Látó-hegyi Cave

Látó-hegy Cave is one of the caves located in the Buda Hills of the Danube–Ipoly National Park, in District II of Budapest. It was among the specially protected caves of Hungary. It is the most significant cave of the Francia Mine.

Description

On the western side of Látó Hill, next to Szépvölgyi Road, in the abandoned and easily accessible Francia Mine, there is a 0.8×1.2 m wide, artificial and slope‑axis entrance. In the middle of the quarry’s rock wall, at the foot of the climbing wall called Zsíroskenyér by the rock climbers, there is a fissure‑like entrance that descends as a continuation of a 4–5 m high spring shaft, which can only be seen from close up. The blue‑band marked tourist trail of the National Blue Trail approaches the mine. The entrance to Látó-hegy Cave is 50 m from the entrance of Korallos Cave on the east‑north side. The entrance area, the Róka shaft, is prone to collapse.

It was formed along a tectonic fissure in the Szépvölgyi limestone of the Eocene by the action of rising spring waters. Its horizontal extent is 20 m. With the permission of the Danube–Ipoly National Park Directorate, it can be visited and viewed with basic cave‑tour equipment and easy climbing. At most 4 groups may visit per day and a group may consist of up to 6 persons.

In 1987 the cave was first called Látó-hegyi-barlang in its literature. The cave appears in its literature under the names Épitők-barlang (Bertalan 1976), Építők-barlang (Kordos 1984), Franciabánya-barlang (Szabó 2004), Francia-bánya sziklaürege (Kordos 1984), Franciabánya sziklaürege (Bertalan 1976), Kőtár (Szabó 2004), Látóhegyi-barlang (Balázs 1960), Látóhegyi barlang (Bertalan 1976), Látóhegyi Épitők Barlang (Barabás, Csók 1960), Látóhegyi Építők-barlang (Szabó 2004), Rémó-barlang (Vidics 1980), Róka-barlang (Szabó 2004), Rókakürtő (Kordos 1984), Róka-kürtői-kutatóág (Szabó 2004), Rókalyukkürtői munkahely (Bertalan 1976) and Városterv-barlang (Szabó 2004).

Research History

In the March 1960 Karst and Cave Research Bulletin it is written that the Városterv Cave Research Group works on a research branch starting from a vapor‑water spring vent in the French mine of Látó‑hegy on almost every non‑working day. They have been doing large and enthusiastic work since February 2, 1958. Two years had passed since the members first extracted a stone here. During this time the small group’s enthusiasm persisted, but there were also situations in which the members became discouraged because not even a slight airflow indicated a direction of progress. There were also situations where the draft was strong, but the stalactite had narrowed so much that they had to break and chisel a way through. Often it took months to advance a single meter. Their exploration method was new in the history of exploring vapor‑water cave systems, because their work was not random but based on a concept.

After the geological, geomorphological, morphological and analogical study of Látó Hill and its surroundings, they came to the conviction that several extensive cave systems must be there. Therefore they decided to begin their continuous exploration work with the Látó Hill system. In two years the research branch became about 50 m long and 26 m deep. The most outstanding event of the research occurred on 7 June 1959. At that time, from a palm‑size fissure, piercing the hard clay fill with a steel rod, they obtained such a large airflow that the flame of their carbide lamp became horizontal.

The fissure was widened by digging and blasting so much that they reached a chamber 6 m deep, 4 m long and 2 m wide, the Stone Store. This chamber alone already meets the criteria for naming a cave. This research branch has for now been given the name Látóhegyi Épitők Cave. Later it will be decided whether the name will be expanded with the prefix stalactite‑, fissure‑, or aragonite‑. The Stone Store is the key to further exploration of the water‑origin cave. At this point, since then a shaft has been deepened to a depth of 5–6 m in the soil sealed by stone blocks and clay that fills the fissure. They proceeded downward along a few narrow fissures in the hope of experiencing a new strong airflow somewhere. According to the July–August 1960 Karst and Cave Research Bulletin, the Ruhaipari TE Cave Research Department and the City Planning Cave Research Group will work together on the exploration of the Látó Hill cave.

In the overview of the Karst and Cave Survey of the second half of 1961 it is mentioned that the Városterv cave research group continued in 1961 the exploration of a cave system inferred from the traces of a spring near Látó-hegy. The same issue of the journal reveals that the caves of the Budapest area were little explored in the summer of 1961, for example only the Városterv cave research group, which worked on Látó-hegy. In 1966 the Városterv Cave Research Group repeatedly dismantled, enlarged and maintained the Rókakürtői workplace, where work had been stopped in 1963. The Huzatos, a 30×150 cm opening crack, is a promising workplace, but several years of work are needed to get through. Here 2500 hours were spent on exploration.

In the manuscript titled *Hungary’s Cave Register* completed in 1976 it can be read that the Franciabánya rock cavity is located in Budapest’s 2nd district. Its other names are Épitők-cave, Rókalyukkürtői workplace and Látóhegyi cave. It is situated on the DNy side of Szép Valley, 350 m from Fenyőgyöngye to KDK. Its entrance was completely blocked. The works at the time sealed it, but it has probably been broken through since then. The clay‑filled and water‑logged lava‑water fissure cave was in 1959 30 m long and 9 m deep. In its present state it is not significant. The part of the manuscript concerning the cave was written based on one publication. In 1978 the Szabó József Cave Research Group visited the Látóhegyi cave located in a large, Nummulites‑bearing limestone mine on the DNy side of the valley, from Fenyőgyöngye to DK. The cave’s small entrance shaft had collapsed, so the members could not enter. A black‑and‑white photograph can be seen in the group’s 1978 report, showing the cave entrance at the bottom of the image.