Tábor-hegyi Cave

Tábor Hill Cave is the second longest cave formed in dolomite in the Buda Hills. Until 2011 it was the longest, until the Királylaki Cave was discovered. It is among the specially protected caves of Hungary. It is a cave of archaeological significance.

Description

It opens in the Danube–Ipoly National Park, in the 3rd district of Budapest, in a forest, on the steep, rocky eastern side of Tábor Hill, at an altitude of 311 metres above sea level. A viewing terrace was created in front of the entrance equipped with a rail, from which Óbuda can be seen well.

It can be most easily approached via the tourist trail marked green Ω, i.e., green cave, which starts at Erdőalja Road. Bus 137 can be taken to this point. One must get off at stop number 43 on Erdőalja Road. From the stop one has to walk back a little and the first sign is visible there. Following the sign leads to the cave. Another option is to turn off from the Hármashatárhegy Road, on which the blue stripe of the National Blue Trail runs, onto the right‑hand side green cross‑marked road named Fekete salak út, coming from the Fenyőgyöngye Restaurant. From the green cross‑marked tourist road the green Ω‑marked path branches off, which also leads to the cave. Tourist maps indicate its entrance.

It formed along a steep tectonic plane in fire‑stone Triassic dolomite. According to Ferenc Schreier, the dolomite was so crushed at the intersection of tectonic faults that the leaking water, by its corrosive action, widened the cracks into rock cavities.

A permit from the Danube–Ipoly National Park Directorate is required for entry. The area around the entrance is neglected and littered, because it lies close to a residential area and is easily accessible.

The cave occurs in the literature under the names Farkastoroki Cave (Kordos 1984), Farkastoroki cave (Páli 1954), Hármashatárhegyi Cave (Kordos 1984), Hármashatárhegyi cave (Bertalan 1976), Óbudai Cave (Kordos 1984), Óbudai cave (Kadić 1924), Táborhegyi Cave (Pápa 1956), Táborhegyi cave (Kadić 1921), Táborhegyi-rock chamber (Láng 1958), Tábor-hegyi-rock cavity (Bertalan, Schőnviszky 1973–1974), Táborhegyi rock cavity (Kadić 1919) and Táborhegyi cavity (Barcza, Thirring 1920). In 1976 the cave was first called Tábor-hegyi Cave in the literature.

Until 1931

The first description of the cave was made in 1913 by Henrik Horusitzky, a short description for the Természettudományi Közlöny at the request of a reader. According to the description the Óbudai cave opens on the side of the mountain next to the lowest cone of Hármashatár Hill, about 80–100 metres above the valley and is about 20–25 metres long. Its entrance is three–four metres wide and two–three metres high. After the entrance there is a dome‑shaped chamber six–eight metres wide and 10–11 metres high, into which light also filters from above. The end of the chamber slopes down into a wet passage narrowing to about one metre. Then the floor becomes level again and, continuing onward, it turns back toward the opening. In August 1919 Ottokár Kadić surveyed the rock cavity with Imré Som and, based on the survey, Ottokár Kadić prepared a plan map, a longitudinal section map and a cross‑section map and drew them. Imre Gábor Bekey showed Ottokár Kadić the location of the cave.

The report published in the 1919 Caving Survey and written by Ottokár Kadić mentions that after the completion of the exploration of the Pál Valley cave, in 1919 the other caves of the Pál Valley and the Budapest countryside, such as the rock cavity of Táborhegy, were studied and surveyed. The survey of the cave was assisted by members of the Caving Section of the Pannonia Tourist Association (Árpád Frölich, János Bagyura, Antal Jilek, Imre Som, Gyula Ruzitcska, József Pürner, Hermán Frei and others). The research in the cave is completed.

The report also reveals that the entrance to the cave is on the steep side of Tábor Hill above the Óbuda cemetery. The rock cavity consists of a small entrance chamber, a medium entrance hall, a passage, and a rear chamber. Directly next to the cave there is a fissure. The cave and the fissure were formed in very fissile dolomite. The cave is unsuitable for mining because it does not contain a sufficient amount of fill. According to the report by Kornél Kornél Pal Scholtz in the 1919 Caving Survey, Lajos Lóczy commissioned Ottokár Kadić to survey the caves of the Buda Hills. In this work the Caving Section of the Pannónia Tourist Association supported Ottokár Kadić. Among the more distant caves, the rock cavity of Táborhegy was also surveyed.

The book published in 1920, titled *Budapest Duna-jobbparti környéke*, mentions that one can climb to the rock formation that contains the Taborhegy cavity via a steep and rocky path. The cave's entrance facing SOUTH leads to a small chamber, whose rear lower part can be reached by squeezing through a low opening into the antechamber. The antechamber is a 5 m long cavity that widens to the left and right, and its ceiling consists partly of collapsed stone blocks. This cavity leads in a north‑northeast direction into a sloping downward passage 10 m long. Towards its end the increasingly narrow and low passage turns right at its rear, then passes through a very low opening into the rear part of the cave, which slopes slightly upward and ends with a chimney leading toward the north‑northeast. Directly next to the Taborhegy cavity there is a parallel, 12 m long narrow fissure that connects to the antechamber. The cave and the adjacent fissure were formed in highly fractured dolomite.