Margitligeti Rock Shelter

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

Description

In the outskirts of Pomáz, near Csobánka, at Oszoly, above Margitliget, the cave is situated at the base of a smaller rock group located toward Pomáz. From the path in front of the entrance of the Margitliget cavity, descending slightly downhill on the hillside toward Pomáz, after about 100 m one can reach the rock cleft whose K side contains the cave entrance. The 2 m long and 1.5 m high stone shelter was formed by a layer‑parallel detachment in Upper Triassic Dachstein limestone. From the relatively spacious entrance of the almost completely untouched cave, the entire cave is clearly visible. It can be viewed without permission or equipment.

Research history

The book *Pilis útikalauz* published in 1967 mentions that on the southern side of Oszoly, facing Csobánka, among the forest‑surrounded limestone rocks, there are several insignificant cavities. The book *Pilis útikalauz* published in 1974, in the list of caves of the Pilis Mountains and the Visegrád Mountains (pages 19–20), notes that among the caves of the Pilis and Visegrád Mountains are the caves of Oszoly. 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, located in the Oszoly rock walls regularly visited by tourists, especially rock climbers, and near them, provide excellent bivouac possibilities.

The guidebook published in 1991 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 guidebook issued in 1991, which generally describes the Oszoly caves. On May 23, 1997 József Regős surveyed the cave and, based on the survey, on May 24, 1997 Sándor Kraus drew a floor plan map with a cross‑section.

On May 31, 1997 Sándor Kraus drew a site plan showing the geographical location of the Margit‑ligeti‑sirt caves. The site plan is based on an entry from May 29, 1997. The site plan shows the geographical location of the cave marked with the name Kőfülke. In Sándor Kraus’s 1997 report it is readable that the previously unknown Margitligeti‑kőfülke had its map 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.