Farkasvölgy Cave

The Farkasvölgy rock cavity is a 6.7 m long cave. It is located in Budapest’s 12th district, on the K side of the upper part of Farkas Valley, which separates Széchenyi Hill and Csillebérc, within the Danube–Ipoly National Park.

Description

Its entrance is in the Buda Landscape Protection Area, at the foot of Széchenyi Hill, near an old, currently unmarked tourist trail, at approximately 385 m above sea level, in a rock climbing area, forest, about 15 m from the valley axis, near the valley floor. Tourist maps of the Buda Hills incorrectly show the location of the Farkasvölgy rock cavity; it is not next to the tourist trail marked with a green triangle. The entrance is irregularly shaped, natural, horizontal along the axis, 1.4 m wide and 1.1 m high.

The cave passage is narrow and oriented ENE–WSW. It formed in Triassic dolomite, according to the cave register sheet in Pleistocene travertine. It was created along tectonic fault lines by river water erosion and corrosion, and the formation was probably also influenced by the rock’s syngenetic cavities.

A horizontal, single-level cave that rises toward its end. On its walls some indistinct pebble‑stone coating and remnants of stalactite deposits are visible. Based on a detailed survey, the rock cavity is 6.7 m long, extends 6.7 m horizontally, is 2 m high and extends 2 m vertically.

The easily reachable, crawl‑accessible rock cavity can be visited without a permit. Basic caving equipment is required to explore the cave. The competent nature‑conservation authority is the Danube–Ipoly National Park.

In literature the cave also appears under the names Farkasvölgyi Cave (manuscript Bertalan 1976, printed Kordos 1984), Farkas‑völgy rock cavity (Pápa, Dénes 1982) and Farkasvölgyi rock cavity (Pápa 1966).

Research History

Jenő Daday’s 1887 study states that Tivadar Margó observed a small bat in the Farkasvölgy cave at the Budapest border. The 1966 book titled *Budai-hegység útikalauz* mentions in its tour descriptions that in the forest at the bottom of Farkas Valley, three minutes from the blue‑marked tourist trail, there are beautiful rock formations, and turning left one finds the small Farkasvölgy rock cavity.

According to entry number 20 of the manuscript titled *Hungary's Cave Register*, completed in 1976, the other name of the Farkasvölgy rock cavity is Farkasvölgyi-barlang. It opens 10 m from the road on the upper part of the Farkas Valley in Budapest’s 12th district, on the edge of the K sector of the Upper Meadows, in a rocky cone of Mount Széchenyi. Its entrance is not visible from the road. It is a moderately large, low cavity about 4 m long and 0.7 m deep. It is not locked and is a freely accessible tourist attraction. The part of the manuscript concerning the cave was written based on two literary works.

The book *Budai Mountains Trail Guide*, published in 1982, mentions the site twice in the trail descriptions. The first mention states that one of the hiking trails on the side of Mount Széchenyi passes by the small Farkas‑völgy rock cavity. The second mention states that in the forest at the bottom of the Farkas Valley, near the blue‑marked hiking trail, there are beautiful rock formations, and turning left the small Farkas‑völgy rock cavity can be seen.

The cave listed as Farkas‑völgyi‑rock cavity, with the variant name Farkasvölgyi-barlang, appears in the national cave list of the book *Caves of Hungary*, published in 1984. In the list, the geographical location of the cave is shown on a 1:500 000 scale map of the Danube Hills region showing the locations of its caves. The UJSM Cave and Geological Department holds the basic plan map of the cave drawn on millimeter paper, its longitudinal section map, and two cross‑section maps. The maps depict the cave at a scale of 1:100. The location of the two cross‑sections within the cave can be seen on the plan and longitudinal section maps. The map sheet, which indicates east (E) direction, does not include the name of the drafter or the date of the map’s creation.