Léleklyuk Cave

The Lélek-lyuk artificial cavity, which some researchers say was made before the Hungarian conquest. A pin-shaped chamber carved into loess, whose top bears traces of a small sandcastle. It is located in Bükki National Park.

Description

It is located 3 km north of Sály, in Latorpusztán, on the southern slope of Kecet Hill, opposite the springs that emerge at the base of the Vízfő roof. The pin-shaped chamber cut into loess is called Lélek-lyuk by the local inhabitants and by most of the literature dealing with it, but its time of creation and purpose are unknown. The Lélek-lyuk is a rock chamber divided into four parts. At the beginning of the passage leading inside, a wide vault opens. The almost vertically carved vault leads to the hilltop.

In literature it also appears under the names Lélek-lyuk (Dely 1970), Léleklyuk (Kolacskovszky 1934) and Léleklyuk-barlang (Mihály 1978–1979). The Lök-völgyi-barlang was also called Lélek-lyuk and Léleklyuk.

Research history

The cavity was first described in detail in 1891 by Gyula Bartalos, who also mentioned the runic inscription visible in the vault in his description. According to a publication by Lajos Kolacskovszky that appeared in the 1934 issue of Turisták Lapja, the large artificial Léleklyuk located above Latorútpuszta, precisely at the water source of Sály, may best demonstrate the origin of the beehive stones. The Léleklyuk is about 24 steps long and consists of an antechamber, a pit, a chamber and a waist cavity. Its side is 10 steps long. Many niches and blind windows of various sizes can be seen on the walls. The larger blind windows are two arş deep.

From the hallway a long, black shaft leads to the hilltop. Snow, wind and rainwater enter the cavity through it. And perhaps it is also here that the shadows of those whose ashes were once placed here, in the Léleklyuk, enter and exit. The cavity’s name is clear, Léleklyuk, which means spirit den. On the wall of the shaft there are letter-shaped engravings about 5 m high, which of course are faded and worn. These strange engravings may provide guidance about who carved the beehive stones and the Léleklyuk. Photographing the carvings and deciphering their secret has not yet been attempted by anyone. In the chambers of the beehive stones and the Léleklyuk there were Celtic ashes.

In the 1937 issue of Turisták Lapja there is a description of the cavity written by László Schőnviszky. According to the short description, Léleklyuk is located on the border of Kácsfürdő and Schőnviszky László has no further information about the cavity. In 1964 Andor Saád and Péter Mihály surveyed the cavity and copied the runic script. The Bükk guidebook published in 1970 states that the Water Source springs from Sály to É, above which the small but interesting cavity Lélek‑lyuk opens on the mountainside.

In the Hungarian speleology bibliography compiled by Károly Bertalan and László Schőnviszky and published in 1976, the cave name index mentions the cavity Lélek‑lyuk in the Bükk Mountains at Kácsfürdő. The cave name index lists two publications that deal with the cavity. In the manuscript titled Hungary’s Cave Gazetteer, completed in 1976, it reads that Lélek‑lyuk is located in the Bükk Mountains, at Sály. Its entrance is about 100 m from the Lator spring to K, on the left side of the road. The artificial cavity is 39 m long and 10–12 m deep. The manuscript’s section on the cavity was written based on two publications.

The 1977-born Lélek-lyuk was published in the Bükk guidebook as an interesting but artificial cavity. Its entrance is near Vízfő, on the mountainside. The 1979 publication Caves in the Bükk mentions that Lélek-lyuk is located from Lator Lake to ÉNy. The cavity of uncertain origin consists of horizontal and vertical parts. On the map attached to the book, which shows the area of the Bükk Mountains richest in caves, the geographical location of the cave marked with number 111 can be seen. It does not appear in the 1984 book Caves of Hungary. In 1994 Baráz Csaba surveyed it and drew a floor plan map and a cross‑section of the side at the horn.

Eszterhás István's multi‑page study written in 2005 summarizes the knowledge about the cavity up to that point. It mentions a 1962 map by Saád Andor, but two of the three Saád Andor studies listed in the bibliography do not even mention the cavity. The study published in 2013 and written by Varga Gábor lists the Lélek-lyuk with site identifier 23931, located in Sályon in Borsod‑Abaúj‑Zemplén County, among archaeological sites recorded as artificial cavities.