Nagyszénási Cave

Nagyszénási Cave is one of the two caves located in Nagy-Szénás in the Budai Landscape Protection Area of the Danube–Ipoly National Park. It is also described in tourist guidebooks.

Description

In the outskirts of Nagykovácsi, 500 metres north of the Nagy-Szénás summit, east of the Hosszú-ároki road, 150 steps into the forest, on the eastern side of a dolomitic rock about 1.5 metres high covered with moss, is the low, horizontal entrance oriented along the axis. It is located to the left, above the path, on the steep hillside, descending from the memorial wall of the Nagy-szénási tourist house toward Pilisszentiván on the red stripe sign, before the tourist trail marked with a red cross joins. The cave is not visible from the road, nor is the rock: a small hill hides it. Some tourist maps indicate its location with a cave symbol but without a name. In the past it could be reached via a marked tourist trail, but currently no path leads to the entrance.

A five‑metre long, 2.5‑metre wide and two‑metre high cave, which has a small opening to the surface next to the entrance. Permission is required for viewing. The cave can be walked through easily without basic caving equipment and a lamp.

In 1966 the cave was first called Nagyszénási Cave in the literature. The cave also appears in the literature under the names Nagyszénási barlang (Thuróczy 1964), Nagy‑Szénási‑barlang (Pápa 1966), Nagy‑szénási barlang (Pápa 1966), Nagy‑Szénási barlang (Pápa 1966), Nagyszénási odu (Bertalan 1976), Nagy‑Szénási‑odú (Kordos 1984) and Zsidóbarlang (Bertalan 1976).

Research History

The book published in 1964, titled *Az országos kék‑túra útvonala mentén*, mentions that Nagyszénási Cave is in dense forest. According to the 1966 guidebook *Budai‑hegy​sz útikalauz*, there are two small caves on the side of Nagy‑Szénás: Nagy‑szénási Cave and Nagy‑szénási rock chamber. Nagyszénási Cave, Nagy‑Szénási Cave, Nagyszénási‑cave is located from the tourist house descending on the red sign, above the path to the left on the steep hillside.

In the manuscript completed in 1976, written by Bertalan Károly, the cave is described, but as two separate caves, named Nagyszénási Cave and Nagyszénási Odu. The Nagyszénási Cave, also called the Jewish Cave, is in Nagykovácsin, at Nagy-Széna, from the summit to ENY, 500 m from the low, only crouch‑walkable entrance. The cave standing dead along the litoclines is 5 m long, 2.5 m wide, 2 m high and 1 m deep. The cave has a dome. The part of the manuscript concerning the cave was written based on three literary works, of which two no longer exist. The Nagyszénási Odu is in Pilisszentiván, at Nagy‑Széna, 500 m from the Nagy‑Széna summit to E, 150 steps from the long‑ároki road at K, on the D side of a dolomite rock, where its triangular entrance is located. A gradually narrowing, 2 m long cave and a point of orientation and contact for tourist competitions. The part of the manuscript concerning the cave was written based on a manuscript, but the mentioned manuscript no longer exists.

The 1982 publication titled Budai-hegység útikalauz mentions that a road leads to the two small caves opening on the side of Nagy-Szénás, the Nagy-Szénási-barlang and the Nagy-Szénási-sziklaüreg, and the location of the Nagy-Szénás caves is marked on a map. The small Nagy-Szénási-barlang can be reached from the tourist house with an approximately 800 m long detour. From the road marked with a red stripe that passes through the beautiful pine forest, a road marked with a red cave sign leads to the small Nagy-Szénási-barlang. At the end of the road, very far down the hill, the cave entrance is on the right. In the 1984 book Magyarország barlangjai, the cave is listed among the caves of the Budai Mountains in the national cave list, but as two separate caves. One cave is named Nagy-Szénási-odú. The other cave is named Nagy-Szénási-barlang and Zsidóbarlang as its name variant. Related to the list, a 1:500 000 scale map showing the geographic location of the caves of the Dunazug Mountains displays the geographic locations of the two caves.