Underground lake discovered
2008-11-19 19:07
Budapest - An underground thermal
lake Hungarian officials say is one of the biggest in the world
was unveiled on Tuesday after its discovery below a Turkish bath
in the capital Budapest.
"This is the biggest active, water-filled thermal water cave
and hall in the world," speleologist Sandor Kalinovits, one of
the lake's discoverers, said during a tour of the cave below one
of Budapest's more affluent residential districts.
The lake, discovered earlier this year, lies in a
subterranean hall 86m long, 27m wide and 15m high and belongs to the Janos Molnar cave.
Budapest is built above a labyrinth of caves filled with
warm thermal water and many have only partially been explored.
Environment Minister Imre Szabo told reporters the cave
might be opened to the public. City officials plan to apply to
Unesco to declare the cave system a World Heritage Site.
The Ottoman Empire, which governed Hungary in the 17th
century, left a legacy of Turkish baths which remain extremely
popular with local residents as well as tourists.