Sós-hegyi Niche

The Sós-hegyi-kőfülke is a cave formed in dolomite or in decalcified, chalky limestone. It is located in the Danube–Ipoly National Park. It also appears in tourist guidebooks.

Description

On the eastern side of Nádor Hill, which belongs to the Nagy-Szénás mountain group, in the outskirts of Piliscsaba, from the inner part of Piliscsaba to the east, from the inner part of Nagykovácsi to the north‑east, in a specially protected area, in a forest, the cave is at the foot of a small rock wall, 3 m wide, 1.3 m high, with a horizontal entrance facing east‑north‑east. It opens directly above an abandoned small stone quarry, which is located in the steep limestone stairway K‑section at an altitude of about 400 m above sea level.

The Sós-hegyi-kőfülke developed in dolomite or in decalcified, chalky limestone. It is probably of freeze‑thaw origin, or it may have been created artificially, but the tool marks on the cave wall are no longer visible because decalcified surfaces later became dominant. The cave, consisting of a single cavity, gradually narrows inward, while its width changes little. The floor of the cave is almost horizontal, composed of a loose sand fill containing a few limestone fragments, which appears thick. The cavity can be traversed without permission and without basic cave‑passage equipment.

In 1984 the cave was mentioned for the first time in the scientific literature under the name Sós-hegyi-kőfülke. In the literature the cave also occurs as Nádor-hegyi-barlang (Kraus 2005), Nádor-üreg (Eszterhás 2007), Nagyszénási kőfülke (Bertalan 1976), Sóshegyi kőfülke (Thuróczy 1964), Sós-hegyi kőfülke (Pápa 1966) and Sós-Hegyi-kőfülke (Pápa, Dénes 1982). The name Nagyszénási kőfülke is misleading because the Nagyszénási rock cavity also has a similar name variant.

Research history

The stone cell is mentioned in the book published in 1964 titled “Along the National Blue Trail”. According to the guidebook “Budai‑hegyes Trail Guide” that appeared in 1966, while walking along the side of the 445 m high Sós‑hegy, after 9 minutes beautiful rocks can be found, which are above the trail on the right. The small Sós‑hegyi stone cell opening among the rocks can be reached from the trail in one minute.

In the manuscript titled *Hungary's Caves*, completed in 1976, it is written about the cave called Sóshegyi kőfülke that its other name is Nagyszénási kőfülke and it is located in Piliscsaba, on Sós Hill. Sós Hill is at 445.1 HP, 100 m away, DK, above the Piliscsaba valley quarry, above the tourist trail, and the cave entrance is 12.6 m higher than the tourist trail. The cave is a dead stone niche 5 m long and about 3 m deep. The part of the manuscript concerning the cave was written based on two literary works.

The publication *Budai Mountains Guidebook*, published in 1982, mentions that while walking along the side of Sós Hill, after ten minutes beautiful rocks can be found, which are on the right above the road. The small Sós-Hegyi-kőfülke opening among the rocks can be reached from the road in one minute. In the national cave list in the book *Caves of Hungary*, published in 1984, the cave in the Budai Mountains appears under the name Sós-hegyi-kőfülke with the variant name Nagyszénási kőfülke. Associated with the list is a map at a scale of 1:500 000 showing the geographic location of the caves of the Dunazug Mountains, indicating the geographic location of the cave.

Katalin Takácsné Bolner drew the floor plan map, longitudinal section map and cross‑section map of Sós-hegyi-kőfülke on 23 May 1991. Sándor Kraus discovered in May 2004 the cave he called Nádor-hegyi-barlang. From the intersection of the blue stripe and blue cross markings toward Piliscsaba, ENy, about 1.5 km away, a small side valley runs down on the left. There is a rock column about 8 m high on the right side of the road. Next to the K side of the rock, moving upward, there is a rockfall, at the bottom of which is a cave entrance.

Sándor Kraus prepared the photograph of the cave entrance, as well as the draft map of the cave floor plan and the draft map of the longitudinal section. He marked its location on a map. The cave, which formed a comfortable bivouac-sized shelter in the dolomite, about 3 m long and about 3 m wide, is probably of freeze‑thaw origin, because no significant tectonic line is visible. Weather may have shaped the cave’s spherical forms.

Attila Mocsári discovered, in the spring of 2007, the cavity he considered previously unmentioned. He believes the Nádor cavity is probably of artificial origin, created by the old stone‑quarry workers, but the cavity is completely cave‑like. It is suitable as an occasional bivouac for four–five people. Attila Mocsári prepared a site drawing in 2007, on which the geographical location of the cave can be observed. At the same time he took photographs that show the cave and its surroundings. The cave was surveyed by Attila Mocsári on 9 May 2007, and using the survey data he produced the cave floor‑plan map and the longitudinal‑section map. According to the survey data, the cave is 4.2 m long, 3.2 m wide and 0.8 m high in the middle.