János Hill, Mountain summit in Budapest, Hungary
János Hill is Budapest's highest point, a 528-metre summit in the Buda Hills made of Dachstein limestone over Triassic dolomite. Its top is crowned by the Elizabeth Lookout, a 23.5-metre round stone tower with four terraces, reached by a 101-step spiral staircase. The hill connects to the Normafa Plateau and lies near the Budakeszi Game Preserve.
The hill was earlier called Pozsonyi-hegy, and a statue of Saint John stood on the summit in the early 19th century. The name János-hegy was fixed in the early 1900s. The Elizabeth Lookout, built in 1908–1910 to mark Queen Elizabeth's 1882 visit, was inaugurated on 8 September 1910 by mayor István Bárczy; its reinforced-concrete base is among Hungary's oldest.
The name János may come either from a Saint John statue that stood on the summit in the early 19th century or from Count Óvári János, rector of Buda Castle between 1318 and 1377; the name only settled in the early 1900s, and the northwestern ridge is still called Pozsonyi-hegy. Elizabeth Queen visited in 1882, and the lookout inaugurated on 8 September 1910 was named after her.
The Libegő chairlift runs from Zugliget up to the hill, and the Children's Railway's Jánoshegy station sits at 409 m, 800 m from the chairlift's upper station on the Budakeszi-nyereg saddle. From March to October a private electric minibus links Normafa and the Libegő at weekends and on public holidays.
The lookout's concrete superstructure is one of Hungary's oldest reinforced-concrete structures. Its four-terrace, circular stone tower rises 23.5 m, and a 101-step spiral staircase leads to the top. In the entrance hall stands Alajos Strobl's statue of Queen Elisabeth, with Art Nouveau mosaics by Dezső Kölber and Viktor Tardos Krenner, set by Miksa Róth.
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