Bajóti Ördög Cave

The Bajóti Ördög-lyuk is a cave located in the Gerecsei Landscape Protection Area of the Danube–Ipoly National Park, in the outskirts of Bajót.

Description

In the Gerecse Mountains, on the steep, rock‑shelf‑divided K side of Öreg‑kő in the outskirts of Bajót, in the forest, the entrance of the Bajóti Ördög-lyuk is 7 m from the entrance of the 2nd chamber of Öreg‑kő (Öreg‑kői 2. sz. zsomboly) and slightly lower than that entrance. It is situated beside the marked tourist trail leading from the centre of Bajót to the Jankovich cave. It is freely accessible.

It also occurs in literature as s.Ördög-lyuk (Polacsek, Ba 2016).

Research history

According to the 2016 report by Zsolt Polacsek and Julianna Ba, one of the interesting cave groups of Öreg‑kő (Öreg‑kői 2. sz. zsomboly, s.Ördög-lyuk, Bajóti Lepkés-barlang and Húsvét-barlang) is located in the vicinity of the Öreg‑kői 2. sz. zsomboly. At this site the cavities that once formed can be studied in a much more untouched, authentic state. These caves may have been created during thermal karst processes, but because they are only slightly known, there are few traces of their existence in the scientific literature.

Each cavity has its entrance in the rock wall or at its base. Traces of human intervention are present to a far lesser extent than in the other Öreg‑kő cave group comprising Jankovich‑cave, Baits‑cave, Szalay‑cave and possibly the Öreg‑kői 1. sz. zsomboly. The formation of s.Ördög-lyuk can be linked to the activity of a warm‑water spring on the old Danube gravel terrace, acting as an erosion base.

The manuscript also mentions that the s.Ördög-lyuk is not in the official cave register, but it had long been known to Zsolt Polacsek and the locals. Zsolt Polacsek was shown the cave called Ördög-lyuk by the locals, which was obviously connected to the Öreg-kői 2. sz. zsombolly. The entrances of the two caves are only 7 m apart. Since air movement is observed at both entrances, there was a strong suspicion that a circular passage formed in the same cavity system. Zsolt Polacsek cleared the debris from the entrance, and it became evident that they had discovered a previously unknown passage, which later, with a small widening, reached a length of 50 m to their great surprise.

According to the completed maps, the Öreg-kői 2. sz. zsombolly and the Bajóti Ördög-lyuk approach each other within about 6 m, but their connection is currently not possible. Since deciding whether the new cavity is part of the Öreg-kői 2. sz. zsombolly is not Zsolt Polacsek’s task, the research was halted here. In the case that the cavity is entered into the register as an independent cavity, Zsolt Polacsek will later submit a research permit application for the continuation of the exploratory work.

Three colour photographs are attached to the report, which illustrate the cave. The first photograph shows the cave entrance. The second photograph shows the chamber inside the cave. The third photograph captures a small pit located in the cave. The manuscript includes the floor plan maps of the Öreg-kői 2. sz. zsombolly and the Bajóti Ördög-lyuk, which are arranged on a common map sheet. The 1:200 scale map sheet edited by Zsolt Polacsek and Julianna Ba was produced in January 2017. For the preparation of the map sheet, Zsolt Polacsek and Julianna Ba surveyed the two caves and their surroundings.

The 2017 report by Zsolt Polacsek and Julianna Ba states that by removing the cave entrance marking directly under the 2nd stone cairn at Öreg-kő and extensive earthworks, the so‑called Lost by locals but previously opened Bajóti Ördög-lyuk was uncovered. In the sandy, clay‑filled cave about 40 m long, extremely beautiful polished wall surfaces and rocks marked by bats can be seen. The end of the cave is in a very steep upward passage. The cave is described in the 2016 report. During its exploration, they regularly encountered a forest glider, which is probably not popular among the bats living in the cave. The manuscript contains a colour photograph showing one part of the cave.