Fertorakos Quarry

The soft Leitha limestone at Fertorakos was cut by hand from Roman times until the twentieth century, and because it was worked by sawing blocks out of the face rather than blasting, what is left is architectural: straight-walled chambers and pillared halls up to twenty metres high with tool marks running the length of every surface, opening into daylight courts. Stone from here went into buildings in Vienna and across the region. The largest chamber has been used as a theatre since the 1970s, with opera and concerts staged inside through the summer. The quarry sits within the Ferto and Neusiedler See cultural landscape, inscribed by UNESCO in 2001 as a site shared with Austria.

Highlights

• Sawn stone chambers - straight walls and tool marks from hand cutting.
• The cave theatre - opera staged inside the largest hall.
• Pillars left as supports - the columns the quarrymen did not remove.
• The Ferto landscape - the lake and reed belt around the village.

When to go

May to September for the theatre season and the fullest opening. Half a day. Performance days restrict daytime access to the main chamber; check the schedule.

Before you go

The quarry is cool and damp with uneven floors. Performance staging blocks the main hall for much of the summer. The visit is short without a concert. Bird watching on the lake needs separate arrangements.

Nearby

Sopron is south-west; the Austrian border runs along the lake.

Key facts