N. Kósa Judit - Szablyár Péter: Underground Buda - Our Budapest (Budapest, 2002)

Mine into monastery - the Bátori Cave

■ The former altar in the entrance chamber oh the

have gushed forth in the Pleistocene period to dilute the Mesozoic, and within that Triassic, Dachstein limestone. Its shape is determined by a series of interconnected spherical chambers. Connected to the horizontal galleries there are steep and almost impassable shafts that can only be climbed with special equipment. In places the walls are decorated with calcite, pisolite, cauliflower-shaped and stalactite formations and a reddish-yellow peastone coating. Here and there are traces of iron-ore deposits containing hematite and limonite. The character of the cave is determined by the unmistakeable chisel marks and carved steps left behind by medieval iron miners.

The cave bears the name of a Pauline monk, László Bátori, who lived a hermit's life here from 1437 to 1547. Some historians refer to him as a descendant of the princely family of the Bátoris, while others believe him to have come from burger stock in Nyírbátor. What is known for a fact is that Bátori was a Bible copier in the Budaszentlőrinc monastery. Here he also wrote a Biblical commentary, a book which is said to have been appropriated for King Matthias's world-famous library before it went missing. There are experts who attribute the authorship of the Kulcsár and the Döbrentei Codices to Bátori, too.

Finds discovered during the exploration of the cave and excavation carried out in its ante-chamber suggest that its chambers and tunnels had been used by man since the Neolithic epoch. Continuous use is proved by the presence

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