Lepke Cave

The Lepke Cave is one of the caves located in Pilisszentkereszt in the Pilis Mountains of the Danube–Ipoly National Park. The cave is also described in tourist guidebooks.

Description

The Lepke Cave is situated in the outskirts of Pilisszentkereszt, in a specially protected area. The cave’s impressive entrance opens on the western side of Pilis Mountain, 150 m east of the Vaskapu cliffs, 20 m higher, at an altitude of about 590 m above sea level. It is located 135° from the summit of Vaskapu Hill (651 m), 400 m away, about 40 m lower than the plateau edge, at the foot of a 15 m high and 20 m wide rock wall facing east.

It is an inactive spring cave, 35 m long, formed in Upper Triassic Dachstein limestone under phreatic conditions. The cave contains yellow aleuritic and brown clay fill. The almost horizontal passages are mostly only crawl‑able; within them dripstones, stalactite flags, stalactite flows and some gypsum can be observed. In the dry chamber dripping occurs only in one or two places. The easily accessible cave can be visited without a permit using basic caving equipment.

In 1974 the cave was first called Lepke Cave in the literature. In the literature the cave also appears under the names Golyvás‑forrási‑barlang (Kordos 1984) and Golyvás‑forrási barlang (Bertalan 1976).

Research History

According to the 1966 report of the Cave Research Group of the University of Construction and Transportation Engineering, a few members of the group, led by Árpád Lorberer, uncovered a small (about 20–25 m) cave by breaking through a rock niche, and intended to continue its exploration in 1967. This cave is located near the Golyvás spring in the Pilis Mountains, about 50 m higher than it. The group’s 1966 report was published in the 1967 Karst and Cave Research Bulletin. In the 1974 book Pilis guidebook, in the section describing the caves of the Pilis Mountains, it is written that on the western side of the tourist trail marked with a green stripe and blue square departing from Pilisszentkereszt, the Klastrom tunnel leading east, on the rocky, steep slope of Pilis Mountain, there is the Lepke Cave with a 42 m long stalactite chamber. The cave was discovered by the VITUKI speleologists. The entrance to the rock overhang above the Lepke Cave is located 30 m higher than the Lepke Cave.

The 1975 MKBT Report mentions that from the Lepke Cave (Pilis group), Attila Mocsáry collected bone remains in the autumn of 1974 from yellow stone‑debris clay about 10 m from the entrance. The deer remains (Capreolus capreolus Linné) are probably from the Upper Pleistocene or early Holocene. In the manuscript titled *Hungary’s Cave Inventory*, completed in 1976, it is stated that the Lepke Cave (Golyvás‑source cave) is located in the Pilis Mountains, in the Pilis region, at Pilisszentkereszt. The cave entrance is 27.5° and 750 m from the summit of Pilis‑teto (757.3 m), on the north side of the Klastrom‑well, in a 20 m high limestone wall at 590 m above sea level. The partly water‑filled, partly cold‑water cave is 42 m long and 1.5 m deep. The entrance to the rock overhang above the Lepke Cave is 270°, 20 m away and 30 m higher. The part of the manuscript describing Lepke Cave was written based on two literary works.

According to the overview written by Dénes Jánossy and published in the 1977 MKBT Report, Attila Mocsáry collected scattered bone remains in 1977 from the Lepke Cave in the Pilis Mountains. According to the summary by László Kordos in the 1977 MKBT Report, Attila Mocsáry (who had previously brought bones found in Lepke Cave for identification) again collected bones in the cave on 9 January 1977. Samples were taken from four points in the cave: 1. from the end of the cave, at a depth of 50 cm, 2. from the middle of the cave, at the branching, 3. from another point at the same location, 4. from near the entrance, from the outer surface. The third sample was free of ancient remains. In the others (combined) the following remains were present: rabbit (Lepus europaeus), fox (Vulpes vulpes), deer (cf. Capreolus capreolus).

The 1978 MKBT Report states that on December 4, 1977, Attila Mocsári collected Holocene bones from the surface of the central chamber of Lepke Cave (Pilis Mountains) at Vaskapunya, which he reported to the Hungarian State Institute of Geology in 1978. The finds: bird (Aves indet.), field rabbit (Lepus europaeus), marten or hare (Martes sp.), mouse? (Apodemus sp?). In the 1984 book titled Caves of Hungary, which lists caves nationwide, the Pilis Mountains caves include the cave Lepke Cave (Golyvás-Source Cave) by name. Associated with the list is a 1:500 000 scale map showing the geographic location of the caves of the Danube‑Foot Hills, indicating the cave’s geographic position. In 1990 Balázs B., Cs. Balogh and József Kárpát (members of the Acheron Cave Research Department) surveyed the cave, and using the survey a floor plan map of Lepke Cave was produced. The map, which marks the east direction, presents the cave at a scale of 1:100.

In the manuscript written by József Kárpát in 1990 it is mentioned that the entrance of Lepke Cave (Pilisszentkereszt) is located 135° from the summit of Vaskapu Hill (651 m), 400 m away, about 40 m lower than the plateau edge, at approximately 590 m above sea level, at the foot of a 15 m high and 20 m wide rock wall facing east. (The description of the cave’s location is inaccurate in the old cave register and is also marked in the wrong place on tourist maps.) Its finding: from the Vaskapu gorge, at the exit of the north‑west‑south‑east‑oriented cleft onto the plateau edge, one must go about 40 m to the east, then on the rocky back side on the east side, descend about 40 m down a steep debris slope. At the left side of the base of the rock pillar the cave entrance is found, which is at the foot of the rock wall facing east. The entrance, 2 m high and 1.6 m wide, was formed along a bedding plane dipping 60° to the east. In front of the entrance a plateau can be seen that resembles a small depot, which probably arose because of (old) collapses.