Historic Show Caves

Show Cave History


A visit to Mammoth Cave, USA.

Caves have been known to man for tens of thousands of years. The history of the first cave visits is written on the walls of prehistoric painted caves. In antiquity caves were used as temples and frequently visited. But later in history, people became superstitious and fearful about caves. They were thought to be the entrance to hades, the hell, the home of trolls or other fabulous fairy tale creatures. In these times, many caves were dubbed Devils Hole, Unicorn Cave or something similar. And mostly people were too afraid to visit them.

But there are some extraordinary exceptions, which we tried to collect. This is a list of early developments in cave tourism, what later became show caves or commercial caves. It is far from being complete, but we hope we added the most important milestones.

The topic is "show cave", in other words tourists visiting a cave with a local guide, paying an entrance fee. This includes at least a basic preparation of trails and lamps. In other words, people entering the cave and exploring the cave are not considered show cave tours. That's the reason why the oldest accounts, which lack any documentation, are quite vague. We consider the entries from the 16th century the first actual tourist visits, and the first real show cave which was operated to earn money was Jama Vilenica in 1633.


Date Cave Location Explanation
792 ShowcaveLudi Yan - Reed Flute Cave China, Guangxi there are inscriptions written in ink from the time of the T'ang Dynasty, its unclear if this included guided tours.
1213 ShowcavePostojnska Jame Slovenia The world's oldest show cave with the first known of cave tour, but this claim is based on an inscription which does not exist any more.
1452 ShowcaveJasovská Jaskyna Slovak Republic The oldest inscription in a cave in Europe. Visits maybe even earlier.
1504 ShowcaveGrotte d'Osselle Jura, France First cave visits, as far as we know only a local legend. But an actual cave tour is documented in a book published in 1592.
20-MAY-1516 ShowcaveSontheimer Höhle Germany Germany's oldest show cave, with the first official guided tour during a visit of Herzog Ulrich von Württemberg.
1633 ShowcaveJama Vilenica Slovenia probably first guided cave tour ever by Count Petazzi, the landowner.
APR-1668 ShowcaveBaumannshöhle Germany Hans Jürgen Becker becomes the first authorized cave guide of the world. Baumannshöhle is the oldest show cave in Germany with regular guided tours since 1646.
25-DEC-1673 ShowcaveCave of Antiparos, Antiparos Greece Christmas mass held in the cave, for Charles François Ollier, marquis de Nointel, French ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, and numerous companions. Actually not a show cave tour.
1794 CaveRosenmüllerhöhle Germany The cave was made accessible with a wooden ladder and closed with a door, financed by the Prussian king.
1806 ShowcaveGrand Caverns U.S.A. The first show cave in the U.S.A., was known under the name Weyer's Cave when it was opened to the public.
1812 ShowcaveGreat Rutland Cavern Great Britain England's oldest show cave opened to the public.
1816 ShowcaveMammoth Cave NP U.S.A. The second show cave in the U.S.A., this was the year formal guided tours started.
1832 ShowcaveGrotta Parolini Italy Italy's oldest show cave opened to the public.
1846 ShowcaveJasovská Jaskyna Slovakia Slovakia's first show cave, opened to the public by Alojz Richter, an abbot of Jasov Monastery.
1857 ShowcaveGrottes de Han-sur-Lesse Belgium the first show cave of Belgium.
1861 ShowcaveGrottes de Saulges France Grotte à Margot opened to the public, probably first show cave in France.