Picture a mountain lake filling an abandoned millstone quarry, ringed by rock walls rising up to 70 metres. Megyer-hegyi tengerszem (literally 'sea eye of Megyer Hill') is one of Hungary's most photogenic spots, even though its name is misleading - despite sounding like a glacial tarn, it's simply rainwater collected in an old quarry pit.

The lake sits on the 324-metre Megyer Hill, right above the town of Sárospatak. The rock here - hardened rhyolite tuff from the Miocene era - was quarried from the 15th century onwards to produce millstones. Today, well-maintained paths with safety railings lead visitors through the forest and around the rim of the flooded quarry, offering views straight down into the turquoise water. The place has real atmosphere in every season - fresh green in spring, cool turquoise water in summer, fiery foliage in autumn. In 2011, readers of the Origo news portal voted it the most beautiful natural wonder in Hungary.

How to get there

• Sárospatak (town centre) - red-marked Malomkő nature trail, approx. 1 km, steep terrain, difficulty: moderate
• Károlyfalva - alternative approach via hiking paths

Practical information

• Protected area covers just 1.07 hectares - one of Hungary's smallest nature reserves
• Lake depth reaches up to 6.5 m, surrounding cliffs rise as high as 70 m above the water
• Open year-round, with information boards along the trail
• The quarry operated until 1907 - unfinished millstones and stonecutting remnants are still visible today

Quarry workers once carved small living niches into the rock walls - traces of this centuries-old craft can still be spotted around the lake.