Bagyura Cave

Bagyura Cave was an independent cave, but is currently part of the Pál Valley cave system. It is located in the Budai Mountains within the Danube–Ipoly National Park, in District II of Budapest. The cave is also described in tourist guidebooks.

Description

In District II of Budapest, next to Szépvölgyi Road, at the lower excavation level of the former, now de‑cultivated and re‑landscaped, park‑developed (under Szépvölgyi Road number 162) Pál Valley quarry, at the north‑east corner, at ground level, the cave has a spectacular 6×7 m entrance that strongly defines the quarry’s appearance. The entrance of Bagyura Cave opens on the same level as the entrance of the Pál Valley cave located in the quarry. A parking lot has been created next to the quarry. Buses number 65 and 65A departing from Kolosy Square stop at the quarry. In front of the Bagyura Cave entrance there is a fence made of timber beams, which includes a gate. The entrance can be reached through the gate. Some algal growth is visible in the entrance. Inside, the debris‑filled cavity is lined with wooden planking, which protects curious visitors from falling into the depths.

The collapse of several fissure‑like passages creates a wide Bagyura Cave passage between the Small Cold Hole and the Harcsaszájú Cave. The Bagyura–Harcsaszájú–Small Cold Hole cave system’s shortest cave was Bagyura Cave. The cave’s host rock, like that of the other caves in the area, is mainly upper Eocene, shallow‑marine limestone (Szépvölgyi Limestone Formation), in which large foraminifera (Nummulites, Discocyclina) characteristic limestone shells are often abundant as rock‑forming material.

Descending on the scree that fills the entrance, a few openings can be seen among the scree. The passage descends steeply, and 7 m lower, near the floor level, moving back between the large stone blocks on the DK side (30–40 cm) one can enter that scree-filled passage which leads to the Small Cold Hole. The Small Cold Hole is connected by a narrow, 12 m long fissure passage with the lower part of Bagyura Cave. The connection with Harcsaszájú Cave is represented by the endpoint of the ENy fissure of Bagyura Cave, which is currently filled with scree and some waste. In addition to the characteristic scree formations, the cave also contains dripstones, but only on a small surface.

In 1913 the cave was first called Bagyura Cave in the literature. It was named after Tamás Bagyura by Imre Gábor Bekey. Thus he wanted to thank the modest but highly meritorious young man for his invaluable assistance in speleology. Tamás Bagyura was Imre Gábor Bekey’s assistant in the exhausting work of photography, surveying, data collection and dynamite blasting carried out in the cave. The cave also appears in the literature under the names Bagyura cave (Láng 1957), Bagyura Cave (Kordos 1977), Bagyura-hole (Leél-Őssy 1957), Bagyura hole (Láng 1957), Déry Cave (Kordos 1984), Harcsaszájú and Bagyura Cave (Kordos 1984), Kőbánya Cave (Kadić 1921), Kőbánya cave (Láng 1957), Kőfejtő Cave (Bertalan 1976), Kőfejtő cave (Láng 1957), Öreg Cave (Kordos 1984), Róka Cave (Bertalan 1976) and Róka cave (Láng 1957).

Research History

In the 1913 issue of Turisták Lapja it is written that on 11 May 1902 the entrance of Jordan Cave, the entrance of Déry Cave and the entrance of Bagyura Cave, which lies in the same fracture plane as Déry Cave but much lower, were known in the Pál Valley quarry. The corridor of Déry Cave near the descent had recently been connected with the underlying Bagyura Cave by a shaft, but this route was blocked by a rockfall. The Bagyura Cave, located much lower than Déry Cave, was named after Tamás Bagyura by Imre Gábor Bekey. Thus he wanted to thank the modest but highly meritorious young man for his invaluable assistance. Tamás Bagyura was Imre Gábor Bekey’s assistant in the exhausting work of photography, surveying, data collection and dynamite blasting.

Bagyura Cave is located in a small protrusion of the D side wall of the mine. Its entrance is narrow and steeply slopes downwards. Through the entrance, using a rope, one can descend into a beautiful, spacious and high chamber lying 6 m deep. This is the only specifically chamber-like cavity in the Pálvölgy cave system. The others are only expanded or entirely narrow passages. The floor of the chamber is filled with huge rock blocks that have fallen from the ceiling, under which one can comfortably crawl through. Opposite the entrance a square, ceiling‑hanging, house‑sized rock block can be seen, which is full of bats hanging together. The left side of this rock block is completely open and forms a cut‑out passage extending to a great height, through which one could recently crawl and climb on knees to reach Déry Cave. But this part is also currently buried. Under the hanging rock block one can only advance a few meters, because fallen debris blocks the way. In the deeper D part of the chamber, Imre Gábor Bekey found a narrow 30 m deep channel, which ended in an equally long, continuously narrowing passage heading north. The cave has not yet been fully explored and still holds many surprises. The publication shows two photographs that depict Bagyura Cave. One photograph shows the cave entrance, the other illustrates the hanging rock block inside the cave. The two black‑and‑white photographs were taken by Imre Gábor Bekey.

The report published in the 1919 Cave Survey and written by Ottokár Kadić mentions that after the completion of the Pál Valley cave survey, in 1919 the other Pál Valley and Budapest suburban caves, such as the Bagyura cave, were studied and surveyed. The survey of the Bagyura cave was assisted by members of the Pannonia Tourist Association Cave Survey Department (Árpád Frölich, János Bagyura, Antal Jilek, Imre Som, Gyula Ruzitcska, József Pürner, Hermán Frei and others). Research is still ongoing in the cave.