Keleti quarry No 8 Cave

The Keleti quarry No. 8 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 K‑section of the Buda thermal karst, at the DK‑section of Mátyás Hill, on the lower mine level of its abandoned, two‑storey quarry, at the lower mine yard Ny‑section, left‑hand side, at an altitude of 215 m above sea level, is its entrance. Near the Keleti quarry No. 8 cave is the Keleti quarry No. 17 cave. Its entrance is natural but opened due to mining, irregular in shape and horizontally oriented along the axis. The cave can be approached through a horizontal iron shaft. The water‑origin cave is 11 m long. It was formed along a fissure following a sloping bedding plane. This cave contains one of the deepest cave endpoints of the quarry. Viewing it requires a permit and basic caving equipment. It is easily walkable.

The Keleti quarry No. 8 cave appears in its literature as cave 8 (Acheron 1993), object 8 (Fehér 1994), 8‑cave (Fehér, Fritz 1995), No. 8 cave (Kárpát 1984), 8.cave (Kárpát 1984), 8.cave (Kárpát 1984), 8‑cave (Fehér 2000), No. 8 cavity (Kárpát 1983), Keleti quarry No. 8 cave (Leél‑Őssy 1995), Mátyás‑hill DK‑section quarry No. 8 cave (Kárpát 1983) and Mátyás‑hill‑DK‑section quarry No. 8 cave (Kárpát 1983). It may be that the names Mátyás‑hill 2nd rock cavity (Bertalan 1976) and Mátyás‑hill 2nd rock cavity (Kordos 1984) are variants of the name Keleti quarry No. 8 cave.

Research history

According to the statements of nearby elderly residents, there were many cavities at the quarry floor level when the stone mine was operating. The many small caves on the wall of the upper mine yard and the numerous cave indications and formations suggest that stone extraction 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 Hill and Kecske Hill.

It first appeared in the 1957 Geographical Bulletin, and the study written by Sándor Leél-Őssy mentions the large stone quarry cavities of Mátyás Hill, which formed in nummulite limestone. On the site map in the study that 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 Hill 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 Hill. 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 Hill that are similar to the Mátyás Hill cave but smaller in size.

The report published in the 1963 Karst and Cave Research Bulletin mentions that the BEAC Cave Research Group investigated the K side stone quarry of Mátyás Hill 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. 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 Hiking Section 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 encouraging, 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 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 completed in 1976, written by Bertalan Károly, among the caves in the DK quarry on Mátyás Hill, this cave may be briefly described under the name Mátyáshegyi 2. sziklaüreg. The manuscript states that the Mátyáshegyi 2. sziklaüreg is on the ÉNy side of the inner mine yard of the DK quarry depression in Budapest District III, at D from the Mátyáshegyi 3. sziklaüreg. In 1943 the cave entrance was free. The water‑dripping origin cave is about 4 m long and 2–3 m wide. The part of the manuscript concerning the cave was written based on 2 publications and 1 manuscript, but the mentioned manuscript no longer exists.