Adamkó Péter - Dénes György - Leél-Őssy Szabolcs: The Caves of Buda - Our Budapest (Budapest, 1992)

of conservation, the cave is now closed, entry is possible by special permit only.

Explored by-. József Szabó (1870's), from 1961: György Vájná, László Szabó and associates (members of the Budapest Sport Club).

Archeological excavations were led by: Dr. László Zolnay. Mapped by: Nándor Tomala (1830), Ottokár Kadic (1919) and Pál Borka (1989).

The János Molnár Cave

The nearly 450 m long system which is almost completely filled by thermal water, is interesting primarily from a scientific point of view. This is, in fact, the active vent of the thermal spring which supplies the Lukács Spa. Hundreds of thousands of years ago, the other major caves in the Buda Hills which are now dry, were of the same type.

Dissolution features along with large size, black, maganese-hydroxide-coated barite crystals and an intricate network of passages are all characteristic of the János Molnár Cave.

The cave has recently been explored by cave skin- divers. Hazardous conditions render this work extremely difficult. Another problem is that the water from the cave directly empties to the bath. A solution would be to extend the pipeline supplying the bath all the way to the source at the end of the cave.

Smaller caves

There are another approximately 100 smaller caves in the Buda Hills. Most of them were formed in limestone, only a few are found in dolomite (Tábor-hegyi Caue).

The caves located in one of the most beautiful valleys in the Budapest area, on the slopes of the Remete (Hermit) Gorge, are particularly noteworthy. Budapest’s only real pothole, the so-called Seven Holes, is found here. It is a 20 m deep system consisting of two chambers at lower levels connected by passageways and eight shafts reaching from the hilltop into the depths.

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