Róka-hegyi Bagolytanya

Róka-hegyi Bagolytanya is a cave located in the Budai Landscape Protection Area of the Danube–Ipoly National Park, in District III of Budapest.

Description

In one of the now abandoned stone quarries of the Róka Hill, the southeasternmost mountain of the Pilis range, within a nature reserve, the cave entrance opens about 10 m up the limestone wall of the Danube–Ipoly National Park. The characteristic triangular entrance of Róka-hegyi Bagolytanya is located above the entrance of Róka-hegyi Kristály Cave. To reach the easily walkable and freely viewable interior of Róka-hegyi Bagolytanya, rope‑handling equipment is also required due to the difficult access of the entrance, in addition to basic caving gear.

The cave formed in Triassic limestone under phreatic conditions. About 2 m from the entrance there is a small window through which natural light enters the cave. Passing through the entrance leads to a spacious chamber 2 × 3 m in size, from which a narrow, approximately 3 m high chimney rises upward. The floor of the chamber bears signs of collapse. In the dry, 8 m long part of the cave, stalagmites and some stalactites can be seen.

The cave also appears in literature under the name Bagoly-tanya-barlang (Sásdi 1997).

Research History

The cave was discovered as a result of stone mining. The Budapest encyclopedia published in 1973 mentions that on the summit and slopes of Róka Hill there are two small (water‑filled) pits and several small artificial cavities formed by active or abandoned quarries. The cave name does not appear in the national cave list of the book *Magyarország barlangjai* published in 1984. The cave was surveyed by László Sásdi on 22 March 1997, and on the same day, based on the survey, he prepared the plan map of the cave and two cross‑section maps. The three maps present the cave at a scale of 1:100. The plan map shows the location of the two cross‑sections within the cave.