Róka-hegyi Füstös Cave

The Róka-hegyi Füstös Cave is one of the caves located in the Budai Landscape Protection Area in District III of Budapest, within the Danube–Ipoly National Park.

Description

In the middle, abandoned stone quarry on Róka Hill, in a nature protection area, to the right of the entrance staircase, at the base of a rock wall, the cave has an irregularly shaped, horizontal axis-oriented and relatively large entrance facing east. The entrance is easily noticeable because of the soot visible around it.

A small cave formed in Upper Triassic Dachstein limestone. The groundwater-origin, inactive cave developed under phreatic conditions similar to the other caves in the stone mine. By crawling through the entrance opening one can reach the cave’s only chamber, about 1.5 × 4 × 2 m in size. The chamber is heavily altered from its original state, as thick soot covers the walls and ceiling almost everywhere. Fires are still lit in the cave today, indicated by fresh ash deposits at the bottom of the chamber. The speleothems observable in the cave are very deteriorated. The cave reached this condition because of the easy access to its spacious entrance and the simple entry into the cave. The cave can be viewed without permission and is traversable without basic caving equipment. Only a light source is needed for the passage.

The cave received its name because of its soot‑covered walls. The cave also appears in literature, on the map sheet edited by László Sásdi in 1997 under the name Füstös Cave.

Research History

The cave was revealed as a result of stone quarrying. The Budapest Lexicon, which saw the light of day in 1973, mentions that from the depressions of quarries operating or abandoned on the top and sides of Róka Hill two small (groundwater-origin) pits and several small artificial cavities open. The cave was surveyed on 22 March 1997 by László Sásdi and Rita Babay, after which László Sásdi prepared the cave’s plan map and longitudinal section map based on the survey. Both maps present the cave at a scale of 1:100. The location of the longitudinal section within the cave is shown on the plan map.