Margitliget köteles Niche

The Margitliget köteles booth is a cave located in the Pilis Mountains within the Danube–Ipoly National Park, at Oszoly.

Description

The cave entrance is on a grassy ledge situated at mid‑height of the cliff wall in the middle of the rock face opposite the Margit‑liget, at the edge of Csobánka. It can be approached by difficult rock climbing from below or by descending on a rope from above. The 3 m long and 2.5 m high cave was formed in Upper Triassic Dachstein limestone by freeze‑thaw fragmentation and corrosion. It practically has no formations. The filling consists mainly of stone rubble and humus, from which small mammal bones have been recovered. In bad weather it can serve as an ideal shelter.

It also occurs in the literature as Margit‑ligeti‑Köteles‑booth (Kraus 1997).

Research history

The 1967 book *Pilis útikalauz* mentions that on the southern side facing Csobánka, among the forest‑surrounded limestone rocks of Oszoly, there are several insignificant cavities.

The 1974 edition of *Pilis útikalauz*, in the list of caves of the Pilis and Visegrád Mountains (pages 19–20), notes that among the caves of the Pilis and Visegrád Mountains are the Oszoly caves. According to the section describing the caves of the Pilis Mountains, there are about a dozen small caves among the Oszoly rocks rising above Csobánka. These were mapped and regularly explored by the Speleology Cave Research Group. Most of these small caves are not very spectacular, but they should be mentioned because some of them provide excellent bivouac possibilities in the Oszoly rock walls regularly visited by tourists, especially rock climbers, and in their vicinity.

The 1991 guidebook repeats the description from the 1974 guidebook, which generally describes the Oszoly caves. The 1996 cave day tour guide repeats the description found in the 1991 guidebook, which generally describes the Oszoly caves. On May 28, 1997 József Regős surveyed and, based on the survey, on May 31, 1997 Sándor Kraus drew a floor plan map with longitudinal and cross sections.

On May 31, 1997 Sándor Kraus drew a site plan showing the geographical location of the Margitliget-szirt caves. The site plan is based on an entry dated May 29, 1997. The site plan shows the geographical location of the cave marked with the name Köteles. Kraus’s 1997 report states that a cave unknown before 1997 had its map made in 1997. The 1997 site plan was included in the report. The book Hungarian Mountain Sports and Tourist Encyclopedia, published in 2005, mentions that in the Oszoly forest rock blocks and small cave openings alternate sporadically.