Badacsony Hill
The hill (437 m) is an extinct casket-shaped volcano. Its slopes are covered with some very strange geological formations, fossilised lava columns called 'basalt organs' as well as vineyards which produce the excellent wine of the Pauline monks called 'Grey Friar' (Szürkebarát). Of the two hundred-year-old press houses, the two finest are the House of Róza Szegedy (Kisfaludy út), housing the Literary Museum with memorabilia of literature and viniculture, and the Baroque Kisfaludy House (Kisfaludy utca), the most popular wine cellar and restaurant along the shore. Its terrace also offers an excellent panorama. So does the 14-m Kisfaludy lookout tower at the highest point of the hill and the Ranolder Cross on the south-western side. The Badacsonytomaj house of the painter of the Lake Balaton, József Egry (1883-1951) now holds a museum dedicated to him (12 Egry József sétány). In Badacsonytomaj, the Church of St. Imre, the first basalt church in Europe, was built in 1932. The highlights of the Badacsony Nature Reserve, with superb panoramas, are the volcanic hills called 'Witness Hills', including Gulács (393 m), Csobánc (376 m), St. George Hill (415 m). The reason they are called 'witnesses' is that they bear witness to the once much higher water level of the extinct Pannonian Sea. Visitors following the geobotanical trail will soon recognise the immense heritage of the place. The Folly Arboretum (5 Arborétum utca) in Badacsonyörs displays 400 types of evergreens.Extinct volcanoes surround the villages, inhabited since time began, in the protected Káli Basin. The mineral water source on the outskirts of Kékkút, producing the famous bottled water, Theodora, was known to the Romans. Ruins of medieval palaces and churches and unique geological formations further enhance the appeal of this region. Clusters of basalt columns and small crater lakes like Lake Kornyi of Hegyestű Hill, the basalt columns of the Fekete-hegy ('Black Hill') and, unique to this region, the winderoded stones of bizarre shape at Szentbékkálla, Kővágóörs and Salföld are true curiosities. On the nature reserve farm of Salföld grey cattle, long-coated sheep and buffaloes, once indigenous to this area, have received a new lease of life in their protected habitat.In the cemetery of Balatonudvari there are approximately 50 graves with heart-shaped tombstones from the years 1808-1840.In Örvényes the water-mill (1 Szent Imre utca), ( still in working condition), which stands next to the over 200-year-old bridge on the Pécsely stream, milled wheat as early as 1211. It still uses the ancient tools of the millers.
