Gyopáros Cave

Gyopáros Cave is a small dolomite cave located in the Pilis Mountains within the Danube–Ipoly National Park, at Nagy-Kevély. It is a frequently visited, popular tourist attraction. It is also described in some tourist guidebooks concerning the Pilis region.

Near the cave, on the steep, forested part of Nagy-Kevély, in the spring of 2010 – at least according to the facts established by the competent authorities – a widely publicized Hungarian crime, the so‑called role‑playing murder, took place.

Description

The National Blue Trail’s blue‑marked tourist route, whose section is named Redlinger Adolf út (formerly Szódás út), runs east of the tourist trail near the cave. The yellow‑marked trail from Pilisborosjenő to Kevély‑nyereg and the green‑marked tourist trail also pass here. The cave opens on the rocky, steep side of Nagy‑Kevély, which is conspicuous from a distance, at the foot of an eight‑metre high rock wall. A path leading from the tourist trail leads up to it. After 25 metres on the path and a 12‑metre ascent, it can be reached. It is about 400 metres west‑northwest from the summit. The Kevély‑nyereg tourist house stood about 350 metres from it.

It was formed as a result of the main dolomite’s disintegration along a sloping fissure. It developed along a bedding plane. According to Leél‑Őssy Sándor, hydrothermal activity could also have created it. According to Szenthe István, it is purely of hydrothermal origin. The disintegration origin is more likely. It consists of a single chamber suitable for bivouac. Many people visit it because of its location. It can be viewed in street clothing.

Gyopáros Cave occurs in its literature under the names Edelweiss rock cave (Kordos 1971), Gyopár Cave (Dely, Mezei 1974), Gyopáros Cave (Kordos 1984), Gyopáros cave (Kordos 1971), Havasi Cave (Dely, Mezei 1974), Havasi Gyopár Cave (Szablyár, Józsa 1966), Havasi Gyopár rock cave (Kordos 1984), Havasi Gyopár rock cave (Kordos 1971), Nagykevélyi stone niche (Leél-Őssy 1958), Nagykevélyi stone niche (Thuróczy 1964), Nagy-Kevélyi stone niche (Dénes 1967), Nagy-Kevélyi stone niche (Kordos 1971), Szódás Cave (Bertalan 1976) and Szódás cave (Kordos 1971). The last two names were taken from the road below, because its old name was Szódás Road, on which soda was carried to the Kevély-nyergi tourist house from Pilisborosjenő.

Research history

In the 1937 issue of Turisták Lapja, a study written by László Schőnviszky probably mentions this cave without a cave name. According to the mention, there is a cave on the southern side of Nagy-Kevély that has not yet been surveyed. István Venkovits surveyed the cave in 1943, and using the survey data he compiled and drew the cave floor plan map and two cross‑section maps. The maps present the cave at a scale of 1:100. In the book Pilis guidebook, which saw the light of day in 1955, it is written that there is a small cave next to the path leading to the Solymári wall.

The 1958 issue of the Geographical Bulletin states that the Great Kevely Rock Shelter is located at an altitude of about 400 meters above sea level. It is situated just north of the path from the Kevély-nyergi mountain hut to Pilisborosjenő, 10–13 meters away, at the foot of a rock wall that is clearly visible from a distance. It formed in dolomite along a sloping tectonic fissure. It was probably shaped by the strong dissolution of the dolomite, but it is also conceivable that it is of hydrothermal origin. The small rock shelter is 2 meters high and about 4 meters in diameter. A sketch map accompanying the study shows the Kevély mountain group. The location of the Gyopáros Cave can be seen on the sketch map. On the drawing and in the text the cave is marked with the number 11.

According to the book published in 1964 titled “Along the National Blue Trail Route”, the entrance is located 10–13 meters above the path leading to the Kevély ridge, on the right side, under a large rock formation, opening on the far side of the rock formation along a fissure formed in the dolomite. Members of the Szabó József Geological Technical School Caving Group explored it in 1965. László Kordos, Miklós Somogyi and Ferenc Lechner surveyed the cave in 1967. The survey was carried out with offset points, along a polygon, using a clinometer and a protractor. László Kordos, in 1967, using the survey data, prepared and drew the cave’s plan map, longitudinal section map and two cross‑section maps. The maps depict the cave at a scale of 1:100. According to the survey, the cavity is 9 meters long and 3.2 meters high. The 1967 report of the Szabó József Geological Technical School Caving Group states that the group surveyed the cave in 1967, along a polygon, with a clinometer and a protractor, and that it is a karst feature located at one of their work sites.

According to the book Pilis útikalauz published in 1967, the entrance, visible from the tourist trail, is located slightly north of the tourist path leading from the Kevély-Nyergi tourist house to Pilisborosjenő, at the foot of the dolomite rock wall that stands out from a distance. It is 4 metres long, 2 metres high and was formed along a sloping fissure due to dolomite dissolution. The Speleology Cave Exploration Group began measurements there in 1969. Erzsébet Wehovszky, a member of the Speleology Cave Exploration Group, completed a water analysis in the cave on 5 April 1970.

The 1970 report of the Speleology Cave Exploration Group contains a detailed description of the cave and its research history. The report states that the name of the cave is Gyopáros Cave. László Schőnviszky called it Szódás Cave in the 1930s, because soda water was carried up the road beneath it from Pilisborosjenő to the Kevély-Nyergi tourist house. The yellow tourist trail connecting the Kevély-Nyergi tourist house with Pilisborosjenő opens on the upper part of the conspicuous rock group located along the Szódás Trail, at about 400 metres above sea level. The cave consists of a single chamber, 6 metres long, 4–6 metres wide and 1.5–2.3 metres high. There is a small dome‑shaped collapse on the left side of the cave.