Hosszú Hill No 3 Cave

The 3rd class cave of Hosszú-hegy is one of the caves located in the Pilis Mountains within the Danube–Ipoly National Park. It is also described in tourist guidebooks.

Description

The cave entrance is located 20 m from the large, right‑angled bend of the trail marked with a green stripe, which is 200 m east of the 475 m (official) summit of Hosszú-hegy, and 200 m north of the summit. The small, triangular entrance is situated in a small rocky ledge. Beyond the entrance there is a narrow shaft formed along a fissure, in which a few stalactites can be seen. Rubble and fallen wood block the passage beyond the bottom of the shaft. Only basic caving equipment is needed to explore the 6 m deep, dry cave.

In 2011 the cave was first called the 3rd class cave of Hosszú-hegy in the literature. In the literature it also appears as Hosszú-hegyi III. cave (Kordos 1984), Hosszú-hegyi 3.rd. cave (Kárpát 1991), Hosszú-hegyi Szűkszájú‑zsomboly (Kordos 1984), Hosszú-hegyi‑zsomboly (Mezei 1967), Hosszúhegyi‑zsomboly (Bertalan 1976) and Szükszájú‑zsomboly (Bertalan 1976).

Research History

It was reported in the 1948 Hydrological Gazette that the water table descended in the Hosszú-hegy area and the flow of the spring system of the Ziribári, Hosszúhegyi, Pilisszántói and Szurdokvölgyi caves ceased. In the 1967 book *Pilis Tourist Guide* it was noted that on the ridge of Hosszú-hegy, near the saddle, a few steps from the point where the green‑marked trail turns right after coming up from the valley onto the ridge, there is a narrow, 7–8 m deep, stone‑covered entrance called the Hosszú-hegyi‑zsomboly. In the 1974 edition of *Pilis Tourist Guide*, in the list of caves of the Pilis and Visegrád Mountains (pages 19–20), it is mentioned that the Hosszú-hegyi‑zsomboly lies among the caves of the Pilis and Visegrád Mountains. The section describing the caves of the Pilis Mountains includes a description of the Hosszú-hegyi‑zsomboly that matches the description of the 3rd class cave of Hosszú-hegy in the 1967 guidebook.

In a manuscript written by Károly Bertalan and completed in 1976 it is stated that the other name of the Szükszájú-sump in the Csobánka area of the Pilis Mountains, Pilis Range, is the Hosszúhegyi-sump. The entrance to the cave is on the ridge of Hosszú Hill, very close to the saddle, at the bend of the green-marked tourist trail, and consists of an extremely narrow opening. The sinkhole-type cave is 7.5 m deep. The part of the manuscript concerning the cave was written based on one literary work. According to the 1976 MKBT Invitation, in 1976 the FTSK Caving Research Department had a research permit for the investigation of the Hosszúhegyi-sump and cave in the Pilis Mountains.

In the 1977 MKBT Report, the 1977 report of the Sound of Nature Lovers Sports Club of Ferencváros Cave Research Department mentions that the data of the Hosszú-hegyi III cave can be found in the scientific supplemental report of the FTSK János Szabó Group. The 1977 report of the FTSK Cave Research Department's János Szabó Group published in the 1977 MKBT Report states that on the ridge of Hosszú Hill there are depressions from the 26th forest management plot to the district road (DK) up to the area of the Hosszú-hegyi 3. numbered cave. The cave opens from the 27th depression. No intervention is observed at the cave entrance and its surroundings that would indicate that the depression is of artificial origin.

The Hosszú-hegy III numbered cave has its entrance on the ridge of Hosszú-hegy, near the Háromlyukú-zsomboly, a few meters from the green-marked tourist trail, as shown in figures 11 and 14. The cave entrance opens on the east side of the 27‑marked descent in figure 14. The small cavity under the entrance opening leads with a short, inclined corridor following the sloping Dachstein limestone bedded layers that enclose the cave to a 5 m deep pit. About 3 m from the rubble forming the bottom of the pit, a ledge has formed from the bedded limestone layers. From this point the pit shaft gradually narrows, its bottom covered by fine stone rubble embedded in clay.

The publication contains a drawing showing the morphological outline of the Háromlyukú-zsomboly area. The drawing shows the geographic location and plan area of the Hosszú-hegy 3rd numbered cave (shown as III. Cave on the drawing). The drawing was edited by Péter Szablyár based on the survey of Péter Havas and Péter Szablyár. The publication includes a drawing illustrating the geographic locations of the Hosszú-hegy caves, on which the cave appears as Cave III. The report contains a 1:100 scale plan map of the cave and a longitudinal section map with three cross‑sections. For the preparation of these two maps edited by Péter Szablyár, Péter Havas and Péter Szablyár surveyed the cave. On the illustration on page 137, scattered temperature data measured 3 m from the cave entrance (according to page 139, 2.5 m) are shown.

In the 1978 report of the FTSK Speleology Department's Szabó József Group it is stated that the group continued in the spring of 1978 the topographic survey of the depressions located on the top of Hosszú Hill from the 26th forestry plot to ÉNy, as well as in the areas falling from the Hosszú Hill No. 3 cave to DK. In the vicinity of the cave the limestone layers have a dip angle of 20°. The result of the survey is shown in the colored figure 2.4 in the report, on which the geographic location of the No. 3 cave can be observed. In the 1978 MKBT Report the black‑white version of the figure became public. In the 1983 Karst and Cave there is a figure on which the longitudinal cross‑section of the part of the Pilis Mountains extending from Pilis Hill to the Danube is visible. The drawing shows the geographic locations of the significant caves of the area and the elevations at which the caves are situated. The figure includes the Hosszú Hill No. III cave located at 445 m above sea level. The cave is 4 m long and 7 m deep.