The Dark Gate (Sötétkapu) is a vaulted tunnel passage cut through the artificial earthwork slopes of Castle Hill, connecting the lower town to the castle precinct. The name is literal — before modern lighting, the passage was genuinely dark, and travellers moved through it by feel. Today it is the main pedestrian approach to the hilltop from the Víziváros district below.
The tunnel gives the approach to the basilica a dramatic quality it would otherwise lack. You emerge from the relative gloom into the open castle terrace with the enormous dome directly above you — an arrival that rewards the choice of the on-foot route over the road. The medieval stonework of the passage is well preserved, and the narrowness of the tunnel gives a good sense of how the castle hill's defences were arranged.