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Gellert-hegy is as much a feature of the waterfront panorama as the Varhegy and the parliament building: a craggy dolomite cliff rearing 130m above the embankment of the Danube, surmounted by the Liberation Monument and the Citadella. The hill is named after Bishop Ghirardus (Gellert in Hungarian), who converted pagan Magyars to Christianity at the behest of King Stephen. After his royal protector's demise, vengeful heathens strapped Gellert to a barrow and toppled him off the cliff, where a statue of St Gellert now stands astride a waterfall facing the Erzsebet hid. Before ascending the hill, take a look at the Gellert Hotel facing the Szabadsag hid, a famous Art Nouveau establishment opened in 1918, which Admiral Horthy commandeered following his triumphal entry into "sinful Budapest" in 1920. During the 1930s and 1940s, its balls were the highlight of Budapest's social calendar, when debutantes danced on a glass floor laid over its pool. The attached Gellert Baths are magnificently appointed with majolica tiles and mosaics, and so swanky that they charge sightseers 250Ft to espy the columned, Roman-style thermal pool , with its lion-headed spouts. To enjoy its mixed bathing (May-Sept daily 6am-7pm, July & Aug Fri & Sat also 8pm-midnight; Oct-April Mon-Fri 6am-7pm, Sat & Sun 6am-5pm), you must first reach the changing rooms by a labyrinth of passages; staff are usually helpful with directions. At the far end of the pool are steps leading down to the separate thermal baths (daily 6am-6pm), with distinct areas and ornate plunge pools for men and women. Tickets cover both sections (1800Ft, or 800Ft after 5pm) or the baths alone (1700Ft), in which case you use a different entrance. Towels, bathrobes and swimsuits can be rented for 400Ft apiece (plus 3000Ft deposit). The Gellert also has a summer outdoor pool with a wave machine. On the hillside opposite the entrance to the baths lies the sepulchral Cave Church ( Sziklatemplom ) where masses are conducted by white-robed monks of the Pauline order - Hungary's only indigenous order (founded in 1256). The order once provided confessors to the monarchy, and had a monastery beside the church, until the whole order was arrested by the AVO at midnight mass on Easter Monday, 1951, and the chapel was sealed up until 1989. Flickering candles and mournful organ music create an eerie atmosphere during services (daily 8.30-9.30am, 11am-noon, 4.30-6.30pm & 8-9pm), but tourists are only allowed to enter between times.
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