Mecsek
| Mecsek | |
|---|---|
 Location in Hungary |
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 Typical landscape in the Mecsek |
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| Highest peak | Zengő ( 682 m ) |
| location | Baranya , Tolna , Southern Hungary on the 46th latitude , about 40 km west of the Danube |
| Coordinates | 46 ° 10 ′ N , 18 ° 19 ′ E |
| particularities | Extensive, almost pure chestnut forests |
The Mecsek [ mɛtʃɛk ] (also Mecsek ) is a 45 km long mountain range in southern Hungary county Baranya , just north of the city of Pécs . The mountain range runs in a width of 10 to 15 km from west-southwest to east-northeast, where some peaks reach over 600 meters in altitude. Pécs is roughly in the middle of the southern foothills.
On some hilltops there are castles (Hungarian Vár ), e.g. B. at Pécsvárad and at Zengővárkony , which is named after the Zengő protruding to the south .
geography
The Mecsek rises from a flat environment ( elevation of the Pannonian Plain 110–150 m) and is therefore very distinctive despite its low absolute height. With good visibility, the mountains can be seen from around 100 km away. The highest mountain is the Zengő in the northeast with a height of 684 m. In total there are about a dozen peaks over 500 meters in altitude.
The division between West and East Mecsek is very clear; H. from the Zengő, the Westmecsek looks like its own high range of hills , while from the Jakab-Hegy (Westmecsek) a similar, but slightly higher, landscape can be seen when looking to the east. The Nordmecsek is hilly to the north .
geology
The mountain range consists of strongly karstified chalk cliffs on the surface . Stalactite caves are correspondingly frequent , of which the particularly remarkable Abaliget cave located near Abaliget even has a stream inside.
Several dozen coal seams are enclosed in the lower lying, up to 800 m thick and strongly folded mountain layers from the Lias . They were mined at Pécs and Komló , but production has been almost completely stopped in recent decades. Uranium ore was also mined at the Mecsek from around 1960 to 1990 .
fauna and Flora
The higher regions are covered with deciduous forest. Particularly noteworthy are several extensive, almost pure chestnut forests, such as those in southwestern France, in parts of Italy and southeastern Austria as well as in the Balkans up to the Black Sea.
The south-facing slopes of the Mecsek are used for the cultivation of wines.
Transport links
Pécs and Komló have a train station. The Mecsek area can be easily reached from eastern Hungary and Budapest via the main roads 6-os főút and 57-es főút . However, around 35 km of roads in the Mecsek area are signposted as a “hazardous road section”. There is very little traffic on the side streets.
Larger places on the Mecsek Mountains
- Pécs (West Mecsek)
- Hosszúhetény (Ostmecsek, southern slope of the Zengő)
- Pécsvárad (Ostmecsek)
- Komló (North Mecsek)
West Mecsek
On the western Mecsek are Pécs, the Jakab-Hegy (Jakobsberg) and the Misina-Tetö with the television tower (approx. 600 m). The roads starting from Pécs surround the mountains in the south and east, and a road leads to the television tower. There is also a zoo and viewpoints (Kis-Tubes, Jánoskilátó, Zsongorkő).
Ostmecsek
In addition to the Zengő mentioned above, the somewhat higher Ostmecsek includes the summit of Kövestető and the Dreiberg ( Hármashegy ).