"Cave" into the fascinating underground passages of our country!

Caves are so-called inanimate natural values, which means that they are not capable of renewal and regeneration, like living nature. In our country, caves have been under ex lege protection since 1961, that is, they are considered a protected natural value from the moment they were discovered. But what exactly do we call a cave? According to ex lege protection, a cave is "a natural cavity formed in the rock of the earth's crust, the longitudinal axis of which exceeds two metres and - after the removal of its current or natural filling - its size allows a person to enter. Sarolta Borzsák, speleological referent of the Duna-Ipoly National Park, says that we have about 4,170 caves registered in Hungary, and although, of course, there are regions in Europe and in the world with much more caves, Hungary also has many special underground passages.

There are many classic karst caves in our country, which were created by cold rainwater seeping into rock cracks or flowing through gullies. Among them, sink or spring caves are typical. Classic stalactite formations can be found in these underground passages: standing and hanging stalactites, stalactite flags or stalactite flows. We have such caves mainly in Bükk, Aggteleki Karst and Bakony.

The so-called thermal karst caves are also characteristic to Hungary, where the passages were created not by cold rainwater flowing in from the surface, but by warm or lukewarm thermal waters flowing up from the depths. Such are the important caves of the Buda Thermal Karst, of which the best known are the Pál Valley Cave and the Szemlő Mountain Cave. In these passages, you can also find stalactites, but they are more characterized by the so-called thermal karst mineral deposits, such as barites, pea stones, gypsum deposits and cauliflowers.

Most of Hungary's caves cannot be visited by the general public, but every cave region has something that anyone can visit. Our most important caves that can be visited are the Abaliget Cave, Anna Cave, Baradla Cave, Buda Castle Cave, Pál-völgyi Cave, Szemlő Mountain Cave, Szent István Cave, and Tapolca Lake Cave. These are open to the public in street clothes and are very popular. Sarolta Bozsák tells us that we also have many caves that can be visited in overalls or by adventure tours, such as the Csodabogyós Cave or the Mátyás-hill Cave. All of our country's built-in caves and those visited by adventure tour can be found on the website of the Hungarian National Parks, but it is also worth browsing the "Barlangleső" page on the website of the Danube-Ipoly National Park. 

The longest cave in Hungary is currently the Pál-völgyi Cave, which is no less than 32 km long, a section of which can be visited by the general public. Our deepest cave is currently the Bányász Cave in the Bükk, which we currently know at a depth of 303.

"Among our caves that can be visited, Baradla is very spectacular. I would also mention the Buda Castle Cave, because it was not open to visitors for a very long time and is therefore it is less well known. Currently, it does not have permanent opening hours, but it can be visited at pre-announced times with a ticket purchased in advance. This cave is significant primarily because of its historical past," adds the spelunker.

Photos: by Csaba Egri, Duna-Ipoly National Park