Weislich Cave

The Weislich Cave is one of those artificial cavities that is located in the Danube–Ipoly National Park, in the Holdvilág trench at Pomáz. Not a cave. It is also described in tourist guidebooks.

Access

In the Holdvilág trench, moving upward from its intermittent waterfall, about 50 meters away, one must leave the valley floor toward the west. From the rock wall bordering the valley floor, the slightly farther, about 30 meters away, spectacular, carved‑sided rock formation soon becomes visible. This is the so‑called Large Rock, in which the Weislich Cave is located.

The Large Rock, composed of white andesite, is easily recognizable by the fact that it is carved in a concave right angle, vertically up to about 10 meters high, and in its front there is a trough‑shaped depression covered with stone rubble. The lower entrance of the cavity is in the wall of the carved rock that faces southwest. The lower entrance is an approximately three‑meter‑high and two‑meter‑wide triangular opening. In the upper third of the southeast‑facing wall, eight beehive cells can be seen.

Description

The lower entrance of the cavity, three meters high, two meters wide and triangular in shape, leads into a cell, from which a vertical shaft 4.1 meters deep, divided into three steps, the stairwell, leads downward. On the shaft wall some of the former iron handhold remnants are still visible, but currently one can descend only by traversing or with the aid of a rope. From the bottom of the stairwell shaft a nearly five‑meter‑long, gently sloping corridor starts toward the northwest. Its floor is thickly covered with stones thrown from above, 2–3 meter wood pieces and garbage.

The passage connects at a right angle to the Main Corridor at the lowest level. Its length is 11.1 metres, its width varies, widening to 2.5 metres in the middle, while at the northeast end it is only one metre wide, its height 1.5–1.7 metres. It slopes slightly to the northeast. At the bottom there is already less stone and wood, the debris, but here is the slab of the former iron door of the upper shaft entrance. From the southwest end of the Main Corridor an oval‑elliptical section, 14.9 metres high, almost vertical, 80–85° shaft leads to the upper entrance. In the wall of this shaft a few iron studs can still be seen, which are remnants of the previously existing handholds.

It was previously impossible to get out of the shaft, because near the outer surface a huge stone, supporting a step, almost filled the shaft’s cross‑section. The stone was rolled from above into the shaft opening, which then became jammed at the step two metres lower and left only an impassable gap. Since then the stone has been removed and the shaft is again passable and climbable.

The upper, shaft‑like, now passable entrance of the cavity can also be reached from the outside, if one goes around the carved side of the Great Rock on the steep slope that borders it on the left and roughly reaches the beehive chambers. Here, in the hollow surrounded by the stalactites, we find the rectangularly carved opening. Next to it the frame of the former iron door is also found, half‑dropped. In the opening there used to be, at a depth of one metre, a lodged and jammed stone block.

The upper entrance is in a well hidden location. It is not visible at all from the base of the rock group, but up there, between the towers, it can only be noticed from close up. This concealment was probably not accidental, perhaps serving defensive or escape purposes. An interesting feature is the Greek-letter Christ monogram carved into the side of the higher rock tower north of the opening of the chimney. This resembles the sign at the Y‑branch cave.

Furthermore, not too long ago they slightly modified it, equipping its entrances with iron doors and installing iron handholds in the chimneys. It is currently in a very poor, filthy condition. Because of the chimneys many do not enter it, but even more throw stones, tree branches, glass bottles and all kinds of other trash into it.

According to István Eszterhás, the Weislich cave was completely shaped with tools together with the Y‑branch cave and the Waterfall‑under‑cave at roughly the same time, using the same technique. However, the layout of its cavity differs significantly from the former two, so perhaps its function was also different.

The cavity was named Weislich cave because, according to a belief, it was once the hideout of a robber named Weislich (or Veiszlics, Weiszlich, Weiszlics). Weislich only harmed the rich. The cavity appears in its literature as Holdvilág‑árki‑sziklasir (Bertalan, Schőnviszky 1976), Holdvilágárok cave (Schőnviszky 1937), Holdvilágárok‑cave (Bertalan 1976), Holdvilág‑árok‑cave (Bertalan, Schőnviszky 1976), Holdvilág cave (Kadić 1920), Holdvilág‑rock cavity (Kadić 1952), Remete cave (Bertalan 1976), Veiszlics cave (Hazslinszky 1999), Weisslich cave (Mezei, Páli 1955), Weiszlich cave (Mezei, Páli 1955), Weiszlich cave (Mezei, Páli 1955), Weiszlics cave (Schőnviszky 1937) and Weiszlik cave (Neidenbach, Pusztay 2005).

Research History

In the publication titled Budapest Duna-jobbparti környéke, which appeared in 1920, it is mentioned that after the Holdvilág trench rock cutting there is a large rock wall, at the foot of which, to the left of the path, there is a collapsed cave. According to folklore the cave extends to Kő-hegy and was the hideout of the robber leader Weislich. The rock formations near the cave and higher up on the hillside are suitable for rock climbing (chimney climbing), but their rock is fragile. In the 1920 Cave Exploration book review, which concerns the book Budapest Duna-jobbparti környéke, it is noted that the book describes the Holdvilág cave located in the Pilis Mountains.