Karácsony Pothole

The Karácsony pothole is a cave located in the Aggtelek National Park area. Together with the other caves of the Aggtelek Karst and the Slovak Karst, the cave has been part of the World Heritage since 1995.

Description

It opens on the Upper Hill plateau, north of the centre of Bódvaszilas, north‑west of the Vecsem‑bükki lookout, 560 m from the lookout, 300 m from the boundary stone No. XII/43.2, at 168°, west of the Vecsembükki pothole, 330 m, in a specially protected area, on the top of the north‑west part of the large karst basin. The basin is located directly next to the Vecsembükki pothole mound and contains the entrance of the Banán pothole as well as the entrance of the Darázs‑hole. From the Vecsembükki pothole, along the tourist trail marked with a yellow stripe, the entrance is 20 m south of the trail. The entrance is vertical, oriented along the axis, natural in character and irregular in shape.

It formed in middle Triassic Wetterstein limestone. Its greatest horizontal extension is four metres. A fissure is the entrance shaft, from which one can slide down into a small earthen‑lined passage that, after a small terraced step, leads to the bottom of the pothole. Access requires permission and the use of rope‑technical equipment.

The cave also occurs in the literature under the designation V‑17 (Kósa 1992).

Research history

The cave’s name is not mentioned in the 1984 book *Caves of Hungary*, nor in the national cave list. In 1988 the cave was surveyed by Gyula Csöndör, Attila Kósa and András Molnár, after which a plan map of the cave and two longitudinal section maps were produced. According to the survey the cave is 6.5 m deep. In the 1992 publication *Karst and Caves*, the map showing the hills of the Hungarian part of Upper Hill and its mounds, potholes and sinkholes displays the cave’s geographical location. In the 1992 book *Atlas of Upper‑Hill Potholes*, on one of the maps presenting the Hungarian side of the Upper‑Hill plateau, the cave’s position is marked. The publication includes the maps created in 1988.

Since 1995 the cave, together with the other caves of the Aggtelek Karst and the Slovak Karst, has been part of the World Heritage. According to the thesis prepared by Attila Nyerges in 1997, the 6 m deep Karácsony‑zsomboly is the 56th deepest cave of the Hungarian part of the Alsó‑hegy. The 54th deepest (Iker‑zsomboly), the 55th deepest (Kalap‑zsomboly), the 57th deepest (Útmenti‑zsomboly), the 58th deepest (Hideg‑lyuk) and the 59th deepest (Dugó‑lyuka) are also 6 m deep. In 2001 the BEAC Cave Exploration Group placed a radar detector inside it. On 21 September 2002 it was one of the venues of the Lakatos Cup. In the publication of the XV Lakatos Cup held on 27 September 2008 it is listed as a cave 6 m deep and 9 m long. It was one of the possible touch points of the competition.

In the book about the karst phenomena of the Alsó‑hegy published in 2019 it is written that the Karácsony‑zsomboly is of unknown length and 6.5 m deep. The cave identification numbers are: in Slovakia 168, in Hungary 5452/43, other V‑17. The book published the cave’s floor‑plan map made in 1988 and a 2‑section longitudinal map made in 1988. The floor‑plan map shows the location of the 2‑section longitudinal within the cave. In the map data it is readable that István Szenthe surveyed it at an unknown time. According to the survey, in 1988 Gyula Csöndör, Attila Kósa and András Molnár drew the three maps of the cave. The maps were digitized in 2016 by Luděk Vlk. A detailed map of the Alsó‑hegy was attached to the publication. The map was made by Luděk Vlk, Mojmír Záviška, Ctirad Piskač, Jiřina Novotná, Miloš Novotný and Martin Mandel. On the map, where caves and pits are marked with black dots, the geographical location of the Karácsony‑zsomboly (5452/43, 168) can be seen.