Ördöglépcső Cave

The Ördöglépcső rock cavity is a cave located in the Pilis Mountains within the Danube–Ipoly National Park, in Budakalász, which is also presented in tourist guidebooks.

Description

On the east side of Nagy-Kevély, from the summit to the east‑northeast, in the rocky section called Ördög‑lépcső, the cave is situated in a rock crevice near the tourist trail marked with a red square. Coming from the Golden‑hole, following the tourist signs, it is located above the marked path, to the left. On the marked tourist trail one must walk about 500 m, where there is a steep slope, from the top of which the cave entrance’s rock crevice can be seen. Its entrance is oriented horizontally and faces north. It opens about 100 m east of the Chapel cave and lower down.

It formed in thick‑bedded, white, upper Triassic Dachstein limestone. Large stone blocks are located in front of the entrance of the collapsing, water‑filled cave passage. After the entrance there is a small‑sized chamber and one can comfortably straighten up inside the chamber. The cave contains few formations and humus‑filled debris as fill. The unsealed cave ends in a narrowing fissure. A light source and a permit are required for viewing.

In 1981 the cave was first called Ördöglépcső rock cavity in the literature. In the literature it also appears as Ördöglépcső cave (Kárpát 1989), Ördöglépcső’s cave (Dely, Mezei 1974) and Ördöglépcső rock cavity (Kordos 1970).

Research history

In 1968 László Kordos discovered it after oral information from László Schőnviszky. In that year the Szabó József Geological Technical School Cave Research Group widened the entrance and excavated the fill. In 1969 László Kordos and Erzsébet Wehovszky surveyed the cave using fixed points, a plumb line, a compass, and a protractor, and based on the survey László Kordos edited and drew the cave’s plan map as well as its longitudinal section map, which depict the cave at a scale of 1:100. According to the survey, the Ördöglépcső rock cavity is 4 m long and 3.5 m deep.

On 11 April 1970 and 10 May 1970 two members of the Speleology Club Exploration Group, László Nagy and Jenő Forgács, performed climatological measurements with an Assmann aspiration psychrometer. The group's 1970 report is described in detail and, according to the description, its filling contains recent bones, the rock debris in front of the entrance moves and is prone to collapse. In the book *Pilis Guidebook* published in 1974, in the list of caves of the Pilis Mountains and the Visegrád Mountains (pages 19–20), it is mentioned that the Ördöglépcső cave is located between the caves of the Pilis Mountains and the Visegrád Mountains. According to the section describing the caves of the Pilis Mountains, the Ördöglépcső cave is situated on a rocky hillside east‑northeast of the Nagy‑Kevély peak, near the tourist trail marked with a red square and called Ördög‑lépcső. The small, 4 m long, collapsing cave was formed in thick‑bedded Dachstein limestone.

In the manuscript *Cave Register of Hungary*, completed in 1976 and compiled by Károly Bertalan, it is written that the Ördöglépcső rock cavity is located in the Pilis Mountains, in the Kevély group, at Budakalász. Its entrance is on the rocky side named Ördöglépcső, east‑northeast of the Nagy‑Kevély peak, along the tourist trail marked with a red square. It is a collapsing cave passage 4 m long and 3.5 m deep, formed by solutional processes. Large stone blocks are present before the narrow entrance, and it consists of a small chamber and a fissure. The part of the manuscript concerning the cave was written based on two literary works.

In the 1981 issue 1–2 of Karst and Cave the cave was made public that the Ördöglépcső rock cavity has the cave registry number 4820/9. In the book *Magyarország barlangjai* published in 1984 it appears in the national cave list among the caves of the Pilis Mountains under the name Ördöglépcső rock cavity. Associated with the list is the 1:500 000 scale map showing the geographic location of the caves of the Danube Hills, indicating the cave’s geographic position. In October 1989 József Kárpát edited and drew the cave plan map and longitudinal section map, which depict the cave at a scale of 1:100. In József Kárpát’s 1990 manuscript it is mentioned that the entrance to the Kápolna cave is located 150 m east‑north from the Ördöglépcső cave.

The 1991 manuscript written by József Kárpát mentions that the Ördöglépcső rock cavity (Budakalász) is 4 m long and 0 m deep. The book *A Pilis és a Visegrádi‑hegy* published in 1991 briefly describes it, the description being almost identical to that in the guidebook published in 1974. According to the description published in the 2020 *Zsákfalvi Riporter*, where the tourist trail marked with a red square passes through a gentle section of the Ördöglépcső, a smaller shelter opens a few metres above the path on the hillside, which is essentially a one‑person rain shelter. The cave is only four metres long but has a very interesting structure. Although one can only crawl in, inside it is high enough that an adult can comfortably stand up, perhaps even spacious enough for a cuddling couple to get through it on a summer night.