Esztergomi Vár-hegy Walled Cave

The walled cavity of Esztergom Castle Hill is a cave located in the Visegrád Mountains within the Danube–Ipoly National Park.

Description

The entrance of the cave is situated on the steep north‑eastern side of Castle Hill in Esztergom, at the border of sandstone and limestone. The cave, which has a wall‑closed entrance, can be entered through a small opening in the upper right corner of the wall that is almost completely hidden by a shrub. The walled cavity of Esztergom Castle Hill is located 20 m east of the lower entrance of the Széchy Dénes cave. Near the walled cavity of Esztergom Castle Hill, to the east‑south‑east, is the Esztergom Castle Hill cave No. 2. One can stand in the middle of the walled cavity of Esztergom Castle Hill. The cavity’s greatest extension inward is about 3 m, and its largest cross‑section is at the artificial wall. In one corner of the cave small formations (possibly flowstone?) can be seen.

The cave appears in literature under the names Basilica cavities (Kadić 1952), Basilica cavities (Bertalan 1976), Esztergom Basilica Hill cavities (Bertalan 1976), Esztergom Basilica Hill cavities (Schőnviszky 1937), Esztergom Basilica‑Hill cavities (Bertalan, Schőnviszky 1976), Esztergom Castle Hill cave No. 2 (Slíz 2017) and Cave covered with stalactites (Eszterhás 2014).

Research history

The 1926–1927 Caving Survey mentions that during bat observations carried out in 1923–1924 by András Tasnádi Kubacska and Lajos Véghelyi, on 20 February 1924 a male brown long‑eared bat (Plecotus auritus L.) was found in one of the five smaller‑larger cavities and caves located in the Mesozoic limestone of Castle Hill in Esztergom. In the 1937 yearbook of Turisták Lapja, in a study written by László Schőnviszky, it is noted that the Esztergom Basilica Hill cavities are situated in the Mesozoic mountain rock scree. Five smaller‑larger cavities, which are insignificant. Ottó Kadić’s manuscript completed in 1952 mentions the Basilica cavities (Esztergom) using László Schőnviszky’s 1937 publication. In Esztergom, in the limestone scree on which the basilica was built, several smaller‑larger cavities have formed. None of these have been investigated until now.

In the manuscript titled *Hungary's Cave Registry* completed in 1976, it is written that the Esztergom Basilica Hill cavities (Basilica cavities) are located in the Visegrád Mountains and the Pilis Mountains, in Esztergom. The smaller–larger five cavities are found in the forest of Basilica Hill. The entrances to the cavities are unknown. The part of the manuscript describing the cavities was written based on 1 publication. In the *Hungarian Speleology Bibliography* cave name index compiled by Károly Bertalan and László Schőnviszky and published in 1976, the Esztergom Basilica Hill cavities in the Pilis Mountains are mentioned. The cave name index cites 1 publication that deals with these cavities.

In the national cave list of the book *Caves of Hungary* published in 1984, the Esztergom Basilica Hill cavities (Basilica cavities) appear among the caves of the Szentendre–Visegrád Mountains. Associated with the list, the geographical location of the Dunazug Mountains caves is shown on a 1:500 000 scale map indicating the caves' geographical positions. According to the 1987 report of the Balassa Bálint Museum Cave Research Group, archaeological research of the Esztergom Castle side facing the Danube revealed several cave entrances in the rock wall beneath the castle. The caves were covered and (partially) filled by debris thrown out during the early 1930s fortification work. From the Széchy Dénes cave to DK, the group discovered another cave entrance. This cavity is not filled with sediment, but its entrance was re‑buried because it was intended to be explored later.

In the 1988 report of the Balassa Bálint Museum Cave Exploration Group it is written that on the Esztergom Castle side, at the same level as the Széchy Dénes cave, there are several smaller, bricked-up cavities and it is expected that a few more will emerge. Some elderly, water-town residents remember the caves. The guidebook Pilis and the Visegrád Mountains, published in 1991, mentions that on the westernmost part of the mountain range extending to Esztergom there are a few small caves, which are currently bricked up. Allegedly, in these caves modern pottery shards were found between the two world wars. On the inventory sheet of the Széchy Dénes cave dated October 8, 2002 it can be read that in the rock climbing area housing the Széchy Dénes cave, at the border of limestone and sandstone there are still several cavities, some of which were filled with concrete during the restoration work carried out on Castle Hill. It is possible that a cave network related to the limestone-sandstone boundary, but very filled, can be discovered.

In a 2014 study published in Karst Development it is mentioned that the Támfal-covered cave in Esztergom is of unknown size because it is filled. It is one of the 101 caves of the Visegrád Mountains. The 2017 report of the Szent Özséb Cave Exploration Association mentions that the association found a suspicious wall on Várhegy in Esztergom, within 20 m from the Széchy Dénes cave, towards D. The association members considered it possible that there is a cavity behind the wall. Later, in the upper right corner of the wall they discovered a human‑sized crawl space that could be entered to climb into the walled cavity of Esztergom Vár‑hegy. Two colour photographs were attached to the report, showing the cave. The first photograph shows the walled entrance of the cave, the second shows the interior of the cave. The manuscript contains a map fragment of Esztergom on which the geographical location of the cave can be seen.