Tata museums · Science and nature
Science and nature · since 1976
The Geologists’ Garden on Kálvária Hill
original name: ELTE Tatai Geológus Kert – Szabadtéri Geológiai Muzeális Közgyűjtemény
Kálvária Hill, cut away by quarries, reads like an open book: the rock faces have been cleared on purpose, for science, so that tens of millions of years of the earth’s history run along them. The place has been protected since 1953 and since 1958 has counted as a nature monument of national standing. One may only go round with a guide: without explanation a rock face stays a rock. Stone has been taken from this hill for five thousand years — the traces of Copper Age flint working are still on it.
Minimum route
about an hour
Founded
1976
Ticket
from HUF 600
Today
10:00–16:00
What to see
The cleared rock faces — stones of a kind no longer formed today, and phenomena that a textbook can only draw as a diagram. The stone park — the commonest rock-forming stones of Hungary, gathered into one walk. The traces of Copper Age flint working. On the top of the hill a baroque chapel and a calvary, and beside them a lookout tower, the Söréttorony.
Minimum route — about an hour for the essentials
Fifty minutes with a guide.
- 25 minutesthe cleared rock faces in the old quarries.
- 15 minutesthe stone park with the rock-forming stones of Hungary.
- 10 minutesthe traces of Copper Age flint working, the baroque chapel and the calvary at the top.
Reference
About the museum
Three and a half hectares of the hill have been protected since 1953, and since 1958 as a nature monument of national standing. The place opened to visitors in 1976, has counted as an open-air geological museum since 1991, and since 1994 has been in the care of Eötvös Loránd University, which lengthened the trail and enlarged the stone park between 1995 and 1997. Some six thousand people come each year.
Getting in
How to get there
The Kálvária hill rises west of the Öreg-tó; fifteen minutes uphill from the centre.
Opening timeschecked on 19 August 2026, the museum website
closed for the day
| Mon | closed |
| Tue–Fri today | 10:00–16:00 |
| Sat, Sun | 10:00–17:00 |
From 1 April to 31 October. Closed on Mondays. Admission is only with a guide, and the round takes about fifty minutes.
Ticketschecked on 19 August 2026, the museum website
Adults 600 Ft, reduced 400 Ft. Family ticket (up to two adults and four children) 1,000 Ft. Free for pupils of Tata schools and for people of Eötvös Loránd University. Groups should book by telephone in advance.
from HUF 600
by prior booking only
When to go
The place is shut from November to March, so a winter journey is pointless. The round goes over open ground on a slope, so bring proper shoes.
Contacts
elte.hu · +36 30 256 23 18
Of interest to children
A rock face without explanation stays a rock, and the guide speaks Hungarian. A child under ten will be bored here; an older one takes to it if he already knows what a stratum is.
· No. 94