Our next stop on our journey across Hungary is Tibolddaróc. The village can be reached by car from Budapest in about two hours and is located 40 minutes from Miskolc, in the valley of the Kács Stream. According to 2023 data, the settlement has a population of approximately 1,200 people. Its atmosphere is truly captivating; visitors are immediately embraced by a sense of peace and tranquillity. This time, we are visiting the manor house of the Majtényi family. Several branches of the family held noble and baronial titles, so it was only natural that they would build a manor house alongside their estates. The building was constructed in the Classical style, most likely in the 18th century. Its walls are made of brick and tuff stone, which helps maintain a pleasant temperature inside the manor throughout the year.
If you visit the village, it is also worth exploring the cave dwellings of Tibolddaróc. Regarding their historical origins, it is believed that some of these homes may have been carved out as early as the Middle Ages. They were inhabited by poor tenant farmers, whose landlords did not allow them to use valuable agricultural land for building houses. In the Bükk foothills, Tibolddaróc had the largest number of such cave dwellings. Between the First and Second World Wars, more than 1,000 people lived in these homes carved into the vineyard hillsides — in 1930, they represented 60% of the village’s population. A true village developed here within the village itself, where people even created cellar-level dwellings and did not limit themselves to simple single-storey constructions. Even in the 1970s, around 30 homes were still inhabited. Over time, soil erosion, natural deterioration, and poor hygienic conditions made these dwellings unsuitable for living. The last resident was an elderly man who left his home in 1986. Today, some of the cave dwellings are open to visitors, while others have been transformed into wine cellars.
