapest from 1849 to 1989: the Pest Embankment EssentialsEssential Budapest: Castle Hill