Baits Cave

Baits Cave is a cave located in the Danube–Ipoly National Park, in the Gerecse Landscape Protection Area, in Bajót. It is significant from an archaeological and paleontological point of view. Denevians also occur in it. It is described in tourist guidebooks as a cave frequently visited by tourists.

Description

In the outskirts of Bajót, on the K side of the steep, rocky, cliff‑segmented Öreg‑kő, at an altitude of 347 m a.s.l., the cave has a spacious, vaulted entrance 5.5 m wide and 4 m high. From the tourist rest area below Öreg‑kő, which is touched by the National Blue Trail, one can reach the cave’s entrance directly beside the tourist path marked with the blue Ω (blue cave) sign. Proceeding upward on the well‑maintained path with a concrete stair, bordered by a fence and marked with the blue cave sign, the Baits Cave is located before the Jankovich Cave, near it. In front of Baits Cave, on the right side, on a moss‑covered rocky ledge divided by rounded boulders, the place of a memorial plaque is visible. There is a fire‑pit suitable for bivouac, covered with gravel and firewood chips, with a smooth‑floored forecourt, which (judging from the traces) is probably used frequently by tourists. Next to the right‑hand rock wall there is also a small fire‑place, above which the rock wall is blackened with soot. Here scattered trash can be seen everywhere. The cavity can be visited without a permit.

Upper Triassic, thick-bedded Dachstein limestone formed along the EN–WN oriented fault line. Based on the spherical‑chambered forms of the cave, it can be determined that the cave was created by dissolution below the karst water level (due to thermal karst effect). It consists of two horizontal passages one above the other, the small shaft that connects them, and several side chambers. Sunlight well illuminates the cave’s entrance hall, therefore the walls divided by large spherical chambers are relatively long sections covered with algae and moss, which are only cleared by the inscriptions and soot. Small‑size, solid (condens) pea‑stone can be observed in several places.

8 m from the cave entrance there is a shaft where the passage branches. In the 3 m deep shaft one can descend by simple rock climbing to the lower level of the cave. There is a lot of wood debris and rubbish at the bottom of the shaft. At the end of the low lower passage, about 12 m long with a stone‑debris floor, a clay‑filled collapse can be seen. A few condens pea‑stones, powdery, untouched speleothem encrustations (on a small surface) and beautiful spherical chambers decorate the walls of this section (besides the many rubbish, wood debris and inscriptions). By crawling past the shaft (the walls are wet, algal) one can reach the upper continuation of the cave. To the right there is a several‑metre‑long side branch filled with clay, which has a 3 m small dome. In the clay‑floored passage, proceeding straight ahead, traces of an old iron rail are visible, then after a narrow crossing a spherical‑chambered room is located, which is the upper end point of the cave. The walls are still soot‑covered here. The clay‑filled collapse starting from the end of the room undoubtedly leads to Jankovich Cave.

Based on detection data and the occasionally found fresh droppings, it can be stated that the cave is a small‑scale, occasional winter and summer bat roost with a low number of species and individuals, and at the same time a locally species‑rich breeding site with a low number of individuals. During bat observations carried out in the cave, the Gerecse Cave Research and Nature Conservation Association determined that four bat species occur in the cave: the lesser horseshoe bat (R. hipposideros), the greater horseshoe bat (R. euryale), the common bat (M. myotis) and the grey long‑eared bat (P. austriacus).

In 1925 the cave was first called Baits Cave in the literature. It was named after György Baits, who was chief clerk in Bajót. The cave appears in the literature under the names Baits Cave (Vértes 1965), Baits Gy. Cave (Leél‑Őssy 1954), György Baits Cave (Vigh 1937), Baits György‑cavity (Székely 1994), Baits György cavity (Székely 1994), Bajóti I. sz. Cave (Leél‑Őssy 1954) and Gaál‑cave (Horváth, H. Kelemen, Torma 1979).

1908–1956

According to the book published in 1908 describing Esztergom County, no traces of cave dwellers were found in Esztergom County because there are no caves that contain evidence indicating that prehistoric people lived in them. The first settlers came to this region with more advanced needs; besides tools made of animal bones and antler, they also used stone tools. Therefore they were not forced to live in caves or dug‑out hollows, but could make tents and huts. The caves or dug‑out hollows that are still numerous in forests or in remote, hard‑to‑reach areas and contain traces of human culture could not have been prehistoric dwellings. They were mainly hideouts from the time of the Tatar invasion and Turkish destruction, because the objects found in them cannot be traced back to prehistoric times.

In the 1913 publication *Barlangkutatás*, in the article written by Gábor Bekey, it is stated that on the rocky side of Old Stone K, next to the Jankovich Cave, there is a chamber-like cave and two sinkholes. A few steps from the Jankovich Cave, to the east and at the same elevation, between piles of rubble, Gábor Bekey found a narrow opening. He enlarged the opening by removing part of the rocks so that he could crawl through it. After the entrance, a few meters further, the cavity widens into a horizontal, floor-level chamber about 6 m long and of human height. After clearing away all the fallen rubble from the steep slope, the entrance will probably become wide enough for a test entry, because it is likely that traces of prehistoric human occupation will be found in this protected area.