Delago Rock Shelter

The Delago rock shelter is a cave located in the Pilis Mountains within the Danube–Ipoly National Park, in Oszoly. It is a rock shelter often visited by rock climbers.

Description

It is situated in the outskirts of Csobánka, on the Margit ridge, in a natural west‑facing entrance in a rock wall of Oszoly. Starting north from the Delago rock wall of Oszoly, after 115 metres on the trail a path branching to the east can be reached, which after turning left, after 15 metres leads to the cave entrance. The entrance of the 4‑metre‑long rock shelter is approximately 3.5 metres high and 3.5 metres wide.

It formed in Upper Triassic white‑filled thick‑bedded Dachstein limestone. Corrosion micro‑forms can be observed on the walls of the cave consisting of a single shelter. The floor of the passage is horizontal, filled with rock debris, sand and humus. Rock climbers often visit the part of the shelter suitable for a few main bivouacs.

In 1990 the cave was first described under the name Delago rock shelter. In literature it also occurs as Delagó‑rock shelter (Kárpát 1991).

Research history

In the book *Pilisszék* (Piliss Guide) published in 1967 it was mentioned that on the southern side facing Oszoly’s Csobánka, among the forest‑surrounded limestone rocks, several insignificant cavities are found. According to the notice published in the 1969 Karst and Cave Research Bulletin, in August 1969 the Speleology Cave Research Group placed fixed points in the Oszoly and the Oszoly‑side’s eight smaller‑larger cavities during a camp organized in Kevélyek.

In the book Pilis guidebook published in 1974, in the list of caves of the Pilis Mountains and the Visegrád Mountains (pages 19–20), it is mentioned that among the caves of the Pilis Mountains and the Visegrád Mountains are the Oszoly caves. According to the section describing the caves of the Pilis Mountains, there are about a dozen small caves among the Oszoly rocks rising above Csobánka. These were mapped and regularly explored by the Speleology Cave Research Group. Most of these small caves are not very spectacular, but they must be mentioned because some of them provide excellent bivouac possibilities in the Oszoly rock walls regularly visited by tourists, especially rock climbers, and in their vicinity.

In 1990 József Kárpát drew an overview map on which the geographical locations of the Oszoly climbing school caves can be observed. On this map the geographical location of the Delago rock shelter is visible. The guidebook published in 1991 repeats the description from the 1974 guidebook that generally presents the Oszoly caves. In the 1991 compilation written by József Kárpát it is mentioned that the Delagó rock shelter (Csobánka) is 3 m long and has no depth. The 1996 cave day tour guide repeats the description found in the 1991 guidebook that generally presents the Oszoly caves.

On June 6, 1997, based on József Kárpát's 1990 overview map of the Oszoly area, Sándor Kraus drew a site plan showing the geographic location of the caves in the D part of the Oszoly rock groups. The geographic position of the Delagó-kőfülke can be seen on the drawing. On June 6, 1997, József Regős surveyed it and, based on the survey, on June 7, 1997, Sándor Kraus drew a floor plan map with a cross‑section. In Sándor Kraus's 1997 report it is readable that the previously known cave named Delagó-kőfülke had no map before 1997, but this lack was remedied in 1997. The 1997 site plan was included in the report. The book *Magyar hegyisport és turista enciklopédia* published in 2005 mentions that in the Oszoly forest rock blocks and small cave openings alternate sporadically.