Peştera Isverna

Useful Information

Location:	Isverna Road 670 beteen Baia De Aramă and Balta, turn right to Isverna, DC50, 6.3 km to the cave. (44.980363, 22.618784)
Open:	no restrictions. [2021]
Fee:	free. [2021]
Classification:	Karst Spring
Light:	n/a
Dimension:	L=1,500 m, A=600 m asl.
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Peştera Isverna.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1914	first explored by the bio-speleologist C.N. Ionescu, on a length of 200 meters.
1951	more detailed description by the speleologists Pierre Alfred Chappuis and A. Winkler.
1964-1967	bio-speleological research by V. Decou.
1973	cave survey by C. Goran.
1976	cave survey published.
1979	resurvey by the "Living Fire" speleological team led by S. Roată,current length 1,500 m.
1980	Florin Paroiu and Costel Vanau first passed the Green Siphon (50 m long), then the shorter Yellow Siphon.
1990s	visited by Jacques Yves Cousteau and a team of cavers and divers.
JAN-2005	Gabor Mogyorosy and Mihai Baciu passed the Black Siphon and found hundreds of meters of galleries.
MAR-2010	cave birds and metal plates discovered.

Description

Peştera Isverna (Isverna Cave) is the most famous underwater cave in Romania. It is accessible only to cave divers, but it is also a resurgence, which is freely accessible. In the nearby village Isverna there is even a sign for the cave, although it is not very big. The last houses of the village are located around the cave entrance, with the resurgence the valley ends. Behind the resurgence is a bare karst mountain ridge, and the catchment area of the spring was declared a speleological reserve. The spring is visited every year by hundreds of cave divers from all over the world. Normal tourists can walk along the river to the cave entrance, there is a trail over huge boulders which has a rope for a railing. The river flowing out of the cave is quite spectacular, but entering the cave is possible only for cave divers. That's why we listed it as a karst spring.

There were numerous attempts for exploration, but some sumps were so difficult and dangerous, it took decades and new technology to cross them. The Black Siphon is the longest in Romania, more than 400 m long and 40 m deep.

The cave also has a weird and enigmatic story. A mysterious room contains an unique species of little cave birds and some strange metal discs. The birds seem to live inside the cave, as the room is deep inside behind several sumps. Nevertheless, the birds avoid light, so they obviously still have eyes. Also cave birds are quite rare, flying in the dark is quite difficult and dangerous, it works only with a sonar system for orientation. And there were huge metal disks or plates with a diameter of about 1 m, with enigmatic symbols, of unknown age. The metal is very heavy, heavier than lead, and the temperature around the disks is lower than in the rest of the cave. We are not sure if this is a great archaeological discovery, the proof for ancient aliens, or a caver hoax.

According to legend there is a silver treasure of the Empress Maria Theresa inside the cave.

SubAquaSport is a Romanian diving company which also offers cave diving courses and travels to water caves all over the world, e.g. in France and Yucatan. The Isverna is used by them for cave diving courses. Their website offers additional information about the cave and the courses. They offer the Cavern Dive course for beginners, Basic Cave Diver, and then specializations called Cave Diver, Cave Sidemount Diver, and Technical Cave Diver.