Viktória Cave

Viktória Cave is one of the caves in Hungary that are highly protected. It is located in the Miskolci-Bükkalja area of Bükki National Park. Archaeological finds have been recovered from it.

Description

Approximately 250 metres from the edge of the now‑inactive stone quarry of Vár Hill, the entrance, which is closed and narrow and equipped with well rings, opens. The passage system also has at least four periodically active sink points outside the entrance. It developed in middle and upper Triassic limestone. It is a periodically active water‑draining cave that only takes in water during snow melt and heavy rain.

At the end of the main branch a water siphon blocks the onward path. Because of fissure‑like passages, which are locally 10–15 metres high and generally 60 centimetres wide, the cave is narrow. The small morphological forms are wave shells, drips, solutional sinter curtains, pot‑shaped solutional forms and ceiling half‑tubes. Visiting requires permission from the Bükki National Park Directorate and basic cave‑walking equipment. In the Great Chamber a metal ladder assists navigation.

Its name was given by members of the Stone Quarry Cave‑Exploration and Mountaineering Section. In 1977 the cave was first called Viktória Cave in the literature. The cave also appears in the literature as Viktória Cave (Kordos 1977).

Exploration History

Members of the Miskolc Miners’ Sports Club Cave‑Exploration Group discovered it in 1971 by opening the blocked water‑drain mouth. After the discovery they explored up to the terminal siphon. No printed report of the discovery appeared at that time. It remained in a manuscript; a 1977 reminiscence written by Sándor Várszegi records the fact. In 1972 members of the Stone Quarry Cave‑Exploration and Mountaineering Section, led by József Dévay, reopened the meanwhile blocked entrance opening, made the cave visitable again and explored it. A news item about the re‑discovery, originating from the section’s members, was first published in print in 1980.

Since they did not know that the cave had already been discovered by the Miskolc group in 1971, the printed notice wrote about the exploration of a previously unknown object, the discovery of a new cave. They thought they had discovered a new cave because, shortly after the exploration work, they reviewed the then-available literature in Budapest and also heard the opinion of György Dénes, but there was no trace of the discovery made in 1971.

In 1972 and 1973 members of the Kőbánya Cave Research and Mountaineering Section visited the passage system several times and discovered new sections. Once Polish cavers also took part in the exploration work and succeeded in finding a new branch. This section was named the Polish branch. Under the leadership of Árpád Lorberer they began its survey by marking fixed points from the entrance to the Sváb chamber, but the survey was not completed. Until that period the cave was thought to be 800 m long and 50 m deep. From the special English-language issue of Karst and Cave of 1977, the publication titled The longest and deepest caves of Hungary (December 31, 1975) reveals that the Viktória Cave, located in the Bükk Mountains, 800 m long and 50 m deep, was on December 31 1975 the 19th longest and 44th deepest cave in Hungary. The 18th longest cave (Alba Regia Cave) and the 20th longest cave (Cserszegtomaji well cave) were also 800 m long. The 42nd deepest cave (Jószerencsét‑ankab cave) and the 43rd deepest cave (Kurta‑bérci gorge cave) were also 50 m deep.

According to the state on December 31, 1977 (MKBT Invitation May 1978), the Victoria Cave in the Bükk Mountains, about 50 m deep and about 800 m long, is the 49th deepest and 20th longest cave in the country. Based on the compilation published in 1977 in Karst and Cave, on December 31, 1977 Hungary’s 21st longest cave is the Victoria Cave located in the Bükk Mountains, about 800 m long in 1977, 1976 and 1975. The 22nd longest cave (Cserszegtomaji‑kútbarlang) is also about 800 m long. According to the compilation, on December 31, 1977 Hungary’s 54th deepest cave is the Victoria Cave located in the Bükk Mountains, about 50 m deep in 1977, 1976 and 1975. This compilation is more up‑to‑date than the list published in the MKBT Invitation of May 1978.

The cave that first saw the light in 1984, listed under the name Victoria Cave in the national cave list of the book *Caves of Hungary* for the caves in the Bükk Mountains, is shown on a 1:500 000 scale map depicting the geographic location of the caves of the Aggtelek Karst and the Bükk Mountains, indicating the cave’s geographic position. According to the status as of 31 December 1987, it is Hungary’s 27th longest cave, the Victoria Cave with the cave‑registry number 5392/36, about 800 m long. In the compilation, the length list published in *Karst and Cave* in 1977 states the cave is about 800 m long. According to the status as of 31 December 1987, it is Hungary’s 69th largest cave by vertical extent, the Victoria Cave with the cave‑registry number 5392/36, about 50 m vertical extent. The 68th largest cave by vertical extent (Szirén Cave) also has about 50 m vertical extent. In the compilation, the depth list published in *Karst and Cave* in 1977 states the Victoria Cave is about 50 m deep.