Lengyel Cave

Lengyel Cave is one of the highly protected caves of Hungary. It is located in the outskirts of Tatabánya in the Danube–Ipoly National Park. It is one of the six highly protected caves of the Gerecse Mountains. It is the third longest cave of the mountain range, the longest being the Keselő-hegyi-barlang, the second longest being the Pisznice-barlang. The second deepest cave of the mountain range is behind the Keselő-hegyi-barlang. Until the discovery of the Keselő-hegyi-barlang it was the longest cave of the mountain range. It is notorious for its dangerous accessibility, caused by the high carbon dioxide content of the air.

Description

It is located on the Kő-hegy plateau in the Gerecse Landscape Protection Area of the Danube–Ipoly National Park. Its entrance, set in the foot of a rock protruding from a surface depression, is rectangular, 0.5 m wide and 0.8 m long, around which a concrete structure with a metal door and ventilation openings has been built. Finding the large structure in the brush is nevertheless difficult. It formed in Upper Triassic Dachstein limestone. Its passage system is complex, its development being significantly determined by tectonics. Up to about 30–35 m depth (the so‑called upper part) collapsed forms are characteristic, such as spherical chambers and spherical niches. This indicates formation below the karst water level. In the lower part there are mainly recent dissolution micro‑forms. There was also a period in the cave’s history when it functioned as a water sink. On the wall of the Megalodusos passage, cross‑sections of megalodons can be observed.

Among the bats, the small pond bat and the common bat can be found in its passages. According to the study by Márton Juhász published in 1994, it is a significant and permanent winter roost. Allegedly, in the early 1930s András Tasnádi Kubacska found lower Würm Pleistocene bone remains in the entrance section of the cave. It is, however, likely that the museum find label was miswritten or confused, and the finds actually originate from the area of Solymár.

The cave wolf, cave lion, bison and giant deer bones were identified and examined by Dénes Jánossy (Juhász 2003). According to the book by László Kordos, there were no cave wolf and bison bones; instead he wrote about the appearance of cave bear, mammoth and donkey *Asinus hydruntinus*, as well as cave lion and giant deer bones. The finds were placed in the Paleontological Collection of the Hungarian Natural History Museum. From the unpublished paleontological material, László Vértes discovered human-made incisions and scratches on a giant deer antler fragment and on a herbivorous vertebra, which he considered traces of the Moustier culture. Therefore the cave is a paleontological and archaeological site.

Rib bone from the Lengyel Cave has, besides this cave, been recovered from seven Hungarian caves: from Király-kúti-zsomboly, from Pes-kő-barlang, from Pilisszántói-kőfülke, from Puskaporosi-kőfülke, from Remete-barlang, from Remete-hegyi-kőfülke and from Suba-lyuk.

A permit from the Directorate of the Danube–Ipoly National Park is required to enter the sealed cave. It is sufficient to use basic caving equipment, but rope protection must be applied. It can only be visited with electric lighting. Visiting is prohibited during the bats' winter hibernation period. Ladders have been placed in locations where movement was difficult. Its exploration is difficult and dangerous because in the Heavy‑Room area the carbon‑dioxide content of the air exceeds 5% in autumn. The annual average air temperature is average compared with other domestic caves.

The cave occurs in its literature under the names Bánhidai Devil‑hole (Kordos 1984), Bánhidai‑devilhole (Juhász 2003), Gas‑cave (Székely 1994), Gascave (Bathó 1961), Gaseous‑cave (Kordos 1984), Kőhegyi‑cave (Kordos 1984), Kőhegyi cave (Kadić 1952), Kőhegyi‑devilhole (Székely 1994), Kőhegyi‑Devilhole (Bertalan, Schőnviszky 1973–1974), Kőhegyi Devilhole (Schőnviszky 1962), Kő‑hegyi‑Devilhole (Bertalan, Schőnviszky 1973–1974), Kő‑hegyi Devil‑hole (Bertalan, Schőnviszky 1973–1974), Lengyel cave (Vigh 1937), Lengyelcave (Dénes 1963), Lengyel Cave (Kordos 1977), Mammoth‑cave (Szilvássy 1955), Mammothcave (Balázs, Csekő 1958), Mammoth cave (Radó 1956), Mammoth‑labyrinth (Bertalan, Schőnviszky 1973–1974), Mammoth labyrinth (Kokas 1935), Mammoth‑labyrinth (Székely 1994), Mammoth labyrinth (Gaál 1934) and Mammoth‑labyrinth (Juhász 2003).

The word gas is in the cave’s name because its air has a high carbon‑dioxide content. The words mammoth and mammoth are in its name because a mammoth bone was found in the cavity.

The cave occurs in literature under the names Devil's Hole (Kokas 1935), Devilhole (Gaál 1934), Tatabánya Devilhole (Székely 1994) and Tatabánya Devilhole (Jakucs, Kessler 1962). In 1959 it was first called Lengyel Cave in literature. The Polish word is probably in its name because Polish settlers helped in its archaeological excavation. One of the names of the Gyurkó-lápai Cave is also Lengyel Cave. A similarly named cave is the also Tatabánya Lengyel Gorge, which opens about 30 m from Lengyel Cave. László Kordos in his book published in 1984 does not recommend using the old Devil's Hole name, because there are several devilholes in Hungary.

1930–1959

In 1930 members of the Pannónia Tourist Association hiked in the cave, which was first reported by Gyula Vigh. The deepest, 36 m deep, was reached by László Schőnviszky and Lajos Barbie; the others had to turn back before reaching the end point because of bad air. This is the first concrete date and event in the history of Lengyel Cave. According to László Kordos's book published in 1984, its first exploration took place in 1929. In the early 1930s an archaeological excavation was carried out in the Entrance Hall by András Tasnádi Kubacska with Polish settlers. In 1934 István Gaál, who was excavating the nearby Szelim Hole, had two foremen explore to a depth of 37 m (Juhász 2003). According to Ákos Lendvay Bende's study published in 1967, Gaál István also worked with the two workers.