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The Northern Highlands
Miskolc, Hungary’s second-largest city, is situated near the Slovak border. Primarily industrial, the city nevertheless has several points of interest, including medieval architecture and the warren of man-made caves in the Avas Hills near the city centre. Nearby are the beautiful forested Bükk National Park, part of the Northern Hill Range, which is also an area of karst topography including the country’s deepest caves at Lillafüred; many traces of Neanderthal man have been found here. North of Bükk, the Aggtelek National Park is part of the Gömör Torna Karst area of cave systems which extends into the Slovak Republic. Caving, fishing and riding are popular, and there are many cultural monuments, masterpieces of folk architecture, ruins recalling the atmosphere of the Middle Ages, old churches, graveyards and locally surviving farming techniques. Eger, one of the country’s oldest and most colourful cities, has nearly 200 historical monuments including its 14-sided Minaret; just west of the town are the vineyards of the Szépasszony Valley where one can sample the famous Bikavér (Bull’s Blood) wine. Due east is Tokaj, the equivalent of Champagne as a wine-producing area. Halfway between Tokaj and the Slovak border is the spectacular Sárospatak Castle, one of Hungary’s greatest historical monuments.
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