Bivak Cave

Bivak Cave is located in the Pilis Mountains within the Danube–Ipoly National Park. It is among the specially protected caves of Hungary. Archaeological and paleontological finds have been recovered from it. The cavity is also described in tourist guidebooks.

Description

The cave is situated at the Csévi ridge on the Pilis mountain, in the outskirts of Pilisszentlélek. Its entrance is 101° from the Legény Cave entrance, 96 m away and 70 m higher, at an altitude of 536 m above sea level. No trail leads to its natural, arched entrance, which is 6.8 m wide and 3 m high. It can be reached only over rocky, steep terrain; according to tourist guidebooks this requires difficult rock climbing, but that is a strong exaggeration.

The cave was formed by dissolution below the karst water table in Upper Triassic Dachstein limestone. In 1953, Dénes Jánossy and László Vértes carried out successful archaeological excavations there, but the pottery shards uncovered during the excavation were not preserved, so the medieval occupation of the cave cannot be reliably proven. The cave is suitable for new archaeological excavation. The cave floor consists of stone rubble and humus, with a hearth area created in its front part. However, due to the uneven terrain it is now less suitable for bivouacking. Near the entrance there is plant debris and litter. The right‑hand stone block is covered with moss. The walls, even in the inner parts, are algal because the cave is illuminated by sunlight.

The terminal fissure is a draft, it is conceivable that it could be the continuation of the cave, but it can only be entered by widening the stalactite fissure. The Upper Chamber, located at a height of 4 m and 2.5 m long, can be reached only by difficult climbing. Most of the fragile small stalactites can be seen here. A chimney-like opening in the cave ceiling, a few metres after the entrance, leads to the surface at about 10 m height. This most certainly vents the fire smoke to the outside. On the walls one can see built finger‑cave formations, condensed borsite and small stalactite formations. On the right side the cave name is written in soot. The walls are blackened because of burning, and in some places trash also occurs. The spacious cave can be viewed freely. After the leaf fall the view from the entrance is beautiful. A large part of the cave is pleasantly walkable. Only the side chamber and a more thorough inspection of the terminal fissure may require a lamp.

In 1931 the cave was first called Bivak Cave in the literature. The cave appears in the literature under the names Bivak Cave (Vértes 1965), Bivakbarlang (Horváth, H. Kelemen, Torma 1979), Bivak‑rock cavity (Kadić 1952), Csévi‑szirti Bivak Cave (Kárpát 1990), Pilisi Bivak Cave (Schőnviszky 1937), Pilisi‑Bivak Cave (Mezei 1967) and Pilisi Bivak Cave (Bertalan, Schőnviszky 1976).

Until 1960

According to the book published in 1908 describing Esztergom County, traces of cave dwellers were not found in Esztergom County because there are no caves that contain indications that ancient humans 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‑access areas and contain traces of human culture could not have been ancient human 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.

The Nature (A Természet) appeared in the 1931 volume, stating that the Pilis Bivak Cave is located on the southern slope of the Pilis mountain. It is an impressively large rock cavity. Very few people know about it, although its immediate surroundings are visited by many tourists every year. Even among Hungarian speleologists it is little known. One reason for its obscurity, the main reason, is that the cave can only be reached by an extremely complicated and very difficult-to-navigate path. The other reason is that those who know it do not publicize it, because it is an excellent night‑staying place (hence its name) and therefore excessive visitation is undesirable. Its entrance is about 10 m from the trail above Legény Cave and Leány Cave. It can only be approached from below or above by hard and dangerous rock climbing. It can be reached from the Klastrompuszta shelter in 20–25 minutes. The cave’s name is old; even Károly Sebős has not heard of any other name. Next to the entrance, on the wall, this name is visible, but the letters written with charcoal are now only hard to read.

Many spent nights there, as testified by the charcoal‑blackened walls and the abundant ash in the fire pit in the middle of the cave. The cave is bright, mostly dry and well‑heatable. Smoke can exit unobstructed through the chimney indicated on the attached longitudinal section map. A prolonged stay is pleasant for 8–10 people in summer and 4–6 people in winter. The view from the cave formed in Dachstein limestone is very beautiful. Its entrance, 4.5 m high and 2.8 m wide, faces north and slopes upward. The ceiling height varies. Near the entrance is the highest point, where it is more than 6 m high, but in some places it barely reaches 1 m. The cave is 24 m long, of which 3 m is the side chamber and 4 m the upper chamber. Its longitudinal axis is 13.5 m long and oriented north–south.

The cave is on average 2.5 m wide, its greatest width is 5.5 m. The floor is almost completely horizontal. In 1929 a stone wall observable in the middle part of the cave was formed from stones scattered in the cave. The stalactite formation is only at the front of the upper chamber, but even there there is little. The walls are brown from smoke, especially around the fireplace. Apart from a few beetles, no larger animal lives in the cave. Karoly Sebos only saw a bat there once and once a huge earwig, although he visited the cave many times. Probably they also enter only rarely, because the most characteristic evidence of permanent habitation, the excrement, can be found only in traces. No excavation has been carried out in the cave.