Adamkó Péter - Dénes György - Leél-Őssy Szabolcs: The Caves of Buda - Our Budapest (Budapest, 1992)
The Pál-völgyi Cave Among the major caves in the area, the Pál-völgyi Cave was discovered first. At the end of the last century, to meet the demand for building materials numerous quarries were opened mainly in the Szép Valley (Szépvölgy) area, but also elsewhere in the Buda Hills. In the years before the discovery of the Pál-völgyi Cave itself, several smaller caves were discovered in the Pál-völgyi quarry, such as the Harcsaszájú, the Hideglyuk and the Bagyura caves. The quarries were famous for their beautiful calcite crystals, some of which can still be seen today. By 1902 most of the known hollows had been explored. Two years later János Bagyura, the son of the quarry’s superintendant, squeezed himself through a narrow gap which was probably opened by an explosion. Afterward the explorers reached the first part of the cave by relatively little effort. During that year the relentless work resulted in the discovery of most of that part of the cave what is accessible to the public today. The Radium Chamber was reached in 1905. After breaking through the rubble the explorers discovered the Fiver’s Corridor, at the end of which the currently used cave exit is located. At this point the excavations came to a halt and seventy years passed until they were resumed. However, surveying, mapping and geological investigations continued and selected sections were developed. The work gained new momentum in 1915 when Professor Lajos Lóczy, at that time director of the Geological Survey and a highly respected geologist, devoted his attention to the cave. After two months’s work financially supported by the City of Budapest, a highly detailed map of the cave was prepared on a 1:100 scale. In the meantime research and conservation continued. The cave has been open to the public since 1919. In 1927, by the occasion of the first International Congress on Speleology held in Hungary, these sections were also equipped with lighting. The cave was seriously damaged during and after the World War 11. Because of its large capacity and easy access, it was used as an airraid shelter. For some time 10
