The Hungarian woman who helped discover one of Budapest’s most valuable treasures

Did you know that there is plenty to see below the ground in Budapest? There are exciting caves, waiting to be discovered. This is the story of a 22-year-old Hungarian woman without whose help we would not know Budapest’s Szemlő Hill Cave the way we do today.

Mária Szekula

Mária Szekula started her career as an artist, well-known for her sculptures and coins at the time, Femina writes. She became interested in the “underground world” after meeting her future husband and famous Hungarian caver Huba Kessler.

Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

The couple actually got married inside a cave in 1935. She was only 22 years old when she helped to discover one of the most famous caves under Budapest: the Cave of Szemlő Hill (Szemlő-hegyi barlang).

Mária soon became a prominent figure of speleology in Hungary.  She was part of a team of speleologists who were discovering a certain area below Budapest in 1930, now known as the Cave of Szemlő Hill.

The brave group of cavers explored the underground chambers in complete darkness, with only a tiny headlight leading their way. They had no idea what they would find along the way.

The team discovered a very small hole in the wall. The bigger male cavers had no chance of getting through the whole. That is when Mária stepped up and saved the day. At 22, she had a small and delicate figure, and she could easily slide through the tiny hole, which they later named, very smartly, the thread of the needle.

The thread of the needle

On the other side, Mária found herself in a newer chamber, which was later named, in her honour, the Mária Chamber (Máriaterem).

Photo: Commons.wikimedia.com by Szenti Tamás

Mária discovered that the long chamber they had been going through earlier (now called the Long Corridor) continued behind the thread of the needle.

Take a tour inside Szemlő Hill Cave

The 2,200-meter-long cave is one of the most valuable natural treasures of Budapest. Inside the cave, there are several spacious passages.

Budapest.com writes that the cave “offers a variety of spectacular forms and is richly ornamented with mineral precipitations. Visitors can get familiarised with the pisolite precipitations and gypsum crystals, counting almost unparalleled in Europe, abundantly covering the walls, by an effect illumination, which enhances and makes perceivable the beauty of the images and formations of the cave passages.”

The cave has a very clear, dust-free air. It is no wonder that it is also used for medicinal purposes as a treatment for patients suffering from asthma or other respiratory diseases.

The temperature in the cave is even all throughout the year: 12 Grade Celsius. There is a developed hiking route inside, so you do not need any kind of special clothing for the visit. The complete tour of the cave is approximately 40 minutes long.

Featured image: Commons.wikimedia.org

Source: www.femina.hu; www.budapest.com