The Avas is a hill of volcanic origin in

Miskolc Miskolc ( , , ; Czech language, Czech and sk, Miškovec; german: Mischkolz; yi, script=Latn, Mishkoltz; ro, Mișcolț) is a city in northeastern Hungary, known for its heavy industry. With a population of 161,265 (1 Jan 2014) Miskolc is the ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

. Its top (234 m above sea level, 104 m above the city) is the highest point of Miskolc proper (although other parts, annexed to the city later, lie higher up in the

Bükk The Bükk Mountains () are a section of the North Hungarian Mountains of the Inner Western Carpathians. Much of the area is included in the Bükk National Park. Geography Although Kékes, the highest point in Hungary, is not here but in the n ...

mountains). On the top stands a TV tower with observation deck which is a former symbol of the city and provides a nice panorama. The name of the hill is an archaic Hungarian word meaning "forbidden". It was named that at a time it was forbidden for shepherds to graze their herds there because the old wine cellars threatened with caving in. In the early 20th century several prehistoric artefacts were found in the Avas, proving that a people belonging to the Neolithic Szeleta culture lived here. (The culture itself was named after Szeleta Cave, in

Lillafüred Lillafüred (Miskolc-Lillafüred) is a town in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, Hungary. Officially, it is a part of Miskolc, though it is almost 12 kilometres away from the city, in the Bükk Mountains. Lillafüred is a tourist resort. Histo ...

, where many important archaeological finds were found.) The

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

caves of Avas, that were once used by prehistoric men
are now used as wine cellars
the narrow, winding streets give a Mediterranean atmosphere to this part of Avas Hill. On the northern part of the hill, close to

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

Erzsébet Square, stands the

Gothic Protestant Church of Avas The Gothic Protestant Church of Avas is the oldest building in the centre of the city of Miskolc in Northern Hungary. It was built in the 13th century as a small, Romanesque style church, and later it was expanded to a larger Gothic style church. ...

, the oldest building of Miskolc proper (the other oldest building is the

Castle of Diósgyőr The Castle of Diósgyőr is a medieval castle in the historical town of Diósgyőr which is now part of the Northern Hungarian city Miskolc. The first Castle of Diósgyőr was built probably in the 12th century and was destroyed during the Mo ...

) and its belfry (16th century.) There are also several wine cellars dug in sandstone nearby, in the so-called Kis-Avas ("Little Avas") district. The TV tower is 72 meters high and was built in 1963. The previous tower was made of wood and was designed by Bálint Szeghalmi, who also designed the Wooden Church; it was destroyed by Soviet soldiers during the revolution in 1956. The southern part of Avas, also called Avas-South, is where the largest housing estate of the city stands, with 10-storey Socialist-style concrete blocks of flats providing homes for about one-third of the city's population. The district has five primary and four secondary schools, two post offices and a police station. {{coord, 48, 06, N, 20, 47, E, display=title, region:HU_type:mountain_source:GNS-enwiki

Sources

The Avas on HelloMiskolc.hu
(Official portal of Miskolc for the tourists) Neighbourhoods of Miskolc