State Nature Conservancy of the Slovak Republic Slovak Caves Administration
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Veľká ľadová Abyss

The protestant priest Pavol Rebery from Boca briefly described some caves in the massif of Ohnišťe in the Low Tatras at the beginning of the 18th century. This plain was used for cattle and sheep grazing. The entrances to the abyss were known from long ago.

The first caving expedition took place in August 1939 headed by Vojtech Benický from the Museum of the Slovak Karst. They descended to the bottom of the 80 m deep abyss, with ice, boulders and wood on the floor. Further expeditions measured and documented the cave in better detail. The abyss is formed in Middle Triassic Gutenstein limestones of the Biely Váh series of the Choč Nappe.

There are two openings on the surface. The upper one at 1,529 m, and the lower one at elevation of 1,515 m above the sea. Ice coatings from several cm to 15-20 cm are on the walls in the entrance 89 m deep abyss. Ice cone protrudes from the bottom covered with a lot of detritus. The ice have an ellipse shape of asymmetric dimension 9 x 6 m. The ice cone is covered with firn and ice. Its height is around 10 m, and is dependent on climatic conditions.

There is inclined side fissure passage in NE direction with 30 m deep vertical at its end, and continues further to sedimented bottom. The total length of the abyss is 125 m.

News

Ochtinská aragonitová jaskyňa - popoludní 29.10. 2024 mimo prevádzky

Dňa 29.10.2024 bude jaskyňa v popoludňajších hodinách z prevádzkových dôvodov uzatvorená. Posledný vstup bude o 11:00 hodine. Ospravedlňujeme sa za obmedzenie.

Card payment - recommendation

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.

Ochtinská aragonite cave - closed on 29.10. 2024 afternoon

The cave will be closed in the afternoon on 29th October 2024 due to operational reasons. The last admission will be at 11:00 o'clock. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Demänovská jaskyňa slobody - long tour reopened from 1st July 2024

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. 

Cave visit with small children

Dear visitors, due to increased visitation of parents with very small children (circa up to 3 - 4 years of age), we would like to kindly ask you to have a rucksack baby carrier with you for visiting the more demanding caves in given time. This recommendation concerns all caves but the most concerned are the following ones: Demänovská Cave of Liberty, Belianska Cave, Dobšinská Ice Cave, Demänovská Ice Cave, Harmanecká Cave. We also ask you to consider visiting the cave with your crying child, which could disturb the other visitors. Thank you for understanding and we wish you a nice experience.

Partner

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