Fazekas-hegyi Hole

The Fazekas-hegy rock column is a cave located on Fazekas Hill in the Danube–Ipoly National Park, in Budapest District II.

Description

The cave entrance is in a former stone quarry, no longer operating, dug into the north side of Fazekas Hill in Budapest District II. It is easily reachable by car from the quarry, because Torda Street ends almost at the quarry. The Fazekas-hegy rock column has an arched shape, transformed character, horizontal axis orientation, with an entrance 2 m wide and 1.7 m high lying at the foot of the rock wall on the east side of the south half of the quarry. The cave entrance in the Budai Landscape Protection Area cannot be seen from a distance because it hides behind trees. The cavity can be reached by climbing a roughly 2.5 m stone stair.

The cave formed in Upper Triassic Dachstein limestone is 2 m long, 1 m high, 0 m deep and extends 1 m vertically. Human activity played a major role in the creation of the cave. Small cavities and caverns in the wall of the cavity show the original natural hollowing, which was further enlarged by carving and engraving. The artificial intervention is evidenced by the regular ceiling and entrance opening. There are few formations in the cavity, only dusty, soot‑covered, indistinct, tiny pea‑sized specks can be observed.

The cavity was created due to corrosion and artificial intervention. The floor of the rock‑column‑shaped cave is horizontal and its characteristic opening type is a tunnel opening. The floor of the cave consists partly of slate and partly of powder mixed with hard‑tamped rock rubble, on which carried in ash, plant debris, and a small amount of waste are present. The walls are sooty, scratched in some places. The cave, which can be viewed without permission, 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 work of the BEAC Cave Research Group in 1962, it is written that in 1962 the group members found sulphuric traces in the Dachstein limestone tectonic fissure of the quarry facing Torda Street on Fazekas Hill (Hűvösvölgy). According to geological maps, freshwater limestone is present in the area. From the presence of sheet 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 explore 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 collapse blocks. 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 stone quarry facing Torda Street. In the quarry, the Dachstein limestone has a small stone niche in its tectonically pre‑formed fissures, which local 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‑originated 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 about 10 m. A minor accident occurred during the work. Because of the accident the work could have continued only with insurance, but since they lacked the financial means for this, they temporarily finished the work. They began the geological and mineralogical processing of the site, the precise surveying, leveling and mapping of the area. The cartographic work will most likely be completed in the spring.

The 1964 book *Geological Excursions Around Budapest* mentions that at the large stone quarry on Fazekas Hill, at the intersection of Uzsoki Street and Tordai Street, the great 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 effect of surface water.

There are fissures, cavities, caves in the wall of the old large limestone mine ÉK. These show the water's corrosive work in the places where deeper bark movement previously occurred. Over house number 7 on Uzsoki Street three larger cavities draw attention to themselves. One of these leads to the DNy. On the K side of the quarry's rock wall a stalactite cluster 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 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.

On 17 October 1985 the Caving Department prepared the plan map, longitudinal section map and cross‑section map of the Fazekas‑hegy rock column. The maps present the cave at a scale of 1:100. The plan map shows the location of the cross‑section in the cave. According to the maps the cave is 2.5 m long and 0 m deep, the cave entrance is 1.6 m wide and 1.6 m high. In 2004 Attila Gazda surveyed the cave, and then on 28 August 2004 Attila Gazda, based on the survey, compiled the plan map, longitudinal section map and cross‑section map of the Fazekas‑hegy rock column (Budapest II. district). The plan map shows the location of the longitudinal and cross‑sections in the cave. The map indicates the east direction.