Sasfészek Cave

Sasfészek Cave is among the specially protected caves of Hungary. It is located in the Vértes Mountains in the Danube–Ipoly National Park, in Csákvár.

Description

The cave lies in the outskirts of Csákvár, on the edge of Gánt, in a stone quarry. It is 120° from the tower of the Gánt church, about 700 m away, in the slope wall of the former bauxite quarry of Hosszú-haraszt on the DNy side of Gém Hill, in the middle part of the dolomite slope wall, above the deepest point of the mine pit, at a relative height of 22 m and at about 230 m above sea level, with the entrance visible from a distance. The cave is easiest to approach from the D side of Gánt. From the monument, one must walk more than 0.5 km on the road leading to the reclaimed bauxite mine, then the mine wall can be reached only on foot. The cave entrance opening in the mine wall is easier to approach from above, descending from the rim of the mine pit. Thus, from the safe anchorage to the entrance of the cave, 60 m of rope is needed. Approaching from below by free climbing is not recommended because the rock surface is fragile and crumbles easily.

The cave entrance at the lower part is about 1.8 m wide and 1.5 m high. In its vicinity the calcareous, iron‑oxide‑infused seed‑mirror bark wall is very thinned, therefore it collapsed during the mining works. The surface of the seed wall under the entrance is hard and smooth, while the zone above it is very fragmented, crumbly, denuded. The passages run behind the seed wall at a shallow depth, following the tectonic orientation after the switch‑seed formation. The cavity system undoubtedly reaches the surface at several places, which is supported by detectable air movements in the inner parts and fresh, bauxitic water flow traces. The entrance hall is 3 m wide and 0.8–1.2 m high. Its floor consists of scree, and its walls and ceiling are made of gray, yellowish‑brown dolomite. On the ceiling there is a detached, strong stone ear that can be used to attach a safety rope. To the left a 1.6 m side shaft starts slanting upward, whose top closes vaulted.

To the right one can reach a narrower section where it is possible to straighten up. The passage is 3–4 m high and widens upward, while the passage floor’s scree slopes forward. The rock here is harder, a flint‑like dolomite breccia, whose surface shows dissolved, rounded forms. The rock is dark brown, and in some places white, unique protruding calcite crystals 2–5 cm long and 3–5 mm in diameter stand out, but most of them are only in place. (Here in 1997 the Alba Regia Barlangkutató Group found a small bat (Myotis) skeleton.) The left‑hand wall at the lower part is pierced by a narrow opening that leads downward into a backward‑facing, scree‑filled small passage. From there, continuing on the scree of the passage floor and descending a roughly 0.8–1 m deep step, one can reach a slightly larger section. Above, in the ceiling, a longitudinal fissure can be followed up to about 2 m in height, which also marked the directions of the next cave sections’ passages. Downward to the right, above the scree blocks, along a very low‑hanging ceiling, one can see further through small cavities. There, various small‑mammal (weasel?) droppings attest to the occupation of the place.

By moving forward one can reach the long‑known End‑Point Hall, which is divided in the middle by a huge stone block standing on a scree. The hall’s greatest dimensions: 5.5 m long, 2 m wide and 3 m high. In its ceiling the aforementioned fissure that determines the direction of the passages runs, which continues in an impassably narrow way for another 4 m forward (there may be a widening at its end), and in the main chamber several places are perforated by the overlying, not long ago discovered cave sections. The rock is a gray, fresh‑surfaced, solid dolomite breccia containing rich dissolution traces (forms of the Cserszegtomaj type). In the scree at the right‑hand, deeper part of the hall the signs of continuation are visible, and at the end point, opposite, from the fissure a trace of fresh water flow appears. In a niche under the wall a deposit of about 0.5 m² of septarian red clay (bauxitic mud) can be observed. In the front part of the End‑Point Hall, standing on the large stone block, one can climb up to the new passages that run above.

The excavated, very narrow opening leads steeply down 2.5 m among crumbly, crumbling stone blocks, from which climbing up one can reach the relatively spacious Upper Chamber. At the top, immediately to the left (towards the entrance) one can crawl into a flat area, from which a triangular-sectioned passage, 0.3 m wide at the bottom, extends about 5–6 m. The passage is filled with thick, sand‑like dolomite powder. Above the emergence point one can climb about 2.5 m in a crack‑like, narrow shaft, whose wall is porous, solutionally dissolved, and in some places contains re‑precipitated calcite deposits. Opposite, at the far end of the chamber, another shaft extending 3 m starts leftward, slanting upward, and bifurcates at the top. Below, from the floor of the Upper Chamber a pit 3.5 m deep and 1–1.5 m in diameter descends downward, with debris at its bottom. About 2 m deep from the pit, a narrow channel 4.7 m long connects from the DK, whose both side walls show about 10 cm thick, layered, black and dark‑brown fill.