Gülbaba Cave

The Gülbaba Cave is a closed and protected cave located on Gellért Hill, in the 1st district of Budapest, within the Danube–Ipoly National Park.

Description

Its entrance opens on private property at the foot of Gellért Hill, near the Rudas medicinal bath, and is closed with an ornamental iron grate gate. The Gül Baba spring basin can be observed at the end of the cave.

It is named after Gül Baba. In literature it also appears as Gül Baba and Musztafa spring (Kordos 1984), Gülbaba and Musztafa spring cavity (Bertalan 1976), Rudas Bath 1st spring cave (Bertalan 1976) and Rudas-bath No. 1 spring cave (Kordos 1984).

Research history

According to the Budapest karst waters that emerged in 1968, along the well‑visible slope and subsidence of Gellért Hill on the Danube side, the very fragmented Triassic dolomite fissures break through in many places, within a relatively small area, the Rudas Bath karst springs. This fissure and fault system is very varied, although a few dominant directions can be identified. Some of the emerging karst waters escape into the Danube gravel layer, while others flow directly into the river from the dolomite cliffs that form the riverbed of the Danube. During the construction of the Rudas Bath, the road works, and the building of the Elisabeth Bridge, several more or less interrelated springs were discovered, such as the Gülbaba spring and the Kara Musztafa spring.

They connected some of the springs to a common collection system via stone‑clay pipe conduits. The water of the springs became scarce in the 1930s, therefore in 1932, 1935, 1940 and 1943 wells were drilled. In the publication there is a drawing on which the micro‑tectonic outline of the caves next to the Rudas Bath can be observed. The figure also includes the micro‑tectonic conditions of the Gülbaba‑spring cave. On page 127 the plan map, longitudinal section map and 7 cross‑section maps of the Gülbaba‑spring and the Turkish‑spring can be viewed. On the plan map the spouts of the Rákóczi‑spring and the Musztafa‑spring are marked. The plan map shows the location of the 7 cross‑sections in the cave.

In the manuscript titled *Hungary’s Cave Gazetteer*, completed in 1976, it is written that the 1st spring cave of Rudas Bath opens in District I of Budapest, at the foot of Gellért Hill’s ÉK side, opposite the Rudas Bath. Another name is the Gülbaba and Musztafa‑spring cavity. Its entrance is closed with a decorative iron grate. The artificially enlarged fissure spring cave was formed in dolomite. The warm, humid‑air cave has two entrances. Its water has long been used for the purposes of the therapeutic bath. The part of the manuscript concerning the cave was written based on 1 publication.

The 1976 edition of the Hungarian speleology bibliography compiled by Károly Bertalan and László Schőnviszky mentions the Inhalation Cave located in the Rudas Bath in Budapest in its cave name index. The cave name index mentions 1 literary work that deals with the cave. The 1984 book titled Caves of Hungary, which contains a national cave list, includes the cave in the Buda Mountains under the name Rudas Bath 1st source cave with the name variants Gül Baba and Musztafa spring. Associated with the list is a 1:500 000 scale map showing the geographical location of the caves of the Danube‑Zug Mountains, on which the cave’s geographical location is shown.

From 14 May 1998, according to decree 13/1998. (V. 6.) KTM of the Minister of Environment and Regional Development, the caves No. 1 and No. 2 of the Rudas Bath located in the Buda Mountains within the jurisdiction of the Danube‑Ipoly National Park Directorate may be visited with the Directorate’s permission. From 1 September 2005, according to decree 22/2005. (VIII. 31.) KvVM of the Minister of Environment and Water Management, the caves No. 1 and No. 2 of the Rudas Bath located in the Buda Mountains within the operational area of the Danube‑Ipoly National Park Directorate may be visited with the supervisory authority’s permission.