Odvas-kő Rock Shelter

Odvas-kő Rock Shelter was among the specially protected caves of Hungary. It has been turned into a temporary dwelling. It is located in the Bükki National Park area. It is one of the three currently operating residential caves in our country.

Description

It is located 2 km southeast of the centre of Mályinka, in a forest, on the right (eastern) side of the Csondró valley, about 20 m higher than the Csondró stream. The cavity is at an altitude of 430 m above sea level, on the slope of Odvas-kő, in the middle of the Odvas-kő rock wall. The rock shelter is situated in the rock wall opposite the (wide) Amor spring at the junction of the Csondró valley and the Kemesnye valley. The shelter is 50 m east of the spring. The entrance of the cave is of natural origin but modified (brick‑lined, with a door and two windows), 9.5 m wide, 2.6 m high (highest on the right side), tiered and oriented horizontally along the axis. The surface of the cave is part of the specially protected area of the Bükki National Park (Csondró valley and Látó rocks).

Approach to the cave: the most convenient way is to approach from Mályinka, following the tourist trail marked with blue + signs in the Csondró valley. Before the mouth of the Kemesnye valley (Amor spring), one must ascend the path at the middle of the rock wall to the cave. By car, from Mályinka, one should drive on the road leading to Bánkút up to the ridge of Szentléleki‑Kerek mountain, which forms the D‑section of Kemesnye‑hegy, where (at the mouth of the yellow ∆ tourist sign road leading to Kemesnye‑hegy) the car can be left. From there, one can descend the already mentioned Kemesnye valley to the Csondró valley, to the Amor spring, and then on the described footpath, ascend the more broken part of the rock wall that hides the cave entrance to reach the rock shelter.

The cave is 10 m long, its vertical extent is 3.5 m, its height is 3.5 m (depth 0 m), and its horizontal extent is 14.7 m. The rock shelter formed in lower Triassic limestone (Gerennavári Limestone Formation). The hollowing occurred along the almost horizontal bedding planes of the limestone, but the process of the cave’s formation cannot be determined. Freeze‑thaw rock disintegration, which later shaped it, and (of unknown origin) corrosion created the cavity, but it is not known which of these was dominant. The limestone bedding was probably first widened by corrosion. There are traces of spalling on the cave ceiling. There is no tectonic preformation; the nearest tectonic fracture lies parallel to the entrance, along its line. There are no solution forms in the cavity; the mineral deposits are represented by stalactite (hanging stalactite) and stalagmite (stalagmite poisoning) initiations.

No permit is required to visit the cave. The cavity equipped for accommodation can be used as a shelter by anyone (free of charge, all year round). It provides suitable shelter for 10–12 persons. There is a two‑storey wooden hut and a cast‑iron stove in the cave. The latter’s flue leads to the surface. A small terrace has been created in front of the cave entrance, where there is also an open fire pit. It is one of three currently operating residential caves in our country. The fourth was the Sólyom‑kúti rock shelter, but that cave accommodation has been discontinued. The other two residential caves still providing accommodation (Cserepes‑kői rock shelter, Három‑kúti Remete cave) are also located in the Bükk Mountains. The Odvas‑kői rock shelter was a specially protected cave from 2006, but only for a limited time.

The cave entrance: while walking along the path leading to the cave entrance, the entrance is easily noticeable, thanks to the masonry of the entrance. Passing through the iron door built into the masonry into the cave, one can see the wide, 2.5 m high chamber, into which sunlight also filters through two small windows. To the left side, the ceiling slopes slightly, but one cannot hit one's head. On the left side is the iron stove, and 2 m to its right are the two benches and the table. The upper wooden shelf is located on the right side of the chamber. Climbing onto it and moving forward one can reach the small side niche of the chamber, which lies at the end of the chamber on the right side.

According to the book by Károly Dely published in 1970, the cave gave its name to Odvas-kő. The cave first appeared in the book under the name Odvas-kői-sziklaüreg. In literature the cave occurs under the names Csondró‑völgyi barlangszállás (Neidenbach, Pusztay 2005), Jókai‑barlang (Lénárt 1979), Odvas‑kői 1. sz. sziklaüreg (Kordos 1984), Odvas‑kői‑barlangszállás (Lénárt 1979), Odvas‑kői barlangszállás (Kordos 1984), Odvas‑kői Barlangszállás (Sásdi, Rabitovszky 2003), Odvaskői‑sziklaüreg (Bertalan 1976) and Odvaskői sziklaüreg (Schőnviszky 1937).

Until 1979

The cave was formerly used by shepherds as a shelter. It was first described in the study written by László Schőnviszky and published in 1937. According to the description, the insignificant, small‑sized Odvaskői rock cavity is located at the border of Mályinka, on the DNy side of Odvaskő. In the 1943 issue of Barlangvilág it was published that Ottó Kadić had his research base in the holy‑spiritual shelter house in Ómassa, from which he explored and surveyed the unknown small rock cavities of Mályinka, for example the Odvaskői rock cavity.