Latest news with #thermalbaths
CNN
12 hours ago
- CNN
Miles from the ocean, there's incredible diving beneath the streets of Budapest
Every day, crowds flock to the Lukács Thermal Baths in Budapest, soaking in warm mineral-rich pools as yellow trams clatter along Frankel Leó Street. Most never suspect that just yards away, beneath the city's historic streets, lies a hidden world: a vast underwater cave system heated by geothermal springs. From its entrance, tucked into the base of Rózsadomb — Rose Hill — an affluent neighborhood of elegant villas and tree-lined streets, the Molnár János Cave stretches for over 3.6 miles (5.8 kilometers) and plunges nearly 300 feet (90 meters) below the surface. Flooded with crystal-clear water at the temperature of a warm bath, it is one of the largest active thermal water caves in the world, and among the rare few open to certified cave divers. The way into the cave is easy to miss from the street. Next to a rocky limestone cliff, a small lake covered with lilies and algae glistens beside a crumbling 19th-century building that resembles an Ottoman bathhouse. On the firewall next to it, a mural of a diver hints at the secrets below. Through a gate, past an old bathhouse — once one of Hungary's first concrete structures — a narrow alley leads to an unmarked doorway in the cliff. Above it, a sign reads 'Happiness Factory,' flanked by smiling emojis. Once inside the brick-lined entranceway, the temperature rises with the geothermal heat. Diving gear lines the corridor. At the end, behind a drawn curtain, a stairwell drops into a rocky entrance where black waters wait in the gloom. Here, divers step into the warm water, their headlamps piercing through the darkness as they descend into a silent, shimmering world. Budapest is famous for its ornate bathhouses and spas, but its thermal waters have done more than soothe muscles and ease ailments. Over millennia, the same geothermal activity that feeds the city's baths has carved a network of more than 200 caves beneath its streets — as mineral-rich springs slowly dissolved the surrounding limestone, marlstone and karst rock. Molnár János is still alive and growing. Water rich in hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide continues to percolate through the rock, creating a mildly acidic cocktail that eats at the walls. The result is a Swiss cheese labyrinth of chambers and passages. 'It's very rare to have warm-water caves,' explains Csaba Gőcze, a dive guide with MJ Cave, the local operator offering guided cave dives. 'Usually, cave diving means 4 to 15 degrees Celsius (39 to 59 Fahrenheit) water. Here, it's 27 °C (80 °F) in the upper layers.' The warmth comes in distinct bands: 27 °C at the surface, dropping to 20 °C (68 °F) and then to 17–18 °C (62–64 °F) as colder water from the Buda Hills mingles below. Some of the cave's water still feeds the nearby Lukács Baths via an underground pipe — though the original inlet, by the stone steps that plunge into the water, was rerouted to give divers easier access. Molnár János surprises many first-time visitors. Unlike the tight, twisting passages of other caves, it offers spacious chambers and gentle currents. 'It's absolutely gorgeous,' Csaba says. 'Huge, open spaces and very few restrictions. It's a relatively easy dive — if you're properly trained.' That training is essential. Only certified cave divers are allowed in. The complete darkness and the fragile environment demand experience. The water is perfectly clear — until someone brushes the side of the cave or disturbs the soft bottom, sending fine silt particles billowing into the beam of a headlamp. 'You can usually see as far as your torchlight reaches,' Csaba says. 'But if people touch the walls or kick up the silt on the bottom of the passages, visibility drops to zero very fast.' To prevent this, divers follow a guideline strung a meter above the cave floor, ensuring the waters remain pristine. Their caution is rewarded with a tour of a surreal landscape: mineral-streaked walls studded with crystals, chambers shifting in color and texture from one to the next. 'Several places in the cave look completely different, as you have different colored rocks, areas with crystals, and areas without,' Csaba says. 'The best dives are where you go through several of these areas, so you experience it all.' Shrimp — nearly invisible — dart in the light. Fossilized seashells and sea urchins still cling to the walls, remnants of the Pannonian Sea, which millions of years ago covered much of modern-day Hungary. The cave still hasn't been fully explored. The officially mapped network runs 3.6 miles, but new passages are found regularly. Volunteer explorers make weekly expeditions into the caves to make measurements, lay new lines, and make updates to maps that have yet to be published. 'The official map says it's around 5,800 meters, but there are passages without lines,' Csaba explains. 'Some don't lead anywhere, but others might be part of something bigger.' He believes the cave could stretch to five miles. Researchers also collect water samples, monitoring for microplastics and signs of pollution. A 2022 study detected some contamination at the cave's known dripwater entry points, but the recently explored areas remain untouched and pristine. For certified cave divers, joining a dive here is remarkably straightforward. MJ Cave runs morning dives by reservation. After a briefing and gear setup, the first one-hour dive follows the main guideline, with optional deeper exploration afterward — some dives can reach nearly 200 feet (60 meters) and require decompression stops. Traveling to Hungary without equipment isn't a problem; full gear rental is available on-site.
National Post
15 hours ago
- National Post
Volunteers battling to save Romania's cultural treasures
Baile Herculane, Romania — Graffiti covers the crumbling walls of the main thermal baths in one of Europe's oldest spa towns. Article content But after decades of neglect, a group of young architects is working to restore the picturesque Romanian resort that once attracted emperors. Article content 'Someone once said that if you drink water from the spring from Herculane, you never leave,' said 31-year-old architect Oana Chirila. Article content Article content Article content Her group's restoration efforts here are just one of several recent civil society initiatives launched to protect some of Romania's historic monuments. Article content An estimated 800 of them are in an advanced state of decay or in danger of crumbling altogether. Some of those are already considered to represent a danger to the public. Article content The neglect is the result of Romania's chaotic transition from Communism to democracy, which was marked by opaque privatizations, often resulting in interminable legal battles and investigations by anti-corruption prosecutors. Article content Imperial history Article content Built in 1886, the Neptune Imperial Baths attracted illustrious clients in its heyday, with its warm sulphur treatments. Article content They included Austria's Emperor Franz Joseph and his wife Elisabeth, popularly known as Sisi. Franz Joseph described the town as Europe's 'most beautiful spa resort'. Article content Now the baths are closed, their interior walls covered in graffiti, rubble on the floor and rain leaking in. Article content Despite the decay, tourists still frequently stop to marvel at and photograph the long, rusty facade, some trying to peek inside through the broken windows. Article content For the moment, Chirila and her team of volunteers are confined to doing conservation work on the baths' outer structure. Article content They could not restore the building until legal disputes between the authorities and the private owners are solved, she explained, adding: 'There's always this fear that it might collapse.' Article content Article content 'Most of the historical monuments are in their current state –- meaning constant decay –- because they are legally blocked,' preventing any use of public or European funds for their restoration. Article content For the moment then, along one side of the riverbank, people take dips in three basins with sulphur water — dubbed 'little bathtubs' by Chirila.
CNN
15 hours ago
- CNN
Miles from the ocean, there's incredible diving beneath the streets of Budapest
FacebookTweetLinkEDITOR'S NOTE: This CNN Travel series may have adjacent ads by the country it highlights. CNN retains full editorial control over subject matter, reporting and frequency of the articles and videos, in compliance with our policy. Every day, crowds flock to the Lukács Thermal Baths in Budapest, soaking in warm mineral-rich pools as yellow trams clatter along Frankel Leó Street. Most never suspect that just yards away, beneath the city's historic streets, lies a hidden world: a vast underwater cave system heated by geothermal springs. From its entrance, tucked into the base of Rózsadomb — Rose Hill — an affluent neighborhood of elegant villas and tree-lined streets, the Molnár János Cave stretches for over 3.6 miles (5.8 kilometers) and plunges nearly 300 feet (90 meters) below the surface. Flooded with crystal-clear water at the temperature of a warm bath, it is one of the largest active thermal water caves in the world, and among the rare few open to certified cave divers. The way into the cave is easy to miss from the street. Next to a rocky limestone cliff, a small lake covered with lilies and algae glistens beside a crumbling 19th-century building that resembles an Ottoman bathhouse. On the firewall next to it, a mural of a diver hints at the secrets below. Through a gate, past an old bathhouse — once one of Hungary's first concrete structures — a narrow alley leads to an unmarked doorway in the cliff. Above it, a sign reads 'Happiness Factory,' flanked by smiling emojis. Once inside the brick-lined entranceway, the temperature rises with the geothermal heat. Diving gear lines the corridor. At the end, behind a drawn curtain, a stairwell drops into a rocky entrance where black waters wait in the gloom. Here, divers step into the warm water, their headlamps piercing through the darkness as they descend into a silent, shimmering world. Budapest is famous for its ornate bathhouses and spas, but its thermal waters have done more than soothe muscles and ease ailments. Over millennia, the same geothermal activity that feeds the city's baths has carved a network of more than 200 caves beneath its streets — as mineral-rich springs slowly dissolved the surrounding limestone, marlstone and karst rock. Molnár János is still alive and growing. Water rich in hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide continues to percolate through the rock, creating a mildly acidic cocktail that eats at the walls. The result is a Swiss cheese labyrinth of chambers and passages. 'It's very rare to have warm-water caves,' explains Csaba Gőcze, a dive guide with MJ Cave, the local operator offering guided cave dives. 'Usually, cave diving means 4 to 15 degrees Celsius (39 to 59 Fahrenheit) water. Here, it's 27 °C (80 °F) in the upper layers.' The warmth comes in distinct bands: 27 °C at the surface, dropping to 20 °C (68 °F) and then to 17–18 °C (62–64 °F) as colder water from the Buda Hills mingles below. Some of the cave's water still feeds the nearby Lukács Baths via an underground pipe — though the original inlet, by the stone steps that plunge into the water, was rerouted to give divers easier access. Molnár János surprises many first-time visitors. Unlike the tight, twisting passages of other caves, it offers spacious chambers and gentle currents. 'It's absolutely gorgeous,' Csaba says. 'Huge, open spaces and very few restrictions. It's a relatively easy dive — if you're properly trained.' That training is essential. Only certified cave divers are allowed in. The complete darkness and the fragile environment demand experience. The water is perfectly clear — until someone brushes the side of the cave or disturbs the soft bottom, sending fine silt particles billowing into the beam of a headlamp. 'You can usually see as far as your torchlight reaches,' Csaba says. 'But if people touch the walls or kick up the silt on the bottom of the passages, visibility drops to zero very fast.' To prevent this, divers follow a guideline strung a meter above the cave floor, ensuring the waters remain pristine. Their caution is rewarded with a tour of a surreal landscape: mineral-streaked walls studded with crystals, chambers shifting in color and texture from one to the next. 'Several places in the cave look completely different, as you have different colored rocks, areas with crystals, and areas without,' Csaba says. 'The best dives are where you go through several of these areas, so you experience it all.' Shrimp — nearly invisible — dart in the light. Fossilized seashells and sea urchins still cling to the walls, remnants of the Pannonian Sea, which millions of years ago covered much of modern-day Hungary. The cave still hasn't been fully explored. The officially mapped network runs 3.6 miles, but new passages are found regularly. Volunteer explorers make weekly expeditions into the caves to make measurements, lay new lines, and make updates to maps that have yet to be published. 'The official map says it's around 5,800 meters, but there are passages without lines,' Csaba explains. 'Some don't lead anywhere, but others might be part of something bigger.' He believes the cave could stretch to five miles. Researchers also collect water samples, monitoring for microplastics and signs of pollution. A 2022 study detected some contamination at the cave's known dripwater entry points, but the recently explored areas remain untouched and pristine. For certified cave divers, joining a dive here is remarkably straightforward. MJ Cave runs morning dives by reservation. After a briefing and gear setup, the first one-hour dive follows the main guideline, with optional deeper exploration afterward — some dives can reach nearly 200 feet (60 meters) and require decompression stops. Traveling to Hungary without equipment isn't a problem; full gear rental is available on-site.
CNN
15 hours ago
- CNN
Miles from the ocean, there's incredible diving beneath the streets of Budapest
EDITOR'S NOTE: This CNN Travel series may have adjacent ads by the country it highlights. CNN retains full editorial control over subject matter, reporting and frequency of the articles and videos, in compliance with our policy. Every day, crowds flock to the Lukács Thermal Baths in Budapest, soaking in warm mineral-rich pools as yellow trams clatter along Frankel Leó Street. Most never suspect that just yards away, beneath the city's historic streets, lies a hidden world: a vast underwater cave system heated by geothermal springs. From its entrance, tucked into the base of Rózsadomb — Rose Hill — an affluent neighborhood of elegant villas and tree-lined streets, the Molnár János Cave stretches for over 3.6 miles (5.8 kilometers) and plunges nearly 300 feet (90 meters) below the surface. Flooded with crystal-clear water at the temperature of a warm bath, it is one of the largest active thermal water caves in the world, and among the rare few open to certified cave divers. The way into the cave is easy to miss from the street. Next to a rocky limestone cliff, a small lake covered with lilies and algae glistens beside a crumbling 19th-century building that resembles an Ottoman bathhouse. On the firewall next to it, a mural of a diver hints at the secrets below. Through a gate, past an old bathhouse — once one of Hungary's first concrete structures — a narrow alley leads to an unmarked doorway in the cliff. Above it, a sign reads 'Happiness Factory,' flanked by smiling emojis. Once inside the brick-lined entranceway, the temperature rises with the geothermal heat. Diving gear lines the corridor. At the end, behind a drawn curtain, a stairwell drops into a rocky entrance where black waters wait in the gloom. Here, divers step into the warm water, their headlamps piercing through the darkness as they descend into a silent, shimmering world. Budapest is famous for its ornate bathhouses and spas, but its thermal waters have done more than soothe muscles and ease ailments. Over millennia, the same geothermal activity that feeds the city's baths has carved a network of more than 200 caves beneath its streets — as mineral-rich springs slowly dissolved the surrounding limestone, marlstone and karst rock. Molnár János is still alive and growing. Water rich in hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide continues to percolate through the rock, creating a mildly acidic cocktail that eats at the walls. The result is a Swiss cheese labyrinth of chambers and passages. 'It's very rare to have warm-water caves,' explains Csaba Gőcze, a dive guide with MJ Cave, the local operator offering guided cave dives. 'Usually, cave diving means 4 to 15 degrees Celsius (39 to 59 Fahrenheit) water. Here, it's 27 °C (80 °F) in the upper layers.' The warmth comes in distinct bands: 27 °C at the surface, dropping to 20 °C (68 °F) and then to 17–18 °C (62–64 °F) as colder water from the Buda Hills mingles below. Some of the cave's water still feeds the nearby Lukács Baths via an underground pipe — though the original inlet, by the stone steps that plunge into the water, was rerouted to give divers easier access. Molnár János surprises many first-time visitors. Unlike the tight, twisting passages of other caves, it offers spacious chambers and gentle currents. 'It's absolutely gorgeous,' Csaba says. 'Huge, open spaces and very few restrictions. It's a relatively easy dive — if you're properly trained.' That training is essential. Only certified cave divers are allowed in. The complete darkness and the fragile environment demand experience. The water is perfectly clear — until someone brushes the side of the cave or disturbs the soft bottom, sending fine silt particles billowing into the beam of a headlamp. 'You can usually see as far as your torchlight reaches,' Csaba says. 'But if people touch the walls or kick up the silt on the bottom of the passages, visibility drops to zero very fast.' To prevent this, divers follow a guideline strung a meter above the cave floor, ensuring the waters remain pristine. Their caution is rewarded with a tour of a surreal landscape: mineral-streaked walls studded with crystals, chambers shifting in color and texture from one to the next. 'Several places in the cave look completely different, as you have different colored rocks, areas with crystals, and areas without,' Csaba says. 'The best dives are where you go through several of these areas, so you experience it all.' Shrimp — nearly invisible — dart in the light. Fossilized seashells and sea urchins still cling to the walls, remnants of the Pannonian Sea, which millions of years ago covered much of modern-day Hungary. The cave still hasn't been fully explored. The officially mapped network runs 3.6 miles, but new passages are found regularly. Volunteer explorers make weekly expeditions into the caves to make measurements, lay new lines, and make updates to maps that have yet to be published. 'The official map says it's around 5,800 meters, but there are passages without lines,' Csaba explains. 'Some don't lead anywhere, but others might be part of something bigger.' He believes the cave could stretch to five miles. Researchers also collect water samples, monitoring for microplastics and signs of pollution. A 2022 study detected some contamination at the cave's known dripwater entry points, but the recently explored areas remain untouched and pristine. For certified cave divers, joining a dive here is remarkably straightforward. MJ Cave runs morning dives by reservation. After a briefing and gear setup, the first one-hour dive follows the main guideline, with optional deeper exploration afterward — some dives can reach nearly 200 feet (60 meters) and require decompression stops. Traveling to Hungary without equipment isn't a problem; full gear rental is available on-site.
South China Morning Post
16 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
In Romania, volunteers battle to save country's cultural treasures
Graffiti covers the crumbling walls of the main thermal baths in one of Europe's oldest spa towns. Advertisement But after decades of neglect, a group of young architects is working to restore the picturesque Romanian resort that once attracted emperors. 'Someone once said that if you drink water from the spring from Herculane, you never leave,' said 31-year-old architect Oana Chirila. 'I was struck by the beauty of the place,' she said of the town in the southwest of the country, surrounded by mountains and crossed by a river. 'And at the same time shocked by its condition,' she said of the decrepit state of the old thermal baths. Architect Oana Chirila, 31, stands next to a reconstruction site of The Countess' Promenade and the Spring of Countess in Baile Herculane on July 29. Photo: AFP She first stumbled upon Baile Herculane eight years ago, purely by chance, she said.
