Tatár holes

The Tatár holes are the nine artificial cavities hidden on the side of Soós Hill in Balatonkenese. The protected cavities belong to the Balatonkenese Tatárjanos Nature Conservation Area. Archaeological finds have been recovered from them.

Description

In the steep loess wall there are a total of nine cavities. While the lower Tatár holes require almost no climbing, the upper ones can only be approached with a rope. The lowest cavity (which requires almost no climbing) bears the number three. These cavities once served as homes for the poor. Cavities number 1, 2, and 7 can only be approached using rope‑technical equipment. The Tatár holes archaeological site identification number is 7474.

In 1976 the cavities were first called Tatár holes in the literature. In the literature the cavity group occurs under the names Kenesei underground holes (Bertalan, Schőnviszky 1976), Tatárlikak (Jankó 1902), tatár lyukak (Lóczy 1905), Török‑likak (Bertalan, Schőnviszky 1976) and Töröklikak (Dömötör 1943).

Until 1902

In the Scientific Collection of 1834, in a report written by János Oláh, it is mentioned that it is worth seeing the hiding holes directly below Kenese, on the shore of Lake Balaton, where the inhabitants of Kenese once hid during the Turkish devastation. Where these dwellings are cut into the ground, the shoreline is about 7–8 fathoms high when measured vertically. Most of the shore has collapsed, therefore only the inner, smoky walls of some holes are visible. However, on the low part of the shore side a hiding place has remained almost completely intact, which is easy to climb up from the collapsed shore ground. Fishermen keep their nets and other equipment there. From here one can see the fishing very well.

According to the book written by Bálint Horváth, published in 1848, the submerged holes at the bottom of Kenese, located on the water’s edge, are worth seeing, in which the inhabitants of Kenese once hid. In those sad times they fled here when the Turks roamed this area. Where these farms are, the shore is about 7–8 fathoms high vertically. Most of the shore has collapsed, therefore only the inner, smoky walls of some holes have remained. In Elek Fényes’s geographical dictionary of 1851 it is written that at Kenese, on the lakeside, one can see several cut-out, smoky cavities, which were formerly the residents’ shelters, and now fishermen keep their equipment in them.

The study written by János Jankó, published in 1902, states that from an ethnographic point of view the Simon-lik on Balatonaliga (the dwelling of István Simon living in the Simon-lik) is in itself not a type at all, at most an interesting curiosity, but it becomes a type because such cave dwellings existed and exist around Lake Balaton where the fine sandy clay suitable for digging such cavities occurs. The most notable occurrence of troglodyte dwellings (the dwellings of people living in caves) on the Lake Balaton area was at Kenese. These, however, are not as famous as the Simon-lik, but their folkloric significance is much greater because there are many of them.

Walking down from Kenesér to the shore of Lake Balaton, following the path that runs along the lakeside under the vineyards to the bathing area, one can immediately notice that on the side of the shore, whose highest point here is at an elevation of 175 m above sea level and which is 71 m higher than the lake level, a row of caves lies. This part of the shore is called the Magos shores (Partfő), and the caves are called Tatárlik. The steep wall that provides space for the cavities (from its upper edge to the debris pit at its base) is about 40 m high. In this wall the caves are situated at different altitude levels.

In total there are nine caves, which lie on five different altitude levels. (In the photograph made by Lajos Lóczy in 1891, ten caves can be seen at Partfő. When János Jankó explored the caves in 1894, there were already only nine, the tenth having been completely buried by a new collapse. From 1894 to 1901 the number of caves did not change, as the photograph taken in 1901 – figure 3 in the study – shows.) Among the cavities, the uppermost cavity (cave 1) is the westernmost (this cave is visible on the left side of figure 3), which is about 20 m lower than the edge of the shore wall. The second cavity (cave 2) is on a lower altitude level. On this level (moving from the left side of the attached picture, i.e., from Ny to the right, i.e., to K) are caves 2, 5 and 7. The third level contains caves 3 and 6. The fourth, that is, the penultimate level holds caves 4 and 9, and on the fifth level, which has now already fallen below the upper edge of the debris pit, there is a single cave (cave 8).

Two of the caves (numbers 4 and 8) open at the upper edge of the debris pit, therefore they can be entered easily without any aid. With a ladder and some dexterity the caves numbered 3, 5, from there 6, and finally 9 can be reached from below. The people know these six cavities well because they have been explored several times, but nothing was found in them. According to tradition, during the Turkish raids the people fled into these. However this is not true, because these caves could not provide protection. Individually the cavities are only just large enough for a single family to fit inside. The other three (caves 1, 2 and 7) were however untouched, and since human memory no one has entered them because it was life‑threatening to approach them. Tradition says even bolder things about these three: they are actually the Tatár holes. The people hid their treasures in these when the Tatars ravaged the country. Because of this belief Jankó János thought that these three caves had to be explored.