Kő-hegyi Passage

The Kő-hegyi Passage is a cave located on Kő-hegy in Pomáz, within the Danube–Ipoly National Park. It is a passage cave with two entrances.

Description

Both entrances of the cave are in the shrubbery at the foot of the rock wall on the eastern side of Kő-hegy in the outskirts of Pomáz. The lower entrance is natural, triangular, oriented along the slope axis, 0.8 m wide and 1 m high. The upper entrance is natural, triangular, oriented along the slope axis, 1.5 m wide and 1.5 m high. The Kő-hegyi Passage is located about 30–35 m east of the Kő-hegyi cave.

The 3.7 m long Kő-hegyi Passage formed in Miocene andesite conglomerate due to freeze‑thaw disintegration and weathering. The passage‑shaped cave has a floor that is inclined and horizontal, with typical cross‑sections being triangular and circular. Its floor is covered by a large amount of humus, loam and rock debris. Spiders, insects and waste occur in the cave. It is a cave that can be entered without permission. Only the use of a lamp is required for detailed viewing of the side tube that branches off from the main passage.

In the literature the cave also appears under the names Kő-hegyi‑átjáróbarlang (Eszterhás 1997) and Kőhegyi‑átjáró‑barlang (Ézsiás 1993). In 1993 the cave was first called Kő-hegyi‑átjáró in the literature.

Research history

In the 1971 study “Karszt és Barlang” written by Ádám Boros it is mentioned that, besides limestone and dolomite caves, plants also occur in other cavities. There are few examples of this in Hungary. Between the rocks of Kő-hegy in Pomáz there is a cave‑like rock gate composed of andesite, in which a characteristic lime‑avoiding and rare moss of the Hungarian Mid‑Mountains, Aulacomnium androgynum, is found; this moss is more typical of pine‑forested landscapes. This moss could not survive on the sun‑exposed eastern rocks on the mountain surface, outside this cave‑like formation. The 1984 book “Caves of Hungary” states that on the andesite block of the rock gate between the rocks of Kő‑hegy in Pomáz a characteristic lime‑avoiding, rare moss, Aulacomnium androgynum, grows.

In the 1993 report of the Troglonauta Barlangkutató Group it is mentioned that the Kőhegyi-átjáró-barlang is located about 30 m to the east of the Kő-hegyi-barlang, at roughly the same height. György Ézsiás and his colleague Kornél Budai discovered the cave based on the guidance of local residents. György Ézsiás gave the name Kőhegyi-átjáró-barlang to the cave. The cave is not mentioned in written works, only the botanically interesting site was described as a rock gate (Karszt és Barlang, 1971). The insignificant passage cave is 3 m long and 2 m high. It formed in volcanic rock. Two colour photographs were attached to the manuscript. One photograph shows the lower entrance of the Kő-hegyi-átjáró, the other shows the upper entrance of the Kő-hegyi-átjáró. A map fragment was attached to the cave description, indicating the location of the Kő-hegyi-átjáró.

In the manuscript titled Magyarország nemkarsztos barlangjainak lajstroma written by István Eszterhás and produced in 1993 it is readable that the Kő-hegyi-átjáró is located in the Visegrád Mountains, in the 4900 cave‑catalogue area, at Pomáz. The cave formed in andesite tuff is 3 m long and 2 m high. The compilation lists the 520 objects (478 caves and 42 artificial cavities) in Hungary that were created in non‑karst rock and became known by the end of 1993. In Hungary 8 caves or artificially created, cave‑named cavities have formed in andesite tuff. In the Visegrád Mountains 33 caves were created in non‑karst rock.

On July 6, 1996, Nagy Eszter and Tinn József surveyed the cave, and based on the survey István Eszterhás prepared the floor plan map of the Kő-hegyi Passage, which depicts the cave at a scale of 1:50. According to the survey the cave is 3.7 m long. The 1996 yearbook of the MKBT Vulkánszpeleológiai Collective states that the Kő-hegyi Passage cave located in the Visegrád Mountains, Pomáz, is 3.7 m long and 2 m high. The Kő-hegyi Passage is about 30–35 m from the Kő-hegyi cave at point K, and its formation is similar to that of the Kő-hegyi cave. The Kő-hegyi Passage cave is 4.31 m long. The main branch is a wide passage corridor, whose wall shows mainly crushing marks, but also dissolution marks. From the main branch a 1.31 m long, 0.5 m diameter dissolved tube branches off. Its floor, covered with soil, is very steep. The cave is not very interesting because it is very fragile. The yearbook includes the map of the Kő-hegyi Passage made in 1996.

The 1997 yearbook of the MKBT Vulkánszpeleológiai Collective mentions that the Kő-hegyi Passage cave (Visegrád Mountains, Pomáz, Kő-hegy) is 3.7 m long and 2 m high. The manuscript titled “Bibliography of the Non‑Karst Caves of Hungary,” dated November 12, 2001, includes the Kő-hegyi Passage cave (Visegrád Mountains, Pomáz) in its cave name index. The cave name index lists two literary works that deal with the cave. The cave is not mentioned in entry 364, but is mentioned in entry 365.

According to the cave register sheet written in 2006, the Kő-hegyi Passage (Pest County, Pomáz, Danube–Ipoly National Park Directorate, Central Danube Valley KTVF) has the cave cadastral number 4900-30. The cave entrance located at 339 m a.s.l. has coordinates: 258821 (x), 647783 (y). The cave is 3.7 m long, 0 m deep, 2 m high, with a vertical extent of 2 m and a horizontal extent of 3.7 m. The cave formed due to freeze‑thaw weathering and dissolution. The cave is not endangered. The study published in the 2014 Karst Development notes that the Kő-hegyi Passage cave in Pomáz is 3.7 m long and 2 m high. The Kő-hegyi Passage is one of the 101 caves of the Visegrád Mountains.