Homok-hegyi Cave

The Homok-hegyi Cave is one of the caves located in the Danube–Ipoly National Park, in the Buda Hills, in Budapest District II.

Description

It formed in Triassic dolomite. It may be of artificial origin.

The cave also appears in literature under the names Határ-nyergi-barlang (Kordos 1984), Mátyás-király-barlang (Kordos 1984) and Mátyás király barlang (Bertalan 1976).

Research History

The book titled “Along the National Blue Trail Route”, published in 1964, mentions that there are collapsed caverns on the hill called Gyulavár (Homokhegy). According to a guidebook that appeared in 1966, there are two caverns on the forested side of the walking trail of Gyulavár (Homok-hegy).

The manuscript completed in 1976 and written by Károly Bertalan states that the Mátyás király cave is located on the east side of a similarly named hill rising at the corner of the D‑i of the Hármashatár-hegy glider airfield in Budapest District II. The entrance of the 8 m long cavity is a horizontal passage and a dome. It may be a man‑made passage that has one (possibly two) dome(s). It is an unrestricted tourist attraction, which is marked on the new tourist maps. It has a very low level of vulnerability. The part of the manuscript concerning the cave was written based on two manuscripts.

It was published in the 1983 MKBT Report that on the ÉNy side of Gyula Castle there is a short (8 m long in literature) cave in the upper part. After the main entrance a dome opens to the surface, but by going straight ahead in the passage one can finally emerge on the side of the hill. It formed in Triassic dolomite. The FTSK Cave Research Department did not explore or survey it. In the national cave list of the book *Caves of Hungary* published in 1984, among the caves of the Buda Mountains, the cave is listed under the name Mátyás‑király‑cave with the variant name Határ‑nyergi‑cave. Associated with the list is a 1:500 000 scale map showing the geographical location of the caves of the Danube‑Zug Mountains, indicating the cave’s geographical position.