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Úti Madonna Káplona (chapel)
Úti Madonna Káplona (chapel)

From Széchenyi-hegy station, follow the green triangle walking trail in the opposite direction to the railway tracks, and within a 20-minute walk through the forest you will reach the Úti Madonna Chapel. Its history stretches back to the 1880s when the land belonged to the theologian János Berger. He built a summer house in the valley (which is still visible, but greatly transformed).  A few hundred metres from his house he built a small chapel out of wood and stone to the glory of God.  According to contemporary descriptions, it was still a magnificent sacred site in its natural setting in 1914, but by 1936 it was already totally neglected. Despite its condition, it was still in use after World War Two, when pilgrims gathered there for Christmas Eve mass. On one occasion, Russian soldiers pulled down the chapel’s tower and cross with their horses.  The little building was closed – barred by an iron grill.  One could only enter by a door on the western side. The soldiers broke in and took whatever they could carry away.  Only the ceiling panels remained intact.


The Farkas-völgy Friendship Club, the Hungarian Scouts and Pilis Parklands joined forces to save the holy site. Under the direction of the art restoration expert Walter Madarassy Jr., the work began on 13 June 1998. It proceeded with close attention to documentation about the original chapel. Within a year, even the wooden tower was back on the roof of the chapel.


Not far from the chapel is the summer house that János Berger built, but this building has been significantly altered by subsequent owners. There are two versions of the story of how “Wolf Valley” got its name.  One version states that wolves actually lived there (A witness stated that wolves had apparently raided his attic for food, as told in the book “Svábhegy” by László Sikóssy, 1929), while the other version explains that a herb known as farkasalma (or “wolf apple”) grew there earlier in vast quantities.


A mass is held at the chapel at 11 pm on the first Sunday of October every year.

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