Margitliget szirttetői Cave

The Margitliget Szirttetői Cave is a cave located in the Pilis Mountains within the Danube–Ipoly National Park, situated in Oszoly.

Description

The cave, which has two entrances and is located on the edge of the Csobánka, has its upper entrance at the highest point of the last large rock slab on the east side of the Oszoly rock wall. Approximately 3 m below the upper entrance is the lower entrance, which can also be reached by easy climbing from the summit. Because of the two impressive-sized entrances, no lamp is needed to view the cave. The dry, speleothem‑free cave is 7 m long and extends 4.5 m vertically. Rope safety must be used for the transition tour between the two entrances, but the cave is worth visiting even without entering, because the view from the spectacular entrance and from the top of the rock cliff is extraordinary.

It also occurs in the literature under the name Margit‑ligeti‑Szirttetői‑barlang (Kraus 1997).

Research History

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

The 1974 edition of *Pilis útikalauz*, in the list of caves of the Pilis Mountains and the Visegrád Mountains (pages 19–20), notes that there are the Oszoly caves among the caves of the Pilis and Visegrád Mountains. According to the section describing the caves of the Pilis Mountains, there are a dozen small caves among the Oszoly rocks rising above the 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 presents the Oszoly caves. The 1996 cave day tour guide repeats the description found in the 1991 guidebook, which generally presents 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 at a scale of 1:50 with a longitudinal section.

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 on May 29, 1997. The site plan shows the geographical location of the cave marked with the name Szirttetői. In Sándor Kraus’s 1997 report it is stated that a map of the previously unknown cave was made in 1997. The 1997 site plan was included in the report. The book titled Magyar hegyisport és turista enciklopédia, published in 2005, mentions that in the Oszoly forest rock blocks and small cave openings alternate sporadically.