Keleti quarry No 4 Cave

The Keleti quarry No. 4 cave is one of the caves located in the Budai Landscape Protection Zone of the Danube–Ipoly National Park, in District III of Budapest.

Description

On the eastern part of the Buda thermal karst, on the upper level of the abandoned, two‑storey quarry of the Mátyás‑hegy DK, in the middle of the É‑i rock wall, at a relative height of 4–5 m, there is a already visible from a distance oval entrance, about 3 m wide and 1 m high, of natural character but artificially opened, horizontal axis‑oriented, opening towards the DK. The Keleti quarry No. 4 cave opens to the right, 4 m from the Keleti quarry No. 3 cave, which lies above it. The area around the entrance is slick in many places, cellular.

It developed in Upper Eocene limestone, in the Szépvölgyi Limestone Formation. Along the bedding planes it was formed by mixing corrosion of groundwater rising from depth. Its main body is divided by chimney‑type dissolution forms. The two‑branched passage is heavily filled with clay and fine‑grained debris. The passages are very dusty. The easily walkable, unrestricted cave can be visited freely with basic caving equipment.

The Keleti quarry No. 4 cave appears in the literature as cave 4 (Acheron 1993), cave 4 (Fehér, Fritz 1996), No. 4 cave (Kárpát 1984), 4.cave (Kárpát 1984), 4.cave (Kárpát 1984), No. 4 cavity (Kárpát 1983), Keleti quarry No. 3 cave (Leél‑Őssy 1995), Mátyás‑hegy DK quarry No. 4 cave (Kárpát 1983) among other names. It may be that the names Mátyáshegy 4 rock cavity (Bertalan 1976) and Mátyás‑hegy 4 rock cavity (Kordos 1984) are variants of the name Keleti quarry No. 4 cave.

Research history

According to the statements of nearby elderly residents, many cavities existed at the quarry floor level when the quarry was operating. The many small caves on the wall of the upper quarry yard and the numerous cave indications and formations suggest that quarrying destroyed a large cave, or the upper part of a large cave. The caves visible today are remnants of this large cave. From the 1943 edition of Barlangvilág it is known that Károly Bertalan and Béla Albert, within the systematic study of the caves around Buda, examined 14 small cavities in the quarries of Mátyás‑hegy and Kecske‑hegy.

In the 1957 Geographical Bulletin, which saw the light of day, the study written by Sándor Leél-Őssy mentions the large stone quarry cavities of Mátyás-hegy, which formed in nummulite limestone. On the site map in the study, which shows the geographical location of the caves of the Buda Hills, the geographical location of the cavities found in the large stone quarry of Mátyás-hegy can be observed. (These cavities are listed on the site map among the karstic caves.) In the book titled *Budapest természeti képe* published in 1958, it is written that there are karstic cavities in the wall of the large stone quarry on the D side of Mátyás-hegy. In the book *Budapest* edited by András Vitéz and Miklós Pap and published in 1961, it is mentioned that a hiker can see cavities in the stone quarry on the DK side of Mátyás-hegy, which are similar to the Mátyás-hegy cave but smaller in size.

In the report published in the 1963 Karst and Cave Research Bulletin, it is mentioned that the BEAC Cave Research Group investigated the K side stone quarry of Mátyás-hegy in 1962. On the quarry’s rock wall several openings are visible, of which two (in their present condition) can be called caves. No one has yet dealt with their investigation. Geologist Gábor Láng mapped the cavities. The characteristic spherical chambers indicate the karstic origin of the cavities. The largest is about 4 m in diameter. In addition to the exploration of Barit Cave, research is also promising at two other locations.

The 1964 Karst and Cave Investigation Bulletin mentions that in the quarry on Mátyás Hill in Budapest's District III, overlooking the Danube, long‑known cavity remains were found in 1963. The cavity system is highly charged with spherical chambers and hydrothermal fissures. Members of the BEAC Nature‑Travel Department Cave Investigation Group have been carrying out exploratory work at several points of the quarry since 1962. In 1963, working about 200 hours, they were able to advance forward in several places. They saw that the situation was promising, but only a great amount of work could yield results. They planned to continue the exploratory work in the quarry in 1964. They began the geological and mineralogical processing of the site, the precise surveying, leveling and mapping of the area. They will most certainly finish the cartographic work in the spring.

The book published in 1966 titled Budai‑hegy Guide states that in another (DK) quarry on Mátyás Hill (not the Mátyás‑hegy cave quarry) there are also small cave cavities. Nine cavities became known in this stone mine. The 1972 Karst and Cave Bulletin reported that on 24 April 1972 (at the request of the Budapest Police Headquarters), due to their disappearance, members of the Cave Rescue Service inspected the cavities of the eastern quarry of Mátyás Hill.

In the manuscript titled Hungary's Cave Registry, completed in 1976, which lists the caves in the Mátyás-hegy DK quarry, this cave may be briefly described under the name Mátyáshegyi 4. rock chamber. The entrance to the Mátyáshegyi 4. rock chamber is in the DK quarry in Budapest's District III, 5–6 m above the base of the wall, to the west of the Mátyáshegyi 5. rock chamber. It is the easternmost opening of the quarry's main wall. The approximately 20 m long cave was difficult to approach by rock climbing. It is a dry, corrosion‑origin cavity with aragonite coating and lake‑type sinter. The part of the manuscript concerning the cave was written based on a manuscript that no longer exists. The 1978 report of the Vass Imre Cave Research Group states that the group has been researching and mapping the K quarry on Mátyás-hegy for several years. In 1978, the young group members broke through several niches of the quarry, extending some niches by 2–3 m, but they did not achieve significant results. According to the 1982 publication Budai-hegység útikalauz, there are small water‑origin cavities in the K side of the Mátyás-hegy quarry.