Macska Hole

The Macska-hole is an artificial cavity that was formed in andesite tuff. It is located on the edge of Szentendre in the Visegrád Mountains, within the Danube–Ipoly National Park. It is the oldest described cavity of the Visegrád Mountains. The cavity is of archaeological and local-historical significance.

Description

North of the inner area of Szentendre, on the north side of the ridge that runs southwest from the Table Stone rising on the north bank of the Sztelin stream, the cavity of a rock‑overhang type is located at the base of a rock wall 10–15 metres high and 20–30 metres long. The name Macska-hole is shown on tourist maps of the Pilis and the Visegrád Mountains without a cave symbol, but in the wrong place. In reality it is located on the left side of the yellow tourist sign.

It probably originated during stone mining carried out here in the Middle Ages. The enclosing rock is the volcanic rock of the area, i.e. andesite breccia and andesite tuff. Irregular in shape, according to Ivan Skerletz its length extends seven metres into the rock wall, according to Tamás Szenti 7.5 metres. Even at its shortest part it reaches a length of 2.2 metres. Its width is 23.5 metres. On the right side traces of a vertical, partially collapsed ridge are visible. Based on this it can be assumed that the rock chamber may once have been larger.

Such a large rock overhang is not known in the Visegrád Mountains area. At its open side there is a 10‑metre‑long built stone wall, from which three or four collapsed stone piles protrude, which may be remnants of the walls of former chambers. Near the cavity Skerletz Ivan also wrote about another stone wall that is difficult to observe. In the photograph he published, the stone piles running from the outer wall toward the interior of the cavity are clearly visible, which could not be discovered during the field survey of 1997. They probably disappeared as a result of human destruction, but perhaps the foundations of these walls can still be recognized below the current ground level.

From a scientific point of view, the cavity is primarily significant archaeologically and served as a suitable shelter for several people, which in the past was certainly used multiple times. Skerletz Iván also described the necessity of excavations. It could provide interesting local historical additions for a possible archaeological investigation. The excavation could shed light on the likely medieval stone mining remains and on what purpose the cavity still served, as well as what the purpose of the stacked stone walls was and whether they were really used by shepherds as a shelter. The archaeological site identification number is 11560.

The cavity also appears in literature under the names Macskalyuk (Vastagh, Schőnviszky 1956), Nyergeshegyi cavity (Bertalan 1976) and Szentendre Szelim-cave (Bertalan 1976). In the literature of the Sas-kövi-cave located near the Macska-lyuk, it is mentioned that the Sas-kövi-cave’s other names are Macskaluk, Macska-lyuk and Macskalyuk.

Research history

The Macska-lyuk was first mentioned by Bél Mátyás. The description reads that uncommon caves can be found in the mountain. Above Szentendre there is a cave embedded in the rock similar to a stone mine, which many think was cut by the Turks for stone extraction. It now provides shelter for a rack hare when a storm approaches. Bél Mátyás distinguished this one of the Visegrád Mountains’ cavities from the others, identifiable.

Around 1940, in her manuscript Mottl Mária mentioned it as the Szelim cave of Szentendre. This manuscript could not be found, therefore only sketchy knowledge exists about its contents based on the work of Bertalan Károly from 1976. After the Szentendre serial murders in August 1947, investigators pursuing the perpetrator recorded traces, a discarded sleeping place and ammunition caches in the Cat-hole that indicated that the offender, who remained unknown throughout the investigation up to the present day, presumably could have hidden there in the days preceding the murders.

In the February 1956 issue of Természetjárás, Vastagh Gábor wrote that the Saskövi cave described in the article communicated by Schőnviszky László and published in the 1955 issue of Természetjárás is called Macskaluk by the long‑time residents of Szentendre. None of the Szentendre inhabitants know where the Sas‑kő is, but all of them know where the Orlovác is. In his opinion, such characteristic names should not be replaced by names invented by outsiders. Schőnviszky László, in the same issue (the February 1956 issue of Természetjárás), mentions regarding the cavity named Macskalyuk that a local resident drew his attention to another cavity. According to the local resident, that one is Macskalyuk. The Cat‑hole, which is located next to the yellow‑circle marked tourist trail that merges into the yellow‑band marked tourist trail leading from the Old Road to the Table‑stone, was shown to the local resident Schőnviszky László. According to Schőnviszky László, the Cat‑hole is a completely artificial cavity, probably an old cellar.

In the 1971 Archaeological Bulletin, in a study written by István Erdélyi, it is mentioned that not only the beehive chambers of the Holdvilág trench, but also its archaeological remains do not separate from the archaeological remains of the surrounding area. In 1966, Imre Kiss, the head of the Szentendre Tourist Office, drew István Erdélyi's attention to the Macskalyuk remains located near Szentendre. The Macskalyuk remains were examined again on site, but excavation could not be carried out there. The rock material of the site is the volcanic rock of the area, the same as that of Lom Hill. In the K–Ny direction the rock wall was carved, creating on the Ny side a large, currently half‑open chamber. On the right side of this, traces of a vertical, partially collapsed ridge can be seen. Continuing eastward, the locations where quadratically worked stone blocks were removed, the carved square surfaces line up next to each other. There is no trace of a cairn here. Slightly away from the Macska‑lyuk is the Sas‑kövi cave.