Adamkó Péter - Dénes György - Leél-Őssy Szabolcs: The Caves of Buda - Our Budapest (Budapest, 1992)
György Dénes, János Palánkai and associates, and later the members of the Kinizsi and Meteor Nature Lover Association. Surveyed and mapped by-. Dr. Hubert Kessler and János Horváth. A tour in the Szemlő-hegyi Cave The original entrance is no longer in use. Visitors enter a modern reception building which contains exhibitions, a slide projection theater, a cloakroom and a snack-bar on the Pusztaszeri Street. Then they proceed down a 60 meter man-made slope into the Ferencváros Section. The roof of the beautiful chamber is cut by a calcite vein, both sides of which are thickly decorated with “peastone”. Opposite to the entrance a narrow, debris- filled passage leads to the Muddy Corridor, beyond which we reach the Long Corridor through an artificial, few meter long passage. The narrow, winding trail heads up to the Debris Hall where interesting lamellar calcite formations and “pea- stone” cover the walls. From here, through another narrow passage we reach the small but beautiful Maria Chamber. Three meters overhead on the opposite side opens a thin gap: the Needle’s Eye. Further on we pass through the only section of the Long Corridor left undeveloped. It gives an idea of what the pristine cave was like. Elsewhere developing works to provide easy access for visitors and the broadening of the cave resulted in the loss of scores of formations, especially at the level of the pavement. From here, moving through a short artificial inlet, visitors pass by the elevator shaft not yet in use and return to the Long Corridor through another few meters long man-made passageway. Then the trail climbs steadily and the winding passage leads to the Giant Corridor. As compared to the narrow Long Corridor, this gap seems monumental in size. Here, too, the walls are richly ornamented and magnificent dissolution features can be seen. In the 2-4 m wide, 15-25 m high hall which is famous for its outstanding acoustics, one can enjoy organ music from hidden speakers while having a awesome look at the deeper levels. The route 28
