The surroundings of the Baradla Cave - Jósvafő, Hungary

Location:

GPS coordinates: Latitude 48°29'3", Longitude 20°32'24" (N48 29.05 - E20 32.4) Map

Here the Jósva Stream is between stone walls and creek bed

The Jósva Spring has the highest water discharge in the present Hungary among the cold water springs. Its water comes from the lower caves of the Baradla Cave System, as well as from the infiltration of rainwater on the surrounding karst fields. Mostly because of the latter the water discharge is varying: usually it is between 70 and 8,000 liters/second, but sometimes it is the record high 20,000 liters/second (for example in 1955). The drainage basin (or catchment area) doesn't care the country borders and deeply extends to Slovakia, too. The same is true for the Baradla Cave System as well, which has a 5-kilometer-long branch in the neighbouring country: it is the Domica Cave that is famous of its beautiful dripstone formations, the cave entrance is near Kečovo (in Hungarian Kecső) village.

One of the two sources of the Jósva Stream: the Táró Spring

The way of the Jósva Stream on the surface begins very interestingly. It has not just one, but two sources, and on top of that just about 10 meters distance from each other. So the Jósva Stream begins with two different sources, namely the Táró Spring and the Medence Spring. It was explored just about half a century ago that the two springs belongs to two separated water systems. These have no any connection to the other, at least before the Jósva Springs.