Babot-kúti Cave

Babot-kúti Spring Cave is among the specially protected caves of Hungary. It is located in the Aggtelek National Park. Together with the other caves of the Aggtelek Karst and the Slovak Karst it has been part of the World Heritage since 1995.

Description

It opens in the Kecső valley, in the outskirts of Aggtelek, on the northern part of the valley floor, in a forest. Tourist maps label it Babot-kúti. It can be approached from the simpler Jósvafő, via the cart road at the bottom of the valley. About one kilometre from the edge of Jósvafő, turn right from the cart road onto the road on the northern side of the valley and walk about 400 metres to the fenced protective area of the spring. The surface surroundings of its entrance are reinforced with a concrete retaining wall, where a concrete stair is located. The artificial entrance chamber is arched, horizontally oriented, 1.8 metres high, 1.4 metres wide and is closed with a iron grate. Currently it is managed by the North Hungarian Regional Waterworks and its surroundings are a waterworks protective area.

Middle Triassic, in Wetterstein limestone, formed along a tectonic fault line, an active spring cave. It was created by the corrosion of the outflowing water and the dissolution below the karst water level. Simple in shape, its passages run northwards. Water always flows at the bottom. In the thoroughly altered, almost completely artificial cave, technical equipment and built artifacts can be observed: a dam, a 32‑meter long entrance chamber, a sedimentation pool, three sliding doors, a walkway and stairs. There are also wired artifacts, lighting, a sewer and water pipe. The horizontal extent is 32 metres. Water flows into the sedimentation pool from natural passages, which can be seen for about half to one metre in length. There is no map of the natural cave section beyond the sedimentation pool and no data on the length of this part, but according to verbal reports, beyond the pool the cave narrows to an impassable size after a few metres. Denevér (bat) colonies also occur there. The cave is currently not accessible to visitors.

In 2006 the cave was first called Babot‑kúti spring cave in the literature. The cave appears in the literature under the names Babotkút‑cave (Berhidai, Cser, Holl 1981), Babot‑kút‑spring cave (Sásdi 1995), Babot kúti cave (Sásdi 1995), cave next to Babot‑kút (Sásdi 1990), Kecső‑valley‑devil’s‑hole (Kordos 1984), Kecső‑valley Devil‑hole (Bertalan, Schőnviszky 1973–1974), Kecső‑valley devil’s hole (Bertalan 1976), Kecsővölgyi devil’s hole (Jaskó 1933), Kecső valley Devil‑hole (Sásdi 1995), Devil‑hole (Strömpl 1912) and Devilhole (Bertalan 1976).

Research History

In the 1912 volume of the Geological Gazette it appeared, in a publication by Gábor Strömpl, that a ravaszlyuk is located in Babos Valley on the road leading to Kecső. The traversable cavity of the Devil‑hole is situated at the DNy corner of the Kecső border, on a 410 m high roof. Next to it is the Róka‑hole. In the 1933 study by Sándor Jaskó, Jaskó listed the caves near Baradla Cave for possible further research. According to the list, the dry and almost horizontal caves include the Kecsővölgyi devil’s hole, a 22 m long narrow and high corridor. The publication contains a site plan showing the geographic locations of the cave entrances around Baradla Cave. The map was made by Sándor Jaskó. On the site plan the entrance of the Kecsővölgyi devil’s hole, marked with number 3, can be seen.

In the book titled *A Békebarlang felfedezése* published in 1953, the exploration of the cave is described. According to the description, from the constant abundant water flow, the well‑karstified rock, and the quartz pebbles brought to the surface by the Babot‑kút, it can be concluded that the karst spring called Babot‑kút belongs to one of the most massive stalactite caves of the Gömöri karst. This cave system is probably walkable almost up to the spring, only the last short section is blocked by sediment washed in from the cave system. According to László Jakucs, the discovery of the huge cave system could be achieved with a few months of work, removal of the sediment blockage and lowering the spring water level. In the early 1960s the spring was incorporated into the water supply and from then on the cave could no longer be explored by speleologists. Oral reports indicate that during this period attempts were also made to explore the passages behind the spring, but breaking through the stalactite constriction in the cave would have been very dangerous in an operating waterworks.

In the *Magyar barlangtani bibliográfia* cave name index compiled by Bertalan Károly and László Schőnviszky and published in 1976, the cave on the Aggtelek karst is mentioned under the name Kecső‑völgyi Ördög‑lyuk with the variant name Ördög‑lyuk. The cave name index lists one literary work that deals with the cave. In the manuscript written by Bertalan Károly and completed in 1976 there is mention that in Aggtelek, on the left side of the Kecső valley, near the Babot‑kút, is the Kecső‑völgyi ördöglyuk (Ördöglyuk). The 22 m long cave consists of a long, narrow and high corridor. The part of the manuscript describing the cave was written based on the publications of Gábor Strömpl (1912) and Sándor Jaskó (1933).

In the 1981 MKBT Report a site plan came to light, showing the caves located in the north‑western part of the research area of the Papp Ferenc Barlangkutató Group. Among the caves indicated on the plan the name Babotkút-cave is visible, which is probably the Babot‑kúti source cave. In the book Hungary’s Caves, published in 1984, the national cave list includes the cave on the Aggtelek Karst under the name Kecső‑valley‑Devil’s Hole, with a variant of the name Devil’s Hole. Associated with the list is a 1:500 000 scale map showing the geographic location of the caves of the Aggtelek Karst and the Bükk Mountains, indicating the cave’s geographic position.