Kevély-nyergi Pothole

The Kevély-nyergi pothole is among the specially protected caves of Hungary. It is located in the Pilis Mountains within the Danube–Ipoly National Park. It is also presented in tourist guidebooks.

Description

500 meters east lies the former Kevély-nyergi tourist house, on the side of Nagy-Kevély. It opens in a larch forest, hardly noticeable, although its entrance is large, a shaft 4–5 meters in diameter. Tourist maps also mark its location. It can be most easily approached from the tourist trail marked with a green stripe.

It was formed in Upper Triassic Dachstein limestone. Warm waters shaped it. According to Leél-Őssy Sándor, the entrance shaft is sulphuric; according to Haas János, it is of collapse origin, in which spherical stalactites and stalactite flows can be observed. Parallel to the entrance shaft, a twin shaft filled with clay and rock debris poured in from the surface leads to a chamber where there is a collapse debris pile. The cave is accessible only to persons skilled in rope techniques and holding a permit. The filling of the entrance shaft often prevents access to the lower horizontal part of the pothole. Currently this part is not accessible.

It occurs in the literature of the cave under the names Kevélyi-zsomboly (Bertalan, Schőnviszky 1973–1974), Kevély-nyergi Természetbarát-zsomboly (Dely, Mezei 1974), Kevélynyergi-zsomboly (Leél-Őssy 1958), Kevélynyergi zsomboly (Leél-Őssy 1958), Kevélynyergi Zsomboly (Thuróczy 1964), Nagy-kevélyi Természetbarát-zsomboly (Bertalan, Schőnviszky 1973–1974), Nagykevélyi-zsomboly (Kordos 1984), Nagykevélyi zsomboly (Kadić 1942), Természetbarát-barlang (Kordos 1984), Természetbarát barlang (Bertalan 1976), Természetbarát-zsomboly (Révai 1941) and Természetbarát zsomboly (Mezei, Páli 1955). The name Természetbarát-barlang and similar names were given to the cave in the 1940s because of the Tourist Association of Nature Lovers who discovered its lower series.

Research history

According to the manuscript written by Károly Bertalan, completed in 1976, the study prepared by László Schőnviszky and published in 1937 mentions the Kevély-nyergi-zsomboly, but on page 151 of the 1937 study László Schőnviszky probably referred to the Gyopáros-cave. On page 151 it reads that there is a small cavity awaiting exploration on the southern side of Nagy-Kevély.

In the 1938 issue 3–4 of Természetbarát it is mentioned that the TTE speleologists discovered a sinkhole. The sinkhole, previously unknown, is located a few minutes from the Kevély-nyergi shelter. The association members began exploring the cave. They explored the cave on four work trips. They made slow progress, but the result was encouraging. In the uncovered sections there are beautiful dripstones. They think that the sinkhole leads to a larger cave system. Soon they will make another work trip in the cave and hope that many nature lovers will join this trip. The trip is important not only for the association members, but for everyone. The association members planned that if there is enough interest, they will lead a Pest‑area cave tour (e.g. Kevélyi cave, Szemlő‑hegy cave, Ferenc‑hegy cave, Pál‑völgy cave, Solymári‑devil’s hole, Legény cave). Autumn cave tour calendar: 16 October 1938, new Kevélyi sinkhole (leader: Venkovits István).

In 1940 and also in 1941 the group members carried out exploratory work in the cave. In June 1941 and on 9 November 1941 the cave was surveyed, and based on the survey the Természetbarát cave plan map and longitudinal section map were produced. The map shows the names of the cave sections: Magazin, Zsomboly, Büdöslyuk, Pihenő, Kiskürtő‑terem, Miklós‑átjáró, Kis‑Danca‑terem, Nagy‑Danca‑terem, Átjáró and Hosszú‑folyosó.

According to the April 2, 1941 issue of Népszava, on March 30, 1941 the Nature Lovers' speleologists discovered a new section in the sinkhole. At the bottom of the 20‑metre‑deep sinkhole, in the accumulated large amount of rock debris, after long work the explorers succeeded on Sunday in opening a narrow passage, from which they entered two large rooms. One room is one storey high and contains much beautiful stalactite as well as snow‑white limestone tufa crust. The most beautiful chamber was named Dancza‑terem after János Dancza. The most beautiful sight in the cave is a stalactite niche, a three‑ to four‑metre‑high cauliflower‑shaped formation, and next to it a stone basin filled with crystal‑clear water. The floor is also decorated with tufa crust and stalactites. The discovered, beautifully stalactite‑covered cave section is 50 metres long, which is only a partial result of the cave exploration and therefore the sinkhole can be counted among the important caves of the Pilis.

The article published on June 30, 1942 in Magyar Turista Élet states that Sándor Jaskó gave an expert opinion at the request of the TTE on further exploration of the Nagykevély sinkhole. In the 1950s the lower parts of the cave became sealed off from the outside world. According to the book Pilis útikalauz, which saw daylight in 1955, the cave uncovered by arduous work opens near the Kevély‑nyergi tourist house and has since collapsed.

The 1958 study published by Sándor Leél-Őssy mentions that the degradation of the Kevély mountain group and its youthful movements are evidenced, for example, by the high‑located, dying, dry spring caves, as well as water‑origin caves. Such is the Kevélynyergi‑zsomboly lying at 420 m a.s.l. Near the Kevélynyergi zsomboly several small (1 m deep) doline‑like, non‑draining depressions can also be observed. The Kevélynyergi‑zsomboly is the largest cave of the Kevély mountain group after the Ürömi water‑draining cave, but its largest part is currently blocked again. The entrance of the cave is located about 500 m from the Kevély‑nyergi tourist house towards K, in a shrub‑filled interior (off‑track, hard‑to‑find place), at about 420 m a.s.l. The cave actually consists of a single shaft, which is huge, 17 m deep. The bottom of the shaft ends in a huge chamber. In this chamber begins the blocked and descending shaft that leads to the lower parts of the cave.