No 7 Cave of Róka-hegyi quarry

The No 7 cave of the Róka-hegy quarry is one of the caves located in the Budai Landscape Protection Zone of the Danube–Ipoly National Park, in District III of Budapest.

Description

In one of the not‑cultivated (conglomerate) quarries on the north‑eastern side of the Róka‑hegy, one of the southeasternmost hills of the Pilis Mountains, on the nature‑protected area, on the north‑west side of the quarry, about 10 m above the quarry floor, the cave opens with an entrance 1 m wide and 1.2 m high. The cave, which can be approached using rope‑technical equipment, can be viewed without a permit. The cave formed in Eocene conglomerate consists of a single stone chamber. The 2.5 m long cave was created by dissolution below the karst water level, and some pea‑stone on the cave wall also supports it. The floor of the dry stone chamber is filled mainly with gravel and stone rubble.

The cave also occurs in literature under the name Róka‑hegyi Konglomerátumos‑barlang.

Research history

The cave was revealed as a result of stone mining. It is mentioned in the Budapest lexicon, which saw daylight in 1973, that from the depressions of quarries operating or abandoned on the top and sides of Róka‑hegy two small (water‑origin) pits and several small artificial cavities open. The cave’s name does not appear in the national cave list of the book *Magyarország barlangjai* published in 1984. The cave was surveyed at an unknown time by an unknown person, who then drew the cave’s floor‑plan sketch. The sketch, which includes the cave’s important data (entrance 1 m wide and 1.2 m high, cave 2.5 m long, 2.5 m high, 2.5 m vertical extent, 2.5 m horizontal extent), is kept at the KvVM Cave and Geological Department.