Ipolytarnoc Fossils

Around seventeen million years ago a volcanic eruption buried a subtropical forest and shoreline at Ipolytarnoc under ash, and the result is a site sometimes called the Hungarian Pompeii of prehistory: a petrified pine trunk many metres long lying where it fell, a sandstone surface printed with the tracks of rhinoceros-like animals, deer, birds and predators walking across what was then a beach, shark teeth from the sea that covered the area earlier, and leaf impressions from the forest itself. The site holds a European Diploma for protected areas. Visits follow a guided route through protective buildings over the trackway and the trunk, with reconstructions, a film and a short forest trail.

The landscape

• The petrified pine trunk - a tree preserved where the ash felled it.
• A sandstone surface of footprints - animals crossing an ancient shore.
• Shark teeth from an older sea - fossils from before the eruption.
• Leaf impressions - the buried subtropical forest recorded in stone.

When to go

April to October. Half a day. Visits are on a guided route at set times; check the schedule before driving out. English guiding is limited.

Things to know

It is remote and awkward without a car. The fossils are protected under buildings, which makes the setting functional rather than scenic. Guiding is largely in Hungarian. Children may find the pace slow.

Nearby

Salgo castle is east; the Slovak border runs beside the village.

Key facts