Három-kút Remete Cave

The Három-kúti Remete Cave was among the specially protected caves of Hungary. It is located in the area of the Bükk National Park. It has been developed as a cave accommodation.

Description

It is one of the three currently operating residential caves in our country. The fourth was the Sólyom-kúti rock cavity, but its cave accommodation function has been discontinued. The other two residential caves that still provide accommodation, the Cserepes-kői rock cavity and the Odvas-kői rock cavity, are also located in the Bükk region. It is situated on the northern side of the Három-kúti valley, on the Kis-fennsík, east of the Sólyom rock, about 250 metres away. It opens on a hillside, at the foot of a roughly 15–20 metre high rock wall. In front of its entrance a horizontal terrace has been created, surrounded by a wooden railing.

The natural but modified entrance is 3.2 metres wide and 1.5 metres high. It formed in Triassic limestone. It is a branching cave. In the cave one can observe a spherical stalagmite, boxwork structures, pepperstone, dripstone flowstone and a wolf‑bite dripstone flag. When it was converted into a residential cave, a small iron stove, an iron bed and a table were placed in its cavity, and the walking surface was paved with methlahi slabs. A stone wall with a door was built on the entrance side. The stone wall also has a window and here is the chimney pipe leading outside. Behind the first, gallery‑like, 4–5 metre high chamber there is another area where packages and firewood can be stored. It provides suitable accommodation for two tourists all year round, even in winter. It is usable by anyone, and its entrance is not closed.

In the literature the cave also occurs under the names Három-kúti cave accommodation (Borzsák, Egri 2007) and Sólyom-kői cavity (Franczia 1999). In 2006 it was for the first time called Három-kúti Remete Cave in the literature.

Research History

József Kárpát prepared on 21 June 1982 the cave’s plan map and a map depicting its longitudinal section. According to the cave cadastral master sheet filled out in 1982, the cave’s length is 11.8 m, its horizontal extent 9 m, and its height 7 m. The access road is built with dripstone wall and the cave’s first chamber, i.e., the room, is plastered. The Három-kúti Remete Cave, cadastral number 5362/32, located in the operational area of the Bükk National Park Directorate in the Bükk Mountains, has been designated as a cave requiring special protection since 28 February 2006, according to the Ministry of Environment and Water’s instruction 8/2006. KvVM. In its 2007 condition‑survey manuscript the Három-kúti Remete Cave is described in detail.