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WALKS IN NORTHERN HUNGARY

THE AGGTELEK

After the Treaty of Trianon, when Hungary’s borders were redrawn, Jenő Cholnoky, the Hungarian geographer, condemned the outcome as ‘a geographical absurdity, which history will deservedly condemn’. Without adding weight to revisionist claims, the Slovak-Hungarian border, which divides the Gömör- Torna karst in two, is at the very least a geological absurdity. Millions of years ago the hills on both sides of today’s frontier began as sediments covered in a tropical sea. After the water receded, the exposed limestone was eroded, creating a landscape of karst forest, alpine meadows, sink-holes and dolinas. The social and political consequences of the redrawing of Hungary’s borders are still being played out, but the national park authorities in both Slovakia and Hungary have risen above it to co-operate in order to protect this unique region. For an idea of the extent of the whole karst buy the 1:50 000 map Aggteleki Nemzeti Park/Slovenský Kras (published by Paulus), available at the Aggtelek and Jósvafő visitor centres and bookshops in Budapest.