Szádvári Cave

The Szádvári Cave is one of the caves located in the Aggtelek National Park. Together with the other caves of the Aggtelek Karst and the Slovak Karst, the cave has been part of the World Heritage since 1995.

Description

Along the paved road from Szögliget to Derenk, 2.95 kilometres from the inner area of Szögliget, after a characteristic serpentine bend that turns back on itself, 500 metres from that, in a gently but completely left‑turning bend to the west, north of the road, to the right, 25–30 metres high, above the occasionally active spring, 43 metres from that, it opens between the rocks.

North of the centre of Szögliget, at Derenk, west‑north‑west of Szádvár, at 288°, 514 metres away, on a mountain slope, in a rock cleft, in a forest, is the 80 centimetre wide, 75 centimetre high, natural and modified, curved, horizontally oriented entrance. It can only be seen from close up. On some tourist maps the cave location is marked with a cave symbol. It is located to the left of the Mouse‑hole, westward, at 266°, 44 metres away.

It formed in middle Triassic Derenk limestone. The inactive spring cave developed along tectonic fractures under the influence of flowing water. Two almost perpendicular fissures constitute it. The first is eight metres long, the second four metres long. The one‑metre‑diameter entrance passage gradually narrows towards the end of the cave.

The typical passage type of the horizontally oriented cave is the fissure passage. Its horizontal extent is 11 metres. It is poor in formations. A dripstone flowstone, dripstone encrustation, dissolution traces and weakly developed pepperstone can be observed in it. The cave, accessible on steep terrain, is open, unsealed, easily walkable and freely visitable.

In 1957 the cave was first called Szádvári Cave in the literature.

Research History

According to Balázs Dénes’s 1957 description, the Szádvári Cave is narrow and barely 8 m long, opening on the side of the mountain located ENE of Szádvár, 300 m in line of sight from the summit of Szádvár, at an altitude of 365 m above sea level. Traces of door hinges can be seen in the wall of the cave’s outer entrance part. The cave was formed along a tectonic fissure but was evidently artificially enlarged. The cave of disputed origin needs to be examined in detail.

The manuscript completed in 1976, written by Károly Bertalan, mentions that the Szádvári Cave is located on the Lower Mountain, Szögliget. The cave entrance is 300 m ENE from the Szádvár peak, at an altitude of 365 m a.s.l. On the wall of the entrance part of the cave a trace of a door hinge can be seen. The almost 8 m long and narrow cave was formed along a tectonic fissure. The part of the manuscript describing the cave was written based on one manuscript. In the national cave list of the book *Caves of Hungary* published in 1984, the cave on the Aggtelek Karst appears under the name Szádvári Cave. Associated with the list is a 1:500 000 scale map showing the geographic location of the caves of the Aggtelek Karst and the Bükk Mountains, indicating the geographic location of the cave.

The MÁFI Cave Exploration Group first visited the cave on 11 February 1985. The group revisited and surveyed the cave again in the summer of 1989. On 30 June 1989 László Sásdi drew the cave floor plan and three cross‑section maps. For the preparation of the maps the cave was surveyed by László Sásdi, Elek Turtegin and Bence Ádám. The maps present the cave at a scale of 1:100.

The 1989 group report states that carvings and engravings can be seen at the cave entrance, from which the group members concluded that the cave was probably once sealed with a iron grate. The cave description was accompanied by the cave site plan, two photographs presenting the cave, the cave map, the minutes of the cave survey, and a brief geological sketch of the section between Szádvári Cave and the Ny-i spring of Szádvár. According to the summary published in 1990 in Karst and Cave, the MÁFI Cave Exploration Group processed Szádvári Cave during its documentation activities carried out in 1989. Since 1995, together with the other caves of the Aggtelek Karst and the Slovak Karst, the cave has been part of the World Heritage.

In 1997 Attila Nyerges edited the cave plan map and three cross‑section maps. The plan map shows the location of the three cross‑sections within the cave. According to the map sheet, the cave is 12.1 m long and +2 m deep. The registration sheet of the cave made in 1997 states that Szádvári Cave opens at approximately 355 m above sea level. The thoroughly surveyed cave is 12.1 m long, 1 m in vertical extent and 1 m deep. Traces of an old door frame set into the wall can be seen at the entrance, therefore it may have once been a hiding place. The thesis prepared by Attila Nyerges in 1997 mentions that Szádvári Cave is located among the caves in cadastral unit 5450 (Alsó‑hegy).

In the book about the karst phenomena of Alsó-hegy published in 2019, it is written that the Szádvári Cave is 12 m long and 2 m deep. The cave identification numbers are: 095 in Slovakia, 5451/17 in Hungary. The book published the cave's maps made in 1997. The cave was surveyed at an unknown time by Nyerges Attila, and then at an unknown time Nyerges Attila drew the cave maps based on the survey. The maps were digitized in 2017 by Luděk Vlk. Two colour photographs were published in the book, showing the cave. The first photograph shows the cave entrance photographed from outside, while the second also shows the cave entrance but the entrance was photographed from inside. A detailed map of Alsó-hegy was attached to the publication. The map was made by Luděk Vlk, Mojmír Záviška, Ctirad Piskač, Jiřina Novotná, Miloš Novotný and Martin Mandel. On the map, where caves and sinkholes are marked with black dots, the geographical location of Szádvári Cave (5451/17, 095) can be seen.