Betyár Cave

Betyár Cave is among the specially protected caves of Hungary. It is located in the Cserhát Mountains within the operating area of the Bükki National Park Directorate. It is the longest limestone cave in Hungary. Paleontological finds have been uncovered from it.

Description

Its entrance is in the forest on the side of the Dry Valley, on the north side of the Chalky Peak, 1 km east of Szentkút in the outskirts of Mátraverebély. The entrance facing north is of natural character, arched, slope‑axis oriented, 2.45 m wide and 1.5 m high. It is especially difficult to find the entrance during the vegetation period. Its location can be aided by the mound of earth in front of the cave entrance, which is difficult to traverse on steep terrain and whose material has been carried out from the cave. The better known Szentkúti pilgrimage caves are situated on the slope of the Chalky Peak DK.

The cave, extending 30.2 m horizontally, was formed along a roughly north‑oriented fracture dipping 40–45° in middle Miocene (Badenian) limestone of the Lajta Limestone Formation. Some debris is carried in through the inward‑sloping entrance part, and the whitish but porous walls are colored by soot deposits from carbide lamps. The freely visitable cave can be traversed with basic cave‑tour equipment.

In 1988 the cave was first called Betyár Cave in the literature. The cave also appears in the literature under the name Béla Cave (Eszterhás 1992).

Research History

In the 1988 yearbook of the Alba Regia Cave Research Group it is written that the members of the group had not yet discovered Betyár Cave. The published materials (the 1982 tourist map, János Fancsik’s 1988 publication) contain little information about the cave. The tourist map only marks approximately where it is located in the administrative area of Szúpatak, on the north side of the Chalky Peak (422 m), and its name is indicated. In János Fancsik’s popular article (1988) the following sentence may refer to this cave: “The road leads from the highlands back to the church through a water‑washed limestone fissure, while a small limestone cave makes the landscape even more wild.” From the above information it cannot be decided with certainty whether the cave is karstic or non‑karstic, because the limestone cave mentioned in Fancsik’s writing is not necessarily the same as the cave marked on the tourist map. The Chalky Peak is, in fact, covered with pyroxenite slates, on which lie layers of lactic limestone, then sandy marl and marl‑rich freshwater limestone. Determining in which rock the cave is formed and by what processes can only be clarified by field identification. (It may be that the name Béla Cave also refers to this cave.)

In the 1989 yearbook of the group there is a site map showing the geographical location of Betyár Cave. The yearbook contains a summary of the caves of the Cserhát Mountains. In the summary the caves in limestone were listed, including Betyár Cave (Béla Cave). According to the list the cave is located at Meszes Peak, in the 5223 cave cadastral area, in Szentkút.

In the manuscript written by István Eszterhás in 1992 it is stated that the MKBT Volcanospeleology Collective found the long‑searched Betyár Cave (or Béla Cave) in 1992. The cave is in the Cserhát Mountains, near Szentkút, on the north‑facing side of Meszes Peak overlooking the Dry Valley. It is situated about 500–600 m from the Szentkút pilgrimage site. The cave formed in sandy limestone was heavily blocked with sediment when found. Speleologists from Salgótarján who joined the collective cleared it. About 3–4 m³ of debris was removed, and loose rubble was taken out. Consequently the cave can be walked for about 40 m in length.

The currently known part slopes gently and still forms a navigable labyrinth. From the entrance hall one can go right forward into a passage, and after 20 m, to the right a small widening, flat chamber follows. The end of the inner chamber is closed by passages in both directions, which are so filled that they are only difficult to walk. By continuing the removal of debris, new sections can be discovered from the terminal passages. Further exploration is worthwhile. It was published in the 1992 issue of Karst and Cave that the MKBT Volcanospeleology Collective identified and surveyed Betyár Cave to a length of 40 m in the Cserhát Mountains.

In the manuscript prepared by János Hír in 1994 it is written that the Betyár Cave of Szentkút opens at the border of Mátraverebély, on the southern side of the Meszes peak. It is located on the area of map sheet 10 000, code 207 433, produced by the State Survey and Mapping Office, and it is marked there. (The better known Szentkút shrine caves are situated on the DK side slope of Meszes peak.) Few people knew about the Betyár Cave. The Cserhát guidebook published in 1957 and the work *The Natural Geography of Cserhát* written by Sándor Láng and published in 1967 do not mention it, but the cave’s geographic location is shown on the Mátra tourist map. In March 1994 János Hír visited the cave, then prepared a map of the cave and carried out paleontological excavations in the cave. The fissure cave formed in middle Miocene limestone is situated at 350 m above sea level and is about 40 m long. True karst processes could not have played a role in its formation.

Behind the entrance of the cave there is a huge excavation pit, which is probably the result of illegal researchers’ activity. János Hír took samples 1 and 2 for the paleontological investigations from the wall of this pit. Sample 3 comes from bat guano accumulated in the middle of the passage. Sample 4 was collected from the yellow‑brown fill of the lower level. The total mass of the samples was 600 kg. Temporary wage‑paid workers performed the sifting and sorting of the material. So far the paleontological processing of sample 3 has been completed. The faunal list of the sample is the following. (Numbers in parentheses indicate the individual counts.) Snails: *Zebrina detrita* (6), *Granaria frumentum* (10), Helicidae (16), Limacidae (23). A total of 55 specimens.