Боговинска пећина

Bogovinska pećina - Bogovina Cave


Useful Information

Location: 391, 19372 Bogovina.
Južni Kučaj, Boljevac. 12 km from Boljevac, 62 km from Paraćin, 220 km from Belgrade.
(43.897073, 21.925374)
Open: All year Mon-Fro 8-14, Sat, Sun 10-17.
[2022]
Fee: Adults RSD 300, Children RSD 200.
Groups (10+): Adults RSD 250.
[2022]
Classification: SpeleologyKarst Cave
Light: lamps provided, bring headlamp
Dimension: L=5,842 m.
Guided tours: L=540 m.
Photography:  
Accessibility: no
Bibliography: Predrag Radović, Miloš Radonjić, Emmanuel M.E. Billia (2020): Pleistocene rhinoceros from Bogovina Cave: the first report of Stephanorhinus hundsheimensis Toula, 1902 (Mammalia, Rhinocerotidae) from Serbia Palaeontologia Electronica, 23(2):a34. online pdf DOI
др Раденко Лазаревић (2010): Боговинска пећина, Желнид, Београд, 2010.
Address: Bogovinska pećina, 391, 19372 Bogovina, Tel: +381-30-463593.
Turistička Organizacija Opštine Boljevac, ul. Kralja Aleksandra 17/1, Boljevac, Tel: +381-30-463-593. E-mail: E-mail:
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

1933 explored by S. Milojević.
1938 explored by S. Milojević.
1957 beginning of exploration by D. Petrović.
1974 protected under the name Bogovinska Pećina at the proposal of the Republic Institute for Nature Protection.
1975-1976 exploration by D. Petrović, D. Gavrilović and M. Lješević, new passages discovered.
2008 development as a show cave started.
2013 opened to the public.

Description

Боговинска пећина (Bogovinska pećina, Bogovina Cave) is named after nearby Bogovina village and located on the slopes of South Kučaj mountain. With a length of almost 6 km it is among the ten longest caves in Serbia, actually it was the longest cave for many years until new discoveries made it the 4th longest [2022]. Quite exceptional is actually that this is correctly explained on their website, which is extremely rare. The normal way to handle such things would be to add such a fact to the text of the guide when it is true, and never remove it just because it becomes untrue. We called the effect "telling outdated information" in our humour section and made fun of it. This makes a visit to this cave a highly desirable thing, because for once you will hear both interesting and correct things.

The cave has two levels, the upper level named Високи канал (Visoki canal, High Passage) is fossil and the lower called Понорски канал (Ponorski Canal, Disappearing Stream Passage). The Главни канал (Main Passage) is normally dry, but after heavy rains or numerous very rainy days, it may be reactivated, and the water flows out at the entrance of the cave. The cave is home to several endemic species.

The tour shows four chambers of the cave includingthe river passage, where the trail was built elevated above the river. The Рударска дворана (Rudarska dvorana, Miner's Hall) was named in honour of the miners of Bogovina. It is located on a terrace on the right side of the river passage. The Концертна дворана (Koncertna dvorana, Concert Hall) is actually used for events like concerts and readings because of its size and its acoustics. The Дворана дивова (Dvorana kiklopa, Hall of the Cyclops) is notable for numerous speleothems, the dominating stalagmite group was named Kiklopa (Cyclops), and after it the chamber. The Хајдучка дворана (Hajdučka dvorana, Hajduk's Chamber), named after Hajduk Veljka. A 10 m high stalagmite with a diameter of 2 m, was also named after him and the stalagmite nearby after his faithful and brave companion Čučuk Stana.

Bogovinska pećina is the youngest show cave in Serbia. The development started in 2008 and was completed in 2013, when the show cave was opened to the public. It was planned by Professor Dr. Radenko Lazarević and financed by the Municipality of Boljevac and the Ministry of Economy and Regional Development - Tourism Sector. The road to the cave is still a little difficult, sometimes narrow and with unpaved sections. That's the reason why the cave is still off the beaten path.

When the cave was discovered and first explored, it was known under the name Velika Pešćer. Early exploration in the 1930s was made by S. Milojević. From 1957 it was explored several times by D. Petrović who also discovered additional passages. When the cave was put under Nature Protection in 1974, this was done by the name Bogovinska Pećina. It seems that the cave was never really renamed, the name Bogovinska Pećina just caught on.