Béke Cave

Béke Cave is the second longest cave of the Aggtelek Karst. Its length is 7183 meters. Since 1982 it has been one of the caves in Hungary that are specially protected. Together with the other caves of the Aggtelek Karst and the Slovak Karst it is part of the World Heritage. It is one of the richest speleothem caves in our country.

Description

It has a permanent water flow, feeding the Komlós spring that emerges at the edge of Jósvafő. Its vertical extent is 97 meters. Of the two usable entrances, one opens on the side of Szomor Hill in Aggtelek at 338 meters, the other near Jósvafő, on the Kőhorog side, at 271 meters above sea level.

The cave discovered in 1952 is of special significance because its air, due to high humidity and a considerable dissolved calcium content, has a proven therapeutic effect on many respiratory diseases. Béke Cave is Hungary’s first therapeutic cave. At the Jósvafő entrance a cave‑therapy chamber has been created. One section, after prior consultation and with a guide, can be visited as a special cave tour. Sections not opened to tourism may be accessed with permission from the Aggtelek National Park Directorate.

In the literature the cave also occurs under the names Béke Cave (Kordos 1977), Komlós‑forrásbarlang (Szunyogh 2003), Komlós forrásbarlang (Bertalan 1976), Peace Cave (Kordos 1977), Szárhegyi viznyelők barlangja (Bertalan 1976) and Szár‑hegyi víznyelők barlangja (Szunyogh 2003).

Formation, characteristics

Béke Cave was formed by erosion in the Triassic limestone that makes up the Aggtelek Karst, similarly to Baradla Cave. A crucial difference, however, is that the main branch of Béke Cave is significantly narrower than the main branch of Baradla Cave, which results from the different erosional and flood characteristics of the caves’ water flows. While in Baradla Cave the permanent water flow that runs through the main branch is no longer found, because the water reaches the springs through lower cave levels, in Béke Cave the carving process is still ongoing, accompanied by continuous deepening of the cave. Therefore the average height of the main branch of the cave is greater than in Baradla Cave. Although the two caves have passages that in some places are only a few hundred meters apart, they have no hydrological or climatic connection. The main water sink of the cave is located in Nagy‑völgy, and two larger side branches join the main branch: the 684‑meter Explorer Branch and the 438‑meter Snake Branch.

In the upper parts of the main branch there is a not very spacious passage and mainly a gravelly stream bed, in the middle parts significantly larger spaces and, besides the gravelly bed, limestone‑tufa dams. Here the cave’s most beautiful formations can be seen, the most varied in colour and shape dripstones and flowstones. The place of free water flow is gradually taken over by a series of small lakes swollen by the tufa dams, whose depth can reach up to two metres. In the cave a total of 430 tufa dams swell 120 smaller‑larger lakes, in the main branch 16 siphons are present, but these fill with water only during floods, natural siphon‑bypass passages belong to them. In the lower part the corridor’s average size is smaller, yet here is the cave’s largest chamber, the roughly 60‑metre long, 20‑metre wide and 18‑metre high Giant Hall. The water of the Komlós stream disappears just before the Giant Hall in a cave water sink and, by an as yet unknown route, makes the not very long distance to the Komlós spring. During larger floods the sink cannot accommodate the stream’s water, which can flood the Giant Hall and the sanatorium hall as well. Its fauna is similar to that of Baradla Cave. In addition to cave‑dwelling bats and insects, cave‑loving ring‑worms and, since the artificial passages were opened, bats can also be observed there.

Therapeutic effects

At first, when the cave was discovered, it was noticed that although researchers worked for hours in the 10 °C water and in soaked clothes, they did not become ill, and even in cases of hypothermia‑related illnesses acquired elsewhere they repeatedly emerged to the surface healed. The phenomenon was pointed out by László Jakucs, and was first examined by researchers of the Pharmaceutical Institute of the Debrecen clinic. The beneficial and healing effect of the cave air consists of several mutually reinforcing factors.

Antibiotic effect

Already during the first research it was shown that among the soil fungi found in the cave and the airborne mold spores there are some that produce antibiotics. A total of 72 species, some of them previously unknown, were described. Among the identified molds in the cave was also one that was later used for the development of the drug named Grubilin.

High humidity and calcium content

The air’s relative humidity of 95–100 % and the high calcium‑ion content in the airborne moisture together exert a beneficial (soothing, antispasmodic, anti‑inflammatory, disinfectant) effect on the mucous membranes and the lungs. The calcium content of the condensate water collected in Béke Cave is roughly ten times that of the condensate water collected in Baradla Cave, and accordingly a significant difference in therapeutic effect is observed between the air of the two caves. The studies showed a directly proportional relationship between the calcium saturation of water obtained from the cave air and the therapeutic effectiveness of respiratory therapy conducted in the cave.

Pollution‑free air

No pollutants (pollen, bacteria, viruses, airborne dust, etc.) are found in the cave air, so especially in the case of asthmatic and allergic patients the irritation of the mucous membranes ceases, which under surface conditions is often or possibly constantly experienced; there is no infection, no risk of secondary infection.