Y-ágú Cave

The Y-branch cave is one of those artificial cavities located in the Holdvilág trench in Pomáz within the Danube–Ipoly National Park. Not a cave. It is also mentioned in tourist guidebooks.

Description

It is situated 30 meters east of the periodic waterfall of the Pomáz Holdvilág trench, at the base of the left‑hand, K‑side rock wall of the valley, with the cavity entrance in a gray‑white amphibian‑andesite tuff.

Its entrance, 215 centimeters high and 175 centimeters wide, faces west. The corridor heading east branches after 6.5 meters. The longer branch goes in the 80° direction, the shorter one in the 100° direction. The longer, main branch measures 22.1 meters from the entrance to its endpoint, the shorter, side branch 10 meters from the branching point to its endpoint – thus the total length of the cavity is 32.1 meters. The corridor width varies slightly, widening and narrowing, but shows a narrowing tendency toward the endpoints. The main branch’s average width is about 150 centimeters (between extreme values of 220 and 130 centimeters), the side branch’s width is 120 centimeters (between extreme values of 127 and 116 centimeters), and the approximately trapezoidal cross‑section corridors also have variable height, averaging 210 centimeters, but in the main branch the height rises at two places, at the branching point and 3 meters before the endpoint.

In these places the ceiling of the corridor has semi‑circular planes cut perpendicular to the passage axis, so the corridor is 70 centimeters higher at these spots than elsewhere. In these semicircles there were once carved inscriptions, including a Greek‑letter Christ monogram. Today they are barely legible because recent symbolic wall paintings cover the partially retouched surfaces. Wall paintings are also present near the semicircle close to the endpoint, on the left‑hand wall.

The Y‑branch cave often has its easily noticeable entrance alongside a frequently traveled tourist path, therefore many people visit it. Some visitors also damage the cavity, carving monograms and other symbols into it, or splashing paint strips on the walls, and even creating composed doodles and littering.

The cavity also occurs in its literature under the names Holdvilág‑árki‑vizesés cave (Bertalan, Schőnviszky 1976), Kisszikla cave, Y‑shaped cave, Y shaped cave (Erdélyi 1971), Y‑branch cave (Eszterhás 1993), Y‑branch cavity, Y branch cavity and Y‑cave.

Formation

According to the describers (Barcza–Thirring 1920, Erdélyi 1971, Eszterhás 1997, Ézsiás 1994, Incze 1990, Kucsera–Rappai 1980, Pápa 1943) the cavity was formed during human activity. But there are only hypotheses about who, when and why created it. Erdélyi and Incze consider it a dump of an ore mine, Kucsera and Rappai think granate grains could have been mined there, László Schőnviszky says coal. Ézsiás also predicts a former mining character, and Barcza and Thirring also deem it artificial.

According to István Eszterhás it is very likely that it could not have been a mine. He has visited several medieval and later mines, and also has a mining qualification – and with this knowledge and comparisons he says that miners of earlier times did not work such a slab shape and the small amount of useful material does not justify creating a dump, because either ores or granate are available in larger quantities and more easily on the surface. He believes the cavity may have been created for some cultic purpose. This slab shape, the semicircular surfaces and the barely noticeable old writings also seem to support this.

Research history

The publication titled Budapest Duna‑right‑bank area, which appeared in 1920, mentions that in the Holdvilág trench there are two caves that are corridor‑like, apparently artificial and about 20–25 m long. The book titled Budapest Duna‑right‑bank area published in 1924 also mentions that in the Holdvilág trench there are two caves that are about 20–25 m long, corridor‑like and apparently artificial. The 1926–1927 Caving Research notes that during bat observations carried out in 1923–1924 by András Tasnádi Kubacska and Lajos Véghelyi, a brown long‑eared bat (Plecotus auritus L.) was found in the artificially cut cavity of the Holdvilág trench at Pilisvörösvár. The travel guide written by Gusztáv Thirring and published in 1929 repeats the part of the 1920 book presenting the Y‑branch cave.

In the 1931 volume of Turisták Lapja a photograph was published showing the Holdvilág-árok waterfall, and behind the waterfall a cavity opening can be seen. In the study published in the 1937 volume of Turisták Lapja and written by László Schőnviszky it is stated that the two pit‑like openings under the Holdvilág-árok waterfall are completely artificial and that coal was once searched for in them. The book published in 1937 and written by Gyula Szeghalmy mentions that there are excellent caves in the Csikóvári Hills group above Pomáz and Szentendre, in the amphitheatre‑shaped basin of Holdvilág-árok. The Hungarian tourist encyclopedia that saw daylight in 1941 writes that Holdvilág-árok has two corridor‑like caves.

According to the article published in Barlangvilág in 1943, there are two corridor‑like caves in the chasm of Holdvilág-árok. During rain the water falls into Holdvilág-árok with a 15‑metre waterfall and at that time a very interesting glimpse through the water curtain can be seen from one of the caves, which is directly in the line of the waterfall’s fall. The caves are said to be artificial cuts, but this is not certain. It is possible that there was originally a natural cave there, which was later enlarged. This is also likely because not far from this place there is indeed a cave, the Weislich Cave. According to the guidebook published in 1948 and written by István Szegő, moving upward in Holdvilág-árok, in the rock‑free side of the chasm (on the right) two artificial cave passages about 20 m long each extend. There is a third cave in the rock‑free side, but it has collapsed and therefore is not visible. In Ottokár Kadić’s 1952 manuscript it is mentioned that the two pit‑like openings under the Holdvilág-árok waterfall are of artificial origin. Coal was once searched for here.