Fazekas-hegyi Cavity

The Fazekas-hegy cave cavity is one of the caves located on Fazekas Hill in the Danube–Ipoly National Park, in District II of Budapest.

Description

The cave entrance is in a former, now non‑operational stone quarry dug into the southern side of Fazekas Hill in District II of Budapest. It is easily reachable by a quarry vehicle, because Torda Street ends almost at the quarry. The Fazekas-hegy cave cavity is oval‑shaped, natural, slope‑axis oriented, with an entrance 1.57 m wide and 1 m high lying at the base of a rock wall in the middle part of the quarry. The cave entrance in the Buda Landscape Protection Zone cannot be seen from a distance because it is covered by vegetation.

The cave, formed in Upper Triassic Dachstein limestone, is 2.5 m long, 1 m high, 1 m deep, with a vertical extent of 2 m and a horizontal extent of 2.5 m. The cavity was created by frost‑induced spalling, corrosion and collapse. The rock‑wall, cavern‑shaped cave floor is sloping and its characteristic cross‑section type is irregular. There are few formations in the cavity, only dusty, indistinct, tiny pea‑sized crusts can be observed. On the humus‑rich, stone‑debris floor there is accumulated mud, plant debris, and a small amount of trash. The upper arch of the cave entrance is slightly crumbling, spalled, but the interior walls are softened and rounded. Hair‑thin roots and roots thicker than hair hang in the cave. The cave, which can be viewed without a permit, is easily reachable by a short walk and is easily traversable.

Research history

In the 1963 Karst and Cave Research Bulletin, in the report on the 1962 work of the BEAC Cave Research Group, it is written that in 1962 the group members found sulphuric traces in the tectonic fissure of Dachstein limestone located in the quarry on Fazekas Hill (Hűvösvölgy), facing Torda Street. According to geological maps, freshwater limestone is present in the area. From the presence of the sheet‑like calcite in the fissure and the freshwater limestone discoverable nearby, the group members inferred the existence of a sulphuric‑origin cave. From the fissure they were able to travel about 10 m diagonally downwards from the fissure entrance. Sulphuric traces appeared at the end of the fissure, where they proceeded a few meters further between blocks of debris. Work on Fazekas Hill was halted because it was life‑threatening. The work can only be continued if appropriate equipment is available.

The 1964 Karst and Cave Research Bulletin states that on Fazekas Hill in Budapest's District II there is a quarry facing Torda Street. In the quarry, a small stone cellar is located in the tectonically pre‑formed fissures of the Dachstein limestone, which the nearby residents use as a cellar. The BEAC Nature Hiking Section Cave Research Group began exploratory work in the stone mine in 1962, opening a water‑origin cavity system. The group members continued the work on Fazekas Hill in 1963. In about 360 hours they removed 10 m³ of rubble and thus advanced roughly 10 m. A minor accident occurred during the work. Because of the accident they could have continued only with insurance, but lacking the financial means they temporarily finished the work. They began the geological and mineralogical processing of the site, the precise surveying, leveling and mapping of the area. They will most likely finish the cartographic work in the spring.

The book Geological Excursions around Budapest, published in 1964, mentions that at the large quarry on Fazekas Hill, at the intersection of Uzsoki Street and Tordai Street, the extensive corrosive action of water can be observed. The fissures, cracks and even larger cavities in the stone mine, some a few meters deep, walkable in size and generally ending in a dome, indicate that the cracks formed by crustal movements were widened by the dissolving action of surface water.

There are fissures, cavities, caves on the old large limestone mine’s eastern wall. These show the water’s corrosive work in the places where deeper bark movement previously occurred. Above house number 7 Uzsoki Street three larger cavities draw attention. One of these leads to the DNy. On the quarry’s western rock wall a stalactite formation can be seen, above which a water intake entrance about 5 m high and 0.6–0.8 m wide is blackened. Here and in the nearby places it would be worthwhile, with careful demolition, to verify whether there are larger cavities, possibly a cave as well. The many cave‑like clayey debris blocks the way.

According to the register sheet made on 28 August 2004, the Fazekas‑hegy rock cavity is located in cave cadastral area 4732, Pest County, Budapest, in the Buda Hills. The cave entrance at 241 m above sea level has coordinates: 244637 (x), 643047 (y). The cave, formed in upper Triassic Dachstein limestone, has been surveyed in detail and is 2.5 m long, 1 m high, 1 m deep, with a vertical extent of 2 m and a horizontal extent of 2.5 m. The basic data of the cave were determined based on the BTI cadastral survey. In Klára Groma’s 2011 manuscript it is mentioned that the Fazekas‑hegy rock cavity, located in Budapest District II, on the parcel with land‑registry number 50129 and cave cadastral number 4732‑5, is protected, 2.5 m long, 2 m vertical extent, 1 m deep and 1 m high.