Big Garvanitsa cave

from Katerina in Get to know Bulgaria! Visits 2082 4 August, 2020

Big Garvanitsa cave is located between the villages of Gorsko Slivovo and Karpachevo, Lovech district, Letnitsa municipality. It is a vertical cave with a depth of over 60 meters and a length of 275 meters. It was first studied in 1966, and in the 80's they installed metal stairs and platforms that make it accessible to tourists. The outside is surrounded by a wooden fence, and a safety net is placed along the steps as an additional measure in case of landslides.

Going down the almost vertical stairs is like going to the "underground kingdom". For some it may seem scary, but for us it was a fun and extreme experience. The stairs is not as steep as it is at Geocomplex Ponorite. Going down to the bottom, the temperature is different from that of the surface, which makes visiting the cave extremely pleasant during the hot months. We managed to enter one of the galleries without going far inside. It is good if you want to enter, to have an experienced companion with you and appropriate equipment. The cave is poor in formations. It is muddy, wet and slippery inside. The galleries are filled with clay and mud. If you look at the photos, you will notice the fumes inside the cave. During heavy rainfall and snowmelt, a significant amount of water comes there, which passes into the cave galleries and is lost in the final hall.

There are gazebos for rest around the cave.