Beremend Crystal Cave

The Beremend crystal cave has been one of Hungary's specially protected caves since 1988. It is located in the Villány Mountains, within the Danube–Drava National Park. There is another specially protected cave in the mountains, the Nagyharsány crystal cave. It is the second longest cave in the mountains.

Description

It opens on the Szőlő Hill in Beremend, at the Beremend Cement Plant of Duna-Dráva Cement Ltd., in the former limestone quarry of Beremend Cement Works. The underground waters created its complex passage system in chalk-period limestone. The cave is divided by smaller and larger chambers, pits, niches and spacious rooms. Warm karst water can still be observed in its lower passages, forming cave lakes at 19.5 °C. The lake of the Spring Hall has a water surface of 10 m².

The temperature of its air is much higher than the domestic cave average, 15–19 °C. Since its discovery it has been closed. Aluminum ladders have been installed to facilitate its exploration. With the permission of the Danube–Drava National Park Directorate, it can be visited for scientific purposes, requiring only basic caving equipment. To protect the formations, clean clothing must be worn and electric lighting used. Its preservation is thanks to the nature protection law. A protective pillar serves its protection on the operating mine area.

In its multiple levels, the passages contain spherical chambers. The most spectacular elements of its excavations are the snow‑white pea stones and the needle‑like aragonite crystals, the latter indicating the well‑developed, protruding crystals that give the crystal cave its name. The mineralogical peculiarity is the milk‑white “mountain milk” that appears on the tops of the pea stones, whose material is a rare mineral, the very soft huntite. Huntite appearing in the cave environment was first described in Hungary, from Dorog. Also notable are its cauliflower‑shaped formations and its teardrop stones covered with pea stone, while underwater there are thick, spherical calcite coatings resembling sheep clouds.

From here the most complete Hungarian specimen of the saber‑toothed tiger was recovered, identified as Epimachairodus latidens. The palaeontological finds were examined by Jánossy Dénes and Topál György, staff of the Natural History Museum, who identified lower Pleistocene rodent remains and porcupine fragments. Among the sites of the Villány Mountains, the Beremend crystal cave was the first to yield significant bat fauna and relatively well‑preserved large‑mammal remains. Bones of a wild goat species and an antelope species previously unknown in Hungary also came to light.

The cave also appears in literature as Beremend 16th site, Beremend Crystal Cave (Takácsné, Eszterhás, Juhász, Kraus 1989), Beremend Crystal‑cave (Takácsné, Eszterhás, Juhász, Kraus 1989) and the new cave of the Beremend quarry level 116.

Access

It can be most easily approached from road 5706, which runs from Magyarbóly to the centre of Beremend, via the quarry’s service roads and then tourist paths.

Research history

The cave was discovered on 12 November 1984 during stone extraction. First, the mine manager, Magusics Mihály, entered it, and after its announcement two employees of the Cave Department, Kárpát József and Takácsné Bolner Katalin, examined the new cave. The cave was first mentioned in print on 23 November 1984, in the Dunántúli Napló. When entering the Bone branch, carp‑thick limb bones protruded from the clay fill. By the end of the year the cave length reached 400 m. In 1985 Kárpát József produced the cave map. In the 1986 bibliography of Karst and Cave, in the regional bibliography section, the cave appears under the name Beremendi‑crystalcave. According to the compilation, among the works published in Karst and Cave, one deals with the cave.

Based on the state as of December 31, 1987, the 700 m long Beremend Crystal Cave in the 4150 cave cadastral unit is Hungary's 29th longest cave. The 30th longest cave (Mexico Valley Waterfall Cave) is also 700 m long. According to the compilation, the Beremend Crystal Cave is not included in the length list published in the 1977 Karst and Cave report. Based on the state as of December 31, 1987, the 53 m vertical extent Beremend Crystal Cave in the 4150 cave cadastral unit is Hungary's 56th largest cave by vertical extent. The 57th largest cave by vertical extent (Rákóczi No 2 Cave) is also 53 m in vertical extent. According to the compilation, the Beremend Crystal Cave is not included in the depth list published in the 1977 Karst and Cave report. Its vertical extent was determined from the longitudinal cross‑section map made in 1985. According to the map, the cave is 15 m high, 38 m deep and 9 m deep measured from the water level.

From October 1, 1988, the Minister of Environment and Water Management, by decree 7/1988. (X. 1.) KVM (section 6, paragraph 2, and annex 5), designated the Beremend Crystal Cave in the Villány Mountains as a specially protected cave. The cave was given this status because of its genetic, morphological, hydrological, mineralogical and paleontological significance as well as its size. The 1988 Karst and Cave report stated that the Beremend Crystal Cave located in the Villány Mountains was included among Hungary's specially protected caves. Together with the Beremend Crystal Cave, 108 caves in Hungary are specially protected.