Biserujka, also known as Omišaljska špilja, Vitezić špilja or Slivanjska jama is a

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

located 6 km northeast of

Dobrinj Dobrinj is a village and municipality in the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County in northwestern Croatia, on the island of Krk. There are 2,150 inhabitants in the municipality, with 91% Croats. The village of Dobrinj itself has 89 inhabitants. Geography ...

, in the village of Rudine, above the Slivanjska Bay, in the island of

Krk Krk (; ; ; ; archaic German: ''Vegl'', ; ) is a Croatian island in the northern Adriatic Sea, located near Rijeka in the Bay of Kvarner and part of Primorje-Gorski Kotar county. Krk is tied with Cres as the largest Adriatic island, depending o ...

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. An undistinguished stone house in the middle of a bare

karst Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...

landscape hides the entrance to a cave 12 m under the surface. Although it is not very long if compared to other caves, only 110 m deep, the Biserujka cave has everything that is characteristic of karst phenomena. It has typical features such as

stalactites A stalactite (, ; , ) is a mineral formation that hangs from the ceiling of caves, hot springs, or man-made structures such as bridges and mines. Any material that is soluble and that can be deposited as a colloid, or is in suspension, or is ca ...

and stalagmites, and also a gallery or

hall In architecture, a hall is a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age and the Early Middle Ages in northern Europe, a mead hall was where a lord and his retainers ate and also slept. Later in the Middle Ages, the gre ...

, which is suitable for the holding of concerts. However, because of the low temperature, about 13 °C, people cannot stand being there for long periods of time, so only short musical pieces are performed. Since 1998, the cave has been arranged for sightseeing and the hosts can take groups of 25 at a time.Radovan Radovanovič, ''The Croatian Adriatic Tourist Guide'', p. 115, Zagreb (1999),

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