Adamkó Péter - Dénes György - Leél-Őssy Szabolcs: The Caves of Buda - Our Budapest (Budapest, 1992)
tem. By 1959 the known lenqth of the cave had reached 2 km. In 1963 additional sections were discovered consisting of mainly southeast-northwest leading fissures. Today the total length of the cave is approximately 4 km. According to many experts, it may well be even more. The uncertainty remains until a precise survey of the most complex and intricate cave system of the capital is completed. Any tour to this cave is permitted only with the leadership of expert guides who are completely familiar with the underground terrain. In 1976 a fatal accident occurred when four inexperienced young men seeking adventure entered the cave without a guide. Losing their way within the labyrinth they died of dehydration and hypothermia. The Ferenc-hegyi Cave is at least as richly decorated by hydrothermal mineral formations (botryoidal pisolites or “peastones”) as the Szemlő-hegyi Cave. The length of the ornamented sections here far exceed that of the neighbouring developed caves. The fissures here are narrower, often only 1 to 2 m wide, and not as high as those found in the Szemlő-hegyi or József-hegyi caves. There are only a few larger chambers (the Rákóczi Dome, Bocskai Chamber and the smaller Zrínyi Chamber) and even these are rather low. Tight, narrow passages are so characteristic of the entire cave system that its development for the public is not feasible. Apart from the pisolite formations, the cave’s main treasures are the abundant barite crystals, beautiful dissolution features and thermal spring vents. Explorers of the cave ihclude: Hubert Kessler and his associates, followed by speleologists led by Andor Sziluássy and Gyula Szilvássy. The Mátyás-hegyi Cave The quarry at the entrance of the Mátyás-hegyi Cave opened more than 100 years ago. However, the 60 m long Upper Cave and the Fireman Cave, which is four times larger, were first recorded only in the 1930’s. The latter received its curious name after the firemen who 33 3
