Szalay Cave

Szalay Cave is located in the Danube–Ipoly National Park, on the Öreg-kő in the Gerecse Mountains, in Bajót, and is one of the caves from which archaeological finds have been recovered. Bats also occur in it. The freely accessible tourist destination opens at a popular hiking spot.

Description

On the steep and rocky K side of Öreg-kő, divided by rock slabs and near the summit, there is a beautifully arched entrance 3.5 m wide and 1.8 m high. It is situated near Jankovich Cave. Through the entrance one can reach a room formed by merged large dome chambers, which has a floor area of 5 × 8 m and a height of 5.5 m. From the inner end of the room, a short and flat passage leads to another room. This also dome‑chambered, dome‑vaulted room, the Ellipses Hall, is 14 m long, 6 m wide and 1.5–3 m high.

Upper Triassic thick‑bedded limestone formed along the K–Ny and ÉK–DNy fault lines, creating a karst cavity below the water table through thermal karst expansion, according to its form. Small surfaces of the walls are covered by dripstone formations. In places, hair‑like roots hang from the ceiling. The Ellipses Hall is relatively moist; during rainy periods small stalactites can also form there.

The Gerecse Cave Research and Nature Protection Association conducted bat observations in Szalay Cave, during which three bat species—small mouse‑eared bat, common bat and whiskered bat—were recorded by the group members. Based on the observation data and the occasionally found fresh droppings, the cave can be considered a small‑population, permanent winter and occasional summer bat roost.

In 1986 the cave was first called Szalay Cave in its literature. The cave appears in its literature as Baits cave (Bertalan 1976), Bajóti II. stone cave (Láng 1956), Bajóti II. stone cave (Leél-Őssy 1954), Bajóti II. stone cave (Bertalan 1976), Bajóti stone cell (Kordos 1984), Bajóti stone cell (Leél-Őssy 1954), Bajóti Szalay cave (Székely 1994), Bajóti-Szalay cave (Bertalan, Schőnviszky 1976), One cave (Kordos 1984), One cave (Bertalan 1976), Stone quarry cavity (Székely 1994), Stone quarry cavity (Bertalan 1976), Old stone cell (Kadić 1952), Old stone cell (Székely 1994), Old stone cell (Bertalan 1976), Old stone cave (Kordos 1984), Old stone cave (Bertalan 1976), Old stone rock cavity (Kordos 1984), Old stone rock cavity (Székely 1994), Old stone rock cavity (Bertalan 1976), Old stone cavity (Szaley 1994), Old stone cavity (Vigh 1937), Szalai cave (Horváth, H. Kelemen, Torma 1979), Szalai cave (Vértes 1965), Szalay Ákos cave (T. Dobosi 1997), Szalay Ákos cell (Kadić 1952), Szalay Ákos cell (Vigh 1937), Szalay Ákos stone cell (Bertalan, Schőnviszky 1976), Szalay Ákos stone cell (Leél-Őssy 1954), Szalay A. stone cell (Láng 1956), Szalay cave (László 1931) and Szalay stone cell (Jakucs, Kessler 1962).

1908–1968

According to the book published in 1908 that describes Esztergom County, no traces of cave dwellers were found in the county because there are no caves that contain evidence that prehistoric people lived in them. The first settlers arrived in this region with more advanced needs; besides tools made of animal bone and antler, they also used stone tools. Therefore they were not forced to live in caves or dug-out pits, but could build tents and huts. The caves or dug-out pits that are still numerous in forests or remote, hard-to-reach areas and contain traces of human culture could not have been prehistoric dwellings. They were mainly hiding places from the time of the Tatar invasion and Turkish destruction, because the objects found in them cannot be traced back to prehistoric times.

In the 1913 Bar Exploration, in a study written by Imre Gábor Bekey, it is written that on the rocky side K of Öreg-kő, next to the Jankovich cave, there is a chamber-like cave and two pits. A few steps from the Jankovich cave, to the east and at the same height, Imre Gábor Bekey found a narrow opening among the rubble stones. He enlarged the opening by removing part of the stones so that he could crawl through it. After the entrance, a few meters further, the cavity widened into a horizontal, floor-level, 6 m long and human‑height chamber. After the removal of all fallen rubble stones from the steep slope, the entrance will probably become wide enough to allow trial excavation, because it is presumed that traces of prehistoric human presence will be found at this protected location.

From the 1931 Turistaság és Alpinizmus, in a report prepared by Endre László, it is known that the largely explored Jankovich cave is well known among capital city tourist groups, but in addition many caves await exploration on Öreg-kő. Most recently, at the initiative of Miklós Meitner, chief clerk of Bajó, the exploration works of Szalay cave began. Even more valuable finds, prehistoric human remains and especially old tools were discovered in Szalay cave than those that emerged from the Jankovich cave. The finds were sent to the responsible department of the Hungarian National Museum. On behalf of the Hungarian National Museum, István Gaál personally leads the work and every sign indicates that even more valuable material will emerge from the deeper layers of the cave.

It was published in the 1933 Geographical Communications that on the eastern side of the Öreg-kő rock in Bajó, a very nicely developed cave system exists. The cave is large, here about five different cave entrances can be seen, which are located close to each other. These certainly belong to a single connected cave system, but it has not yet been properly explored. The 1935 Forestry Papers mention that István Gaál, in the third Bajó cave (Szalay Cave), regarding the newer excavations carried out by Jenő Hillebrand, determined that the ancient artifacts found there are not as many and not as significant as the excavation results of Jankovich Cave and Baits Cave. Nevertheless the cave is interesting because the bones of ancient world mammals were found in it, which were not present in the other two.