Násznép Cave

The Násznép Cave is among the specially protected caves of Hungary. It is located on Naszály mountain in the Danube–Ipoly National Park. It is the fourth longest cave of the Cserhát Mountains. It is the oldest known cave of the mountain range and therefore the most famous cave of the range.

Description

On the steep northeastern side of Naszály, east of the summit, about 1200 metres away, in a forest next to the abandoned stone quarry called Csurgó-bánya, its entrance is located in a vertical rock wall. It is the mountain’s best‑known cave, most frequently visited by tourists. A tourist path marked with a blue cave sign (Ω) branches off from the blue stripe marking of the National Blue Trail leading to the entrance.

A Triassic Dachstein limestone, old, inactive, senile spring cave that probably once operated with great activity. It consists of three large and several smaller chambers. The first chamber is directly after the spacious entrance, which is 13 metres long and three metres high, and is 15 metres long, 15 metres wide and fairly dry. The floor of the chamber is thickly covered with debris and cave‑origin clay. The floor of the second, large, 8 × 10 metre chamber is covered with a thick guano layer. The ceiling of the third chamber ends in upward‑pointing stalactites that resemble a spherical bust. Spherical‑bust forms are also common elsewhere on the cave walls.

The smaller‑larger side passages close at endpoints filled with red clay and debris. The cave’s final section branches into two. The right‑hand endpoint shows a drip‑stone‑covered former stream bed, where one can shout into, or crawl into, a larger cavity suggested by a hole the size of an eye. The left‑hand, ascending endpoint is formed by rubble that is also drip‑stone‑covered. The draft felt here may have a surface origin. In winter it is a favourite hideout of bats. Currently the part leading to the interior sections is closed. With permission from the Danube–Ipoly National Park Directorate the closed parts can be visited. The cave passage is walkable with basic equipment. From September 1 to April 30, because of bats in winter sleep, visits are not allowed.

It got its name because of old stories. One story says that the wedding party, driven out of nearby Kos by the Tatars, according to another story by the Turks, fled into the cave. The enemy wanted the beautiful bride. Another story tells that the son of a noble landowner fell in love with a serf girl, but the boy’s father opposed the marriage and therefore the boy and the girl fled to the cave, where they also married. These stories may have arisen from the many pottery shards found by locals in the cave.

The names of the Cserhát caves with heightened protection begin with the letter “N”, namely the Naszályi water‑draining cave, the Nézsai water‑draining cave and the Nincskegyelem stalactite cave. The name of the Cserhát’s oldest known and most famous cave, the Násznép cave, also begins with the letter “N”.

The cave occurs in its literature under the names Nászné-lyuka (Pápa 1943), Násznép cave (Polgárdy 1941), Násznép-barlangja (Bekey 1931), Násznép barlangja (Bekey 1931) and Násznép-lyuka. In 1913 it was first called Násznép-cave in the literature, in Ottó Kadić's publication.

Research history

Because of its large entrance it was known already in prehistoric times. Treasure hunters investigated it several times, because they thought that the notorious Ilcsik and Jánosik robbers, who were active in this region in the 18th century, had hidden their loot there. Probably this cave was described in Elek Fényes's book published in 1851. According to the description the cave is on the top of Naszály hill, from which a spring originates. In the 1859 book titled Rege kunyhója the cave is presented under the name Násznép-lyuk, or the cave that became a temple.

In the cave, in 1912 led by István Majer, with the support of Károly Csáky and at the suggestion of Imre Gábor Bekey, excavations were carried out at the end of the 1910s, which were reported by Ottó Kadić. During the trial excavations the first chamber yielded bones of ancient animals as well as stone‑age and bronze‑age pottery fragments. The finds given to the Vác Museum were lost, so the dating cannot be verified. It was published in the 1921 issue of Turisták Lapja that Ottó Kadić reported on the investigation of the cave on the K‑slope of Naszály hill, near the capital, in the 1919 Cave Research.

According to a study by Imre Gábor Bekey published in the 1931 volume of Turisták Lapja, the multi-chambered and guano-filled cave on Naszály hill above Vác was excavated on the suggestion of Imre Gábor Bekey by Dr. Mayer, but the excavation yielded few results. In the book *Nature Conservation and Natural Monuments* that appeared in 1931 it is written that during a trial excavation in the cave opening on the eastern side of Naszály hill, recent mammoth bones and pottery fragments were found in the alluvial humus cover. No finds were present in the underlying diluvial layer. The research of the cave was made possible by the estate of Károly Csáky.

In the 1932 book *The Aggtelek Stalactite Cave and Its Surroundings*, in the section on the caves of the Cserhát Mountains, it is mentioned that at the border of Kosd, on the eastern slope of the western end of Naszály hill, next to the stone quarry called Csurgó mine, the entrance to Násznép Cave is at 510 m above sea level. It consists of a fairly large outer chamber, a large inner chamber and a smaller rear cavity. The excavation carried out in the cave yielded few results. The description was written based on two publications. Lajos Véghely dealt with the cave's bat fauna in 1932. The part of the 1931 edition of *Nature Conservation and Natural Monuments* dealing with Násznép Cave is repeated in the 1932 edition.