State Nature Conservancy of the Slovak Republic
Slovak Caves Administration
Located on the northern foothill of the Silická Plateau in th Slovak Karst National Park, on the edge of the Rožňavská Basin near the Krásnohorská Dlhá Lúka village. It is known mainly by the mighty dripstone Kvapeľ rožňavských jaskyniarov reaching the height of 32,6 m, as well as by mysterious underground riverbed. The cave is opened through an artificial adit with opening near the Buzgó spring lying at 316 m.
The cave is formed in the Mesozoic Middle Triassic grey to darkgrey Gutenstein dolomites and dolomitic limestones, with the rear part lying in light grey Steinalm limestones of the Silica Nappe. The origin of underground spaces was preconditioned by a distinct tectonic fault along which corrosive and erosive activity of underground stream did its work. The streams appears on the surface in the Buzgó spring, further flowing to Čremošná. The underground hydrological system begins in the dolines near the Žedem well on the Silická Plateau at elevation of 535 m and gradually receives other infiltration waters.
The total length of the cave is 1,355 m. The water course from the spring to the Marikino Lake is 520 m long. The main part of the cave is a canyon passage widened on crosswise faults into mighty domes as much as 45 m high. There are flow through lakes within the underground riverbed in places.
A rich flowstone decoration is in some side branches of the cave, from which the various eccentric helictites are the most interesting. Also soil pyramids were formed here in a remarkable form. Air temperature is 9 °C, relative humidity 98 %.
Four bat species hibernate in the cave mainly the Lesser Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus hipposideros) and Greater Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum). Terrestric invertebrates living in cave are crustacean isopod Mesoniscus graniger and troglophilic multipede Polydesmus denticulatus. The spiders are represented by troglophilic harvestman Ischyropsalis manicata. Rich populations are formed by rare troglobitic springtail Arrhopalites aggtelekiensis, and other springtail of the Mesaphorura genus is a new species for science. Stygobitic crustacean Niphargus tatrensis is abundant in the underground stream.
The cave was discovered in 1964 by cavers from Rožňava when lowered the water level in karst spring and widened the narrow entrance passage. V. Rozložník began the survey of the spring in 1954. At present, the cave is opened through an adit 120 m long. The first tourist opening to public took place in 2004 by J. Stankovič and his collaborators. The part of the cave open to public is 420 m long.
Dear visitors, we would like to inform you that due to the technical conditions of payment terminals, there may be situations when card payment will not be possible. For this reason, we recommend that you have an adequate amount of cash available if you want to be sure that you will be able to visit the cave. Thank you for understanding.
Dear visitors,
after a longer period we reopen the long tour in the Demänovska Cave of Liberty from the 1st of July 2024. The tour is open once a day at 13:15 from June to August (3 months) and at 13:00 during the rest of the opening days. Number of visitors is limited, the tour is demanding, with many steps and it takes more than one and a half hours. Cave temperature is around 7°C whole year round. We are looking forward to your visit.
