Badacsony - Szent Gyorgy-hill

‘Szent György-hegy’ (Saint George-hill) is one of the characteristic buttes of the Balaton Highlands, with its huge basalt columns around its sides. The hill is named after the chapel of St. George that once stood at its foot, and some of the legends about the mountain are also intertwined with the legend of St. George and the dragon.

The bedrock of the mountain made up of the sediments of the Pannonian Sea. Around 3-4 million years ago, basalt and basalt tuff layers were deposited on it due to the intensive volcanic activities. As the sediments eroded, the basalt deposit became a witness hill:  the height of the mountain testifies the level of the former surface. The conquering Hungarians named the formation ‘Magashegy’ (High Hill). ‘Hegymagas’, a village at the foot of the hill, still preserves its memory.

The vineyards of St. George-hill are part of the ‘Badacsony’ sub-region of the wine region of Lake Balaton as the soil is extremely good for viticulture.