Jasovská Cave

It is located on the most eastern projection of the Slovak Karst, in the Medzev Upland close to the eastern edge of the Jasovská Plateau, on the western side of the Jasov village. The lower entrance to cave is on the right hand side of the Bodva River at elevation of 257 m, on the eastern foothill of the Jasovská Rock, which is a part of the Slovak Karst National Park.

The Jasovská Cave is formed in Middle Triassic grey Gutenstein dolomites and pale Steinalm limestones and dolomites of the Silica Nappe. The massif of the Jasov Rock is markedly disrupted by faults and numerous fissures, which condition the prevailing direction of passages and to great extent also the number of passages in the cave. The Jasovská Cave reaches the length of 2,811 m with vertical span of 55 meters. The underground space were formed progressively in several development phases from the highest passages to the lowest parts of thecave in relation with the development of the Bodva River valley. Upper and some bottom parts of the cave with high meander passages and halls with ceiling troughs were formed by corrosive and erosive activities of ancient ponor waters of Bodva. The lower parts of the cave with domes, halls, wall notches and flat roofs were formed by more or less stagnant water. The lowest parts of the cave with flat roofs were formed by solution of limestone under conditions of slowly moving stagnant water.

The lowest parts of the cave including a part of the show path use to be flooded in consequence to water-table fluctuations. The lowest level of cave lake is 7 m below the surface Bodva River level, which doesn’t flow through the cave at present. An occassional flooding of the cave lower parts doesn’t correlate with Bodva River fluctuations.

Several parts of the cave are decorated with rich flowstone fill. Pagoda-like stalagmites, columns, flowstone waterfalls, shields, drums, straw stalactites and other forms are eye catching. Air temperature ranges between 8.8 and 9.4 ºC, and relative humidity between 90 and 98%.

The Jasovská Cave is a very important bat locality in Slovakia. By now, 18 bat species were found in the cave. It forms together with the Drienovská Cave one harmonic unit of underground shelters on the eastern edge of the Slovak Karst, to which several communities of bats are bound, mainly the horseshoe bats. Numerous winter colonies are formed mostly by the Lesser Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus hipposideros) and Greater Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum), which resembles the Meditteranean Horseshoe Bat by grouping the individuals in tight aggregations, and temporarily lives in the highest parts of the cave. The Meditteranean Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus euryale) is on the northern border of its distribution in Jasov territory. Less dominant is also Geoffroy's bat (Myotis emarginatus) and Greater Mouse-Eared Bat (Myotis myotis). Rare cave palpigrade Eukoenenia spelaea, which is the only known representative of pseudoscorpions (Palpigradida) in Slovakia lives in the cave. Numerous occurrence has also troglophilic multipede Polydesmus denticulatus. Tiny cave crustacean Diacyclops languidoides lives in water environment. Palaeontological findings of cave bear (Ursus spelaeus) skeleton remains are also known from the cave.

Show caves - Jasovská Cave