Létrás Cave

Létrás Water Cave is one of Hungary's specially protected caves. It is located in Bükki National Park, Miskolc. It is the fourth longest cave in the Bükk region after the István-lápai Cave, the Bolhási–Jávorkúti cave system and the Hajnóczy Cave.

Description

In the Bükk region, more precisely in the K part of the Bükk plateau, the cave located on Létrás Peak has two entrances. One entrance opens at 558 meters above sea level, the other at 575 meters above sea level. It drains one of the intermittent water streams of Létrás Peak. Its length is 3757 meters, its vertical extent is 74.4 meters and its depth is 59.2 meters. Among the chambers, the Twist Chamber is significant. At a depth of 68 meters there is a lake of 30 m³, fed by an intermittent water stream. The outflow of the lake water is blocked by a siphon.

The passages generally strike north, northeast and south‑southwest, and the walls consist of Triassic limestone. The passages formed during the Pleistocene and Holocene epochs. The cave contains many speleothems. Its average temperature is around 8–10 °C. A part of the cave is open to tourists, and the Bükki National Park Directorate organizes cave tours for its visitation. Visits to sections of the cave not opened to tourism may be made with permission from the Bükki National Park Directorate.

In its literature the cave occurs under the names Létrás Cave (Kordos 1977), Létrási Vizes (Kordos 1984), Létrási Vizes-barlang (Kordos 1984), Létrási-Vizes-barlang (Kordos 1978), Létrási-Vizesbarlang (Lénárt 1979), Létrási vizesbarlang (Szenthe, Czakó 1976), Létrási-vizes Cave (Takácsné, Eszterhás, Juhász, Kraus 1989), Létrási-víznyelőbarlang (Dely 1970), Létrásmezői 1. víznyelőbarlang, Létrás-tetői-víznyelőbarlang (Kordos 1984), Létrás-tető Sinkhole-cave (Kordos 1977), Vizes (Lénárt 2003) and Vizes-barlang (Lénárt 2003).

Research History

The cave’s first explorers were amateur speleologists. Before the 1950s László Gera and his companions traversed a 150‑meter long part of the cave. The terminal lake was first reached in 1963. They discovered the cave’s branches one after another. According to the Bükk guidebook published in 1970, it is about two kilometres long and 85 metres deep. In 1975 the Marcel Loubens Cave Research Working Group prepared a cave map showing the horizontal projection, which was supplemented that year with geological data by László Lénárt. The cave map used the 1963 and 1964 surveys of the MHT Zsombolykutató Department and was additionally drawn. Based on the cave map, a shaded map was produced.

In 1976 the cave plan map was compiled based on surveys from 1963–1975. In 1976 the Létrás water‑sink cave in Miskolc, located in the 5300 (Bükk) cave‑catastrophe area, became a nationally significant cave. From the publication The longest and deepest caves of Hungary (December 31, 1975) that appeared in the 1977 issue of Karst and Cave (English language special issue) it is known that the Létrás Cave (Létrás‑tétő Sinkhole‑cave), a water‑sink cave in the Bükk Mountains, 2000 m long and 85 m deep, was the 7th longest and 22nd deepest cave in Hungary on December 31 1975. The 8th longest cave (Solymári‑ördöglyuk) is also 2000 m long. According to the state on December 31 1977 (MKBT Invitation May 1978) the Létrási‑Vizes‑cave in the Bükk Mountains, 85 m deep and about 2220 m long, is the 26th deepest and 6th longest cave in the country.

After the clarification of cave names in the list of nationally significant caves compiled in 1976, the cave named Létrási‑vizesbarlang located in the Bükk Mountains, Miskolc, appears on the list of nationally significant caves compiled on May 30 1977. Based on the compilation published in the 1977 issue of Karst and Cave, on December 31 1977 Hungary’s 7th longest cave is the Létrási‑vizesbarlang situated in the Bükk Mountains, about 2220 m long on December 31 1977, and about 2000 m long in 1976 and 1975. According to the compilation, on December 31 1977 Hungary’s 28th deepest cave is the Létrási‑vizesbarlang situated in the Bükk Mountains, 85 m deep on December 31 1977, and also in 1976 and 1975. This compilation is more up‑to‑date than the list published in the MKBT Invitation of May 1978.

In the March 1978 MKBT Invitation the specialist group reported the size of the cave based on a map in its possession. According to the announcement, in 1975 it was 2220 m long and 85 m deep. The book published in 1979 titled *Caves in the Bükk* mentions that the artificial entrance of the Létrási‑Vizescave is 50 m from a small house, above the stream. The natural water‑draining entrance lies behind the ridge in the DNy direction, 60 m away. One of the scientifically best‑studied caves of the Bükk Mountains is about 2200 m long and 85 m deep. The cave passes under the highway, and its endpoint is located beneath the Szárdóka phosphorite quarry.

Currently the two clearly distinguishable passage levels are connected by chambers (turrets) with debris‑filled or steep walls. The largest part of the cave is easily traversable with a guide and caving equipment. It is worth seeing because of its water‑washed and water‑dissolved formations and the still existing beautiful dripstones. Genetically erosional, corrosional, regularisation, and tectonic‑type sections can be distinguished. The permanent water flows create in some places the erosional cavity drawn in Figure 1, in which debris material has been rounded by water movement.

The publication includes a map depicting the horizontal projection made in 1975 and six photographs of the cave. The first photograph shows the cave entrance in winter. The second shows the ice dripstones in the entrance area. The third shows the water‑dissolved laminated limestone in the Zebra corridor. The fourth shows the dripstone group located in the Vértes branch. The fifth records the cave’s largest dripstone and its companions. The sixth shows curved dripstones. On the map attached to the book, which presents the area of the Bükk Mountains richest in caves, the geographical location of the cave marked with number 44 can be seen.