Ellipszis Cave

Ellipsis Cave is a cave located in the Pilis Mountains within the Danube–Ipoly National Park, in Oszoly.

Description

The entrance of the cave is at the foot of the southern side of the first large rock group, the lowest rock wall, on the outskirts of Csobánka, east of the Oszoly Óra wall. The cave, which reaches a size just at the limit and has a cross‑section similar to an ellipse, can be visited without any equipment. It was formed in Upper Triassic Dachstein limestone by freeze‑thaw granulation and corrosion. In the formation‑free void, rock debris and ash are the determining fill.

In 1997 the cave was called Ellipsis Cave for the first time in its literature.

Research History

In the 1967 book *Pilis Trail Guide* it was reported that on the southern side facing Oszoly Csobánka, among the forest‑surrounded limestone rocks, there are several insignificant cavities.

In the 1974 *Pilis Trail Guide*, 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 and 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 should 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.

The 1991 guidebook repeats the general description of the Oszoly caves from the 1974 guidebook. The 1996 cave day tour guide repeats the description found in the 1991 guidebook, which generally presents the Oszoly caves. On May 23, 1997, József Regős surveyed the cave and, based on the survey, on May 24, 1997, Sándor Kraus drew a floor plan map with a cross‑section and a longitudinal section map.

On May 23, 1997, based on József Kárpát's 1990 Oszoly overview map, Sándor Kraus drew a site plan showing the geographic locations of the Oszoly rock fissure cavities. The plan shows the geographic position of the cave marked as Ellipszis. In Kraus's 1997 report it is readable that the previously unknown Ellipszis Cave had its map made in 1997. The 1997 site plan was included in the report. The 2005 book Hungarian Mountain Sports and Tourist Encyclopedia mentions that in the Oszoly forest rock blocks and small cave openings alternate sporadically.