Dömör-kapu Cave

The Dömör-kapu Cave is one of the cavities located in the Duna–Ipoly National Park, in the area of Szentendre in the Visegrád Mountains.

Description

On the north bank of the Bükkös stream flowing towards Szentendre, in the stone quarry at Dömör-kapu, about 15–20 meters from the artificial tunnel running along the stream. Its entrance is clearly visible from the road.

The enclosing rock is compact andesite. The width of its entrance is 1.1 meters. The measured length of the cavity is 15.88 meters and its height is 3.86 meters. Its first section clearly shows the storage chamber. Here the cross-section is trapezoidal, its base covered with fine dust. Moving inward the floor of the cavity rises and the section flattens. The fill contains increasingly many sharp-edged stone blocks. At the end the passage splits and becomes impassable and flattens. In this part the artificial character has completely disappeared. The main wall is dangerously collapsing, the effect of frost heave is clearly observable. Interestingly, contrary to expectations, the effect of frost is stronger farther from the entrance. The reason is that the amount of infiltrating water increases significantly inward, while the entrance is completely dry.

Originally it was a completely artificial storage, but its development into a consequence cavity is highly advanced. Because of the conspicuousness of the entrance it has many visitors and accordingly much litter inside.

In 1984 the cavity was first called Dömör-kapui Cave in the literature. The cavity also appears in the literature under the names Dömörkapui-cave (Kárpát 1991), Dömörkapui cave (Bertalan 1976), Dömösdi-sziklakapu and Dömötör-kapui-cave (Eszterhás 1989).

Research History

In the manuscript completed in 1976 and written by Károly Bertalan it can be read that the Dömörkapui cave is located in the Visegrád Mountains and the Pilis Mountains, in Szentendre. Its entrance is in the Dömör-kapu stone quarry in the valley of the Bükkös stream, 5.7 km from Szentendre to NyÉNy. It appears on the 1969 1:50,000 scale forestry map. The part of the manuscript describing the cavity was written based on one literary work. In the national cave list of the book *Caves of Hungary* published in 1984, the cavity appears among the caves of the Szentendre–Visegrád Mountains under the name Dömör-kapui-cave. Associated with the list is a 1:500,000 scale map showing the geographical location of the caves of the Dunazug Mountains, indicating the geographical location of the cavity.

In the manuscript titled *List of non-karst caves of Hungary* by István Eszterhás it is written that in the Visegrád Mountains, in the 4900 cave cadastral area, the Dömötör-kapui cave formed in an andesite conglomerate located in Szentendre. The cave is of unknown size. The list mentions the 220 objects (203 caves and 17 artificial cavities) that were created in non-karst rock in Hungary and became known by the end of 1989. Fourteen caves have formed in andesite conglomerate in Hungary. According to the compilation, 119 such caves that originated in non-karst rock are listed in the cave list published by László Kordos in 1984.

In the manuscript written by József Kárpát in 1991 it is mentioned that the dimensions of the Dömörkapui cave (Szentendre) are not known. According to the manuscript *List of non-karst caves of Hungary* written by István Eszterhás, created in 1993, the Dömötör-kapui cave is located in the Visegrád Mountains, in the 4900 cave cadastral area, in Szentendre. The artificially created cavity called a cave was formed in unknown rock. The cavity is 10 m long and 1.5 m high. The compilation lists the 520 objects (478 caves and 42 artificial cavities) that were created in non-karst rock in Hungary and became known by the end of 1993. Four caves, as well as artificially created cavities called caves, have formed in unknown rock in Hungary. In the Visegrád Mountains, five artificial cavities were created in non-karst rock.

In 1996 József Tinn described the cavity in detail. In 1996 Eszter Nagy and József Tinn surveyed it, and based on the survey the map of the cavity was produced. In the manuscript bibliography of Hungary's karst caves dated November 12, 2001, the Dömör-kapui-barlang is listed. The cave name index lists 10 literary works that deal with the cavity. Item 364 does not mention it, item 363 mentions it.

In the 2014 study published in Karsztfejlődés it is stated that the 13th longest cave of the Visegrád Mountains is the 13 m long and 2 m high Dömör-kapui-barlang. At the border of Szentendre lies the abandoned Dömör-kapui andesite mine. On the lower level of the quarry opens the consequence cave, which was once an explosives shelter and storehouse. The ceiling collapsed, causing the cavity to rise higher. It is one of the 101 caves of the Visegrád Mountains, located in Szentendre, 13 m long and 3.8 m high. In the figure attached to the publication, showing the location of caves in the Visegrád Mountains longer than 10 m, the geographical position of the cavity can be seen. The site plan was edited by István Eszterhás.