Kis-Berda Cave

Kis-Berda Cave is one of the caves located on Csúcs Hill in the Pilis Mountains within the Danube–Ipoly National Park, whose entrance can be reached using rope‑technical equipment.

Description

At the edge of the Csobánka, on the eastern side of the abandoned limestone quarry of Csúcs Hill (the quarry contains a memorial plaque preserving the memory of József Berda), in the upper third of the rock wall, about 10 metres high, is the spectacular entrance, clearly visible from a distance. The entrance is accessible with rope‑technical equipment. Descent from above, rock climbing from below.

The 20‑metre‑long cave formed in upper Triassic Dachstein limestone, probably under phreatic conditions. From the entrance chamber one can crawl into the inner parts of the cave, where sloping passages are linked by small chamber‑like widenings. At the first widening there is a transverse, four‑metre‑high, narrow fissure, but apart from this the cave is characterized by a flat cross‑section. There is not much mineral deposition in the cave, whose terminal passages narrow and lead in several directions. It is not of great significance for research, but it is worth visiting and seeing.

The cave also occurs in the literature under the names Berda‑memorial‑cave (Kraus 1997) and Kis Berda Cave (Kucsera 1993). In 1997 the cave was first called Kis-Berda Cave in the literature.

Research history

In 1988 the Aragonit Cave Research Group explored it. The cave had no entrance, only a small spherical chamber at the rock‑climbing site. In the little clay in the chamber a tree about three metres high grew. Air‑filled chambers were found when the tree was removed and the clay was excavated to a length of four metres. By 1992 they had discovered up to eight metres in length. The Aragonit Cave Research and Nature‑Friendly Association planned to continue the research in 1993 and to close the entrance. By 1996 there was an eight‑metre‑long crawl, whose endpoint was passed by four metres in 1996.

On March 27, 1997, József Regős surveyed the cave and, based on the survey, Sándor Kraus drew its floor plan map on March 29, 1997, which was produced at a scale of 1:100. In May 1997, Sándor Kraus drew a site plan showing the geographical location of the caves of Mount Csúcs. The map shows the geographical location of the cave designated as Kis Berda. In Sándor Kraus’s 1997 report it is stated that the previously known Kis-Berda cave (Berda-memorial cave) had its map drawn in 1997. The 1997 site plan was included in the report.