Lóczy Cave

Lóczy Cave is one of the caves in Hungary that are specially protected, but it is also under archaeological protection. It is one of Hungary’s tourist caves that has been developed for tourism and can be visited by anyone. Its name preserves the memory of Lajos Lóczy.

Description

It is located in the Balaton Uplands National Park, at the foot of Tamás Hill rising on the northern side of Balatonfüred, in the Kéki Valley. Its current entrance is artificial and originally opened on the side of an old stone quarry; since July 13, 2021 it can be reached from the interior of the visitor centre built in its forecourt. In the 20th century it had two other connections to the outside world, but those exits have since been closed.

It formed at the boundary of middle Triassic limestone and marble due to warm waters rising from below in the Pleistocene. Its lower parts were created exclusively in marble. Its spectacular sloping, thin, directly stacked layers of rock, the spherical chambers dissolved by the mineral waters, and the groups of aragonite crystals hidden in a few places, still found in the Crystal Chamber, are notable. Many aragonite crystal roses once decorated its passages, but they are no longer in place. No dripstones can be observed in it. At its end is the section called the Water Chamber, in which water is sometimes present at the bottom because of fluctuations in the karst water level. The air there once contained a high carbon‑dioxide content. At a designated time anyone can view the 120‑metre long section that can be walked back and forth and is illuminated by electric lighting. A guided tour of the cave lasts 20–30 minutes.

The cave's name preserves the memory of Lajos Lóczy, who died and was buried in Balatonarács and contributed much to organized speleology. On July 7, 1930, the Balaton Association gave the cave the name Lóczy Cave based on the proposal of Ottokár Kadić. In the literature the Lóczy Cave also occurs under the names Balatonfüredi dripstone cave (Hazslinszky 2003), Balatonfüredi dripstone cave (Kordos 1984), Balatonfüredi Lóczy Cave (Neidenbach, Pusztay 2005), Füredi cave (Kadić 1930), Füredi dripstone cave (Eszterhás 1984), Füredi dripstone cave (Kordos 1984), Lóczi cave (Bertalan, Kordos, Országh 1976) and Lóczy Lajos cave (Eszterhás 1984).

Research history

During stone mining, at the end of October 1882, it was discovered, and the cave's first written mention also occurred in that year (in the weekly Veszprém). The discoverers, i.e., the quarry workers, saw many pea stones in its long passages while descending the narrow entrance. Its entrance was then about 80 cm in diameter, and the entrance shaft was about 4 m deep. In the first decade of the 20th century the village leadership sealed the cave because it was dangerous for children who wanted to view the passages. Visitors also collected many mineral formations there, so from the formations found during the exploration almost nothing remained by the 21st century.

He restored the blocked entrance portal, making it passable again, and then in the summer of 1930, from June 22 to July 3, Ottó Kadić scientifically explored the cavity system and discovered new sections. Kadić Ottó's work was necessary because at that time Gusztáv Mangold, and later Gábor Kéry, had applied to the Institute of Geology for the investigation and development of the cave so that it could be safely traversed and viewed by anyone. Kadić Ottó also concluded that the tourist development of the cave was worthwhile and feasible, and he also proposed that its name should be Lóczy Cave. He thought that archaeological and paleontological finds were not to be expected from the cave, because it had been inaccessible until its discovery in 1882. In order to enable tourist utilization, he suggested creating a new entrance, removing the rock debris accumulated in the passages, as well as building a road to the entrance and supplying the cave with electric power. The parts dealing with Lóczy Cave in the 1931 edition of the book *Nature Conservation and Natural Monuments* were reproduced in the 1932 publication.

In the book published in 1932, titled *The Aggtelek Karst Cave and Its Surroundings*, in the section about the caves of the Bakony Mountains, it is mentioned that the Lóczy Cave was discovered at Balatonfüred, at the foot of Tamás Hill. One must descend through a 2 m deep shaft to enter the cave. The cave immediately at the beginning branches into three parts. According to Károly Kaán, through one low opening on the left side one can reach a large hall‑like chamber, which becomes narrow at the lower end and connects to a smaller room. The other branch runs parallel to the large hall. This branch is a gradually lowering corridor, which is linked to the large hall by several openings. The third branch starts at the entrance of the cave. A low passage leads to a chamber whose walls are decorated with kelp‑like stalactite formations. From this chamber a narrow and tight, unknown‑length corridor leads downward to further as yet unexplored sections.

The 1933 issue of *Barlangvilág* mentions that Ottó Kadić observed similar wash‑out erosional cuts in the Örvény Corridor of the Szemlő‑hegy Cave as those found in the Lóczy Cave at Balatonfüred, which he examined in the spring. From 16 September 1934 to 2 November 1934, under the direction of Ottó Kadić, work continued for the cultured visitation of the cave. During this work the entrance passage was widened, the narrow part of the Lejtős Corridor was enlarged by blasting and the debris accumulated in the cave was removed. Finally a third, more convenient entrance was blasted while the two old ones were eliminated, and stairs and leveled walking surfaces were created. In that year Ottó Kadić surveyed the cave and produced a detailed floor‑plan map of the cave and 26 cross‑section maps.