Kis-Strázsa-hegyi fissure cave

Kis-Strázsa-hegyi fissure cave is one of the highly protected caves of Hungary. It is located in the Pilis Mountains within the Danube–Ipoly National Park. It also appears in tourist guidebooks.

Description

It opens in a former stone mine on Kis-Strázsa Hill in Esztergom that is no longer operational. It formed in Dachstein limestone. It has two entrances, but one has been bricked up. The cave is characterized by fissure-like passages, which are generally one metre wide. Above the entrance the fissure widens into a larger dome chamber and approaches the surface to about two metres. The fissure has an approximate 80° inclination, thus it is almost vertical. At its deepest point the cave widens to 2–3 metres.

At the entrance level, the walls show very loose calcite crystalline crust, which is radiating‑scaly in shape, but there are also columnar forms. Their colors are varied, including snow‑white, black with manganese coating, glass‑like transparent, brown, red with iron coating and grey. It is closed and can be visited with permission from the Danube–Ipoly National Park Directorate. It may be viewed with an electric lamp, in clean clothing, and for research purposes.

It also occurs in literature under the names Kis-Strázsa-barlang (Dénes 1964), Kis-Strázsa-hegyi-aragonitbarlang (Kraus 1997), Kis-Strázsa-hegyi aragonit-barlang (Kordos 1984), Kis-Strázsa-hegyi aragonit barlang (Bertalan 1976), Kis-Strázsa-hegyi barlang (Koch 1966), Kis-Strázsa-hegyi-barlang (Kordos 1984), Kisstrázsahegyi barlang (Bertalan 1976), Kistrázsahegyi-barlang (Csekő 1963), Kis-Strázsahegyi-hasadékbarlang (Baja 1998), Kis-Strázsa-hegyi Uj barlang (Kraus 1997), kis-strázsa-hegyi Új-barlang (Kordos 1984) and Kis-Strázsahegyi új barlang (Bertalan 1976). It is also called Tüskés-barlang. This name was given because of its spiny calcite formations. In 1997 it was first called Kis-Strázsa-hegyi-hasadékbarlang in the literature.

Research history

On March 15, 1962 it was discovered during stone mining. Earlier, on the Kis-Strázsa hill in 1946, László Jakucs and István Venkovits had already surveyed a smaller but similar cave, which has since been destroyed by mining. The discovery of the cave was reported to the Kadić Ottokár Cave Research Group by the speleologist István Koltász, who was the mine manager. At that time its entrance was four meters wide and high, oval in shape. The first to descend into the passages was Attila Benedek. At that time it was already navigable to a depth of about 20 meters. After its discovery the mine no longer extracted rock in the direction of the cave, thus the rare natural formation was saved. In the year of its opening they also made attempts to discover new passages and carried out preservation and safety work in the cave.

In his book published in 1966, Sándor Koch wrote that it is a fissure cave 25 metres deep and 0.5–2 metres wide, and also described its formations. A black‑and‑white photograph was published in the 1973 issue of *Life and Science*, showing the crystalline gypsum crust from the Kis‑Strázsa‑hegy cave. In the book *Pilis Guidebook* published in 1974, in the list of caves of the Pilis Mountains and the Visegrád Mountains (pages 19–20), it is mentioned that among the caves of the Pilis Mountains and the Visegrád Mountains there is the Kis‑Strázsa cave. According to the section describing the caves of the Pilis Mountains, the Kis‑Strázsa cave is located on the side of Kis‑Strázsa‑hegy facing Dorog (D‑side).

The manuscript titled *Cave Register of Hungary*, completed in 1976, states that the new cave of Kis‑Strázsa‑hegy located in the Pilis Mountains, Pilis‑region, Esztergom, has another name: Kis‑Strázsa‑hegyi aragonite cave. It opens in a limestone mine operating in the middle of the side of Kis‑Strázsa‑hegy that faces Dorog. Its 4 metre wide, oval, closed entrance is in the mine yard, 15 metres high. The cave worthy of protection is 30 metres long and 20 metres deep. The cave was formed along a fissure oriented EN‑DK with an approximate dip of 80°. Beautiful calcite crystal crust and gypsum coating can be observed in it. The part of the manuscript concerning the cave was written based on one literary work.

In 1980 Kraus Sándor edited the cave map draft, which is a very distorted cross‑section map. In the national cave list of the book *Magyarország barlangjai* published in 1984, the cave is listed among the caves of the Pilis Mountains as two separate caves. One cave appears under the name Kis‑Strázsa‑hegyi‑barlang with the variant name Kis‑Strázsa‑barlang. The other cave appears under the name kis‑strázsa‑hegyi Új‑barlang with the variant name Kis‑Strázsa‑hegyi aragonit‑barlang. Associated with the list, the geographic locations of the two caves are shown on a 1:500 000 scale map depicting the location of the caves of the Dunazug Mountains. In 1989 Nyerges Attila prepared a longitudinal section map draft of the cave. In the manuscript written by Kárpát József in 1991 it is mentioned that the currently investigated Kis Strázsa‑hegyi‑barlang (Esztergom) is 50 m long and 20 m deep.

On 29 May 1997 Kraus Sándor drew a site plan showing the geographic locations of the caves of Kis‑Strázsa‑hegy, Középső‑Strázsa‑hegy and Nagy‑Strázsa‑hegy. The plan shows the geographic location of the cave labeled Hasadék. In Kraus Sándor’s 1997 report it is stated that the Kis‑Strázsa‑hegyi‑hasadékbarlang, known before 1997, is a significant, endangered cave requiring further research and for which no map was made. The name variants of the Kis‑Strázsa‑hegyi‑hasadékbarlang are Kis‑Strázsa‑hegyi‑aragonitbarlang, Kis‑Strázsa‑hegyi Uj barlang, Strázsa II hasadékbarlang and Tüskés‑barlang. The Kis‑Strázsa‑hegyi‑barlang, whose variant name is Kis‑Strázsa‑barlang, is not identifiable, was known, has no map and has ceased to exist. The 1997 site plan was included in the report.