Sárkányfürdő Cave

The Sárkányfürdő Cave is located in the Cserhát Mountains, in the outskirts of Ecseg. The erosional cavity is not a cave because its extension perpendicular to its closed section does not reach 2 metres.

Description

The cavity is in the Bézma–Tepke mountain group in the Western Cserhát, in the valley of the Cserkúti stream (also known as Egres stream) separating Magas Hill (392 m high) and Közép Hill (413 m high), in the cave inventory area 5223. It is on the edge of Ecseg, 3 km ENE of the settlement, in the valley of the Cserkúti stream. It is near the gas line that the cart road crossing the valley uses to reach the opposite side of the stream. From the centre of Ecseg it can be approached via the tourist trail marked with a blue plus sign, heading east. On the tourist trail one must go to Ribártanya (Szigethi mill), then turn left off the tourist trail (to the ENE) onto the cart road leading to the Cserkúti valley. The cart road runs at the foot of the Magas Hill side and, about 2 km from Ribártanya, crosses to the opposite bank of the intermittent stream, to the side of Közép Hill. Directly here, in the rocky stream bed, at about 240 m above sea level, lies the cavity.

In one meander of the rocky bed of the Cserkúti stream, on the side of the stream bed facing Közép-hegy, there is the cavity. It faces the DNy and its entrance is 2.3 m wide and 1.65 m high. The cavity consists of an inward‑sloping niche, whose enclosing stone (forming the side walls and ceiling) is compact (fibrous) augite‑andesite. There is a rubble‑laden, silty sediment at the bottom. The intermittent stream bed directs water into the cavity, and then the swirling water exits from the niche and continues its flow downstream. Currently the stream’s lateral erosion is still enlarging the niche. On the cavity wall the trace of water level is clearly visible (in the form of a calcite encrustation). Indeed, the stream (although it flows between andesite blocks) has a fairly high lime content. The surrounding area has a high lime content because of the patchy limestone covering. These tiny, wrinkled, gray limestone formations have formed only on the part of the wall that is regularly submerged. Above, the uncoated, dark fibrous andesite can be observed.

In 1988 the cavity was first called the Dragon Bath cave in the literature.

Research history

In the 1988 yearbook of the Alba Regia Cave Exploration Group it is written that the Dragon Bath cave had not yet appeared in publications. Guided by Ribár Balázs, a local resident (Ecseg, Ribártanya, also known as Szigethi mill), Eszterhás István and his companions found the cavity, whose name they also heard from Ribár Balázs. Thus, the local inhabitants had known it earlier, but it is not mentioned in any professional or popular (tourist) writings. The cave barely exceeds the minimal cave size, being 2.05 m long. Its width is similar, its height steps down from the entrance to 80 cm. There are Beraeodes minutus nests on the niche wall. The nests are 6–8 mm in size. Based on detailed morphological observation of the site, members of the Alba Regia Cave Exploration Group concluded that the cave was formed by the lateral erosion of the intermittent stream, and more precisely this is the latest (still active today) phase of cave formation. However, it cannot be excluded that the cave further developed from a smaller cavity formed in another way.

The cave, because it lies in the bed of a stream, remains quite damp even when water is not flowing in the bed, and during hydrologically active periods it is filled up to one third to one half with water. A few mosquitoes were seen on the ceiling of the cave, and many empty stalactite formations clung to the limestone wall. In the lower parts, on the floor stones of the cave, the cocoons of *Stenophylax stellatus* were observed by István Észterhás. These cocoons are larger, consisting of 2–3 cm pieces of stone. When there is no water in the cave, the small locally significant niche can be viewed without the use of equipment.

The manuscript contains the plan map of the Sárkányfürdő Cave (Ecseg, Cserkúti Valley, 240 m a.s.l.), the cross‑section map, and the profile map of the cavity entrance. The plan map shows the location of the cross‑section and the entrance profile within the cave. The cross‑section map shows the location of the entrance profile within the cave. The entrance profile map shows the location of the cross‑section within the cave. The maps depict the cavity at a scale of 1:50. On the map sheet (for use with the plan map) the east direction is marked. The map sheet includes a site plan showing the geographical location of the cavities at the Ecseg site. The site plan also shows the geographical location of the Sárkányfürdő Cave.

The maps and the site plan were drawn by István Eszterhás. The cavity was surveyed by István Eszterhás for the preparation of his maps. The survey took place on August 20, 1988. The yearbook contains a black-and-white photograph that shows the Sárkányfürdő Cave. The photograph was taken by Imre Gönczöl. The manuscript includes a black-and-white photograph that shows the Beraeodes minutus nests found in the cavity. Another black-and-white photograph shows the Stenophylax stellatus nests found in the cavity, which were built from stone fragments.

The 1989 yearbook of the Alba Regia Cave Exploration Group contains a site plan that shows the geographic location of the karst caves and artificial cavities of the Cserhát Mountains. (Compiled by: István Eszterhás.) The site plan also illustrates the geographic location of the Sárkányfürdő Cave. The yearbook includes a summary of the caves of the Cserhát Mountains, which states that the Sárkányfürdő Cave (cave inventory area: 5223) is the only cave of Ecseg. The list reads that one of the four caves formed in the mountain's andesite is a cave 2 m long and 1.5 m high.