János-hegyi Cave

The János-hegyi Passage is a dolomitic passage cave located on the side of János Hill in the Budai Landscape Protection Area of the Danube–Ipoly National Park, in District XII of Budapest. It is also described in tourist guidebooks.

Description

Following the red‑band tourist sign from Szépjuhászné to János Hill, one must head toward János Hill. After crossing Jánoshegyi Road, which is an asphalt road, twice, at the third crossing one must turn onto the asphalt road and go left. Continuing on the asphalt road for about 250 m, on the right side of the road, in the forest on the hillside, about 150 m east of the summit, are the entrances. The second entrance is a few metres from the first entrance and the asphalt road, higher up, and is also called the exit. Near the summit of János Hill the cave can also be reached from a tourist trail marked with a red band that branches off the tourist path, a red‑cave marked tourist trail about 500 m long, and from a tourist trail marked with a green triangle, a green‑cave marked tourist trail about 100 m long.

The entrance opens at an altitude of 455 m above sea level, the exit at an altitude of 458 m above sea level. It formed in Upper Triassic dolomite. The entrance, facing east, is a natural, horizontally oriented, 2 m wide, 1.3 m high, arch‑shaped opening that leads into a corridor that changes direction several times and slopes gently upward.

The lower section, four metres long, two metres wide and 1.5 m high, runs horizontally toward the DK direction and at its end widens slightly into a middle section four metres long, 1.5 m wide and on average 3 m high, extending toward the D–DNy direction and rising gently. The corridor widens again here and then extends outward for 4 m toward the K–ÉK direction.

The passage toward the exit widens 2 m, its ceiling rises to 4.5 m high and develops into a dome ending in a pointed apex, from which two small window‑like openings open onto the area above the cave. The exit is 1.7 m wide, 2 m high, natural, curved and rectangular, oriented horizontally, from which one can exit onto a narrow, short footpath leading to the asphalt road. Its characteristic speleotype is the tunnel speleotype. Calcite and breccia zones, as well as stalactite poisoning and pepperstone can be observed in it. Horizontal extension 11.2 m. The cave is not closed and is freely visitable. Cave passage without basic equipment, easily walkable.

The cave occurs in the literature under the names Jánoshegyi-átjáró (Marosi 1959), Jánoshegyi átjáró (Kadić 1919), János-hegyi Átjáró-barlang (Szabó 1965), Jánoshegyi-átjáróbarlang (Kerekes 1944), János-hegyi barlang (Pápa 1966), Jánoshegyi barlang (Thirring 1900), János-hegyi-sziklaüreg (Gazda 2005) and Jánoshegyi sziklaüreg (Bertalan 1976). In 1976 the cave was first called János-hegyi-átjáró in the literature.

History

Its first mention was by Gusztáv Thirring, whose book published in 1900 states that the cave was a simple rock fissure. In 1919 Ottokár Kadić, on behalf of the Hungarian Royal Institute of Geology, surveyed the cave and then prepared the cave floor plan map, longitudinal section map and three cross‑section maps. Imre Som assisted him in the survey. The report written by Ottokár Kadić and published in the 1919 Caving Research mentions that after the completion of the Pál‑völgy cave research, in 1919 the other Pál‑völgy and Budapest suburban caves, e.g., the Jánoshegyi passage, were studied and surveyed. The members of the Pannonia Tourist Association Caving Research Section (Árpád Frölich, János Bagyura, Antal Jilek, Imre Som, Gyula Ruzitcska, József Pürner, Hermán Frei and others) assisted in the cave survey. The research in the cave is completed. The report also reveals that the well‑known rock cavity is 17 m long. It is located beside an asphalt road built for walking on the eastern‑northeastern slope of János Hill. Formed in dolomite, it is a multi‑directional, gently advancing, two‑opening passage and is not suitable for excavation. The lower entrance is beside the asphalt road, the upper entrance is situated slightly higher.

Based on the 1919 Cave Survey, in the report by Pál Kornél Scholtz, Ottó Kadić was commissioned by Lajos Lóczy to survey the caves of the Buda Hills, and in this work the Cave Survey Department of the Pannonia Tourist Association supported Ottó Kadić. Among the more distant caves, the Jánoshegy passage was also surveyed. In the 1920 volume of *Természet*, in the study titled “The Pálvölgy Stalactite Cave at the Border of Budapest,” it is mentioned that hikers visiting the Buda Hills are certainly familiar with the tunnel-like János-hegy rock cavity lying beside the walking path on the side of János Hill. This cave is a smaller cavity, which has no long corridor, spacious chambers, or stalactite decorations that are seen in other, better‑known caves.

In the 1920 volume of Természet the cave is described in detail, written by Ottokár Kadić. In this study titled A jánoshegyi átjáró a budai hegységben it is mentioned that the cave opens on the slope of János-hegy towards ÉNy, next to the carriage road there. It is most easily found by starting from the restaurant on the far side of János-hegy, heading east‑north on the mentioned carriage road, walking around the hill and continuing on the DK section of the road until the lower opening of the passage, or its entrance, is visible on the right, in the rock group beside the road. The entrance is 2 m wide, 1.8 m high, arched at the top and faces east, and continues in a corridor that changes direction several times and leads gently upward. The lower section is 4 m long, 2 m wide, 1.5 m high and proceeds horizontally in the DK direction. At its end it widens slightly and passes into the middle section, which is 4 m long, 1.5 m wide, on average 3 m high, extends in the D–DNy direction and rises gently. The corridor becomes spacious again here and then leads out of the cave for 4 m in the K–ÉK direction. The corridor widens to 2 m and its ceiling, 4.5 m high, becomes a dome ending in a sharp apex towards the exit. From the dome two small window‑like holes open to the surface above the cave.