Snezhanka (cave)

Snezhanka (, "

Snow White "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as ...

") is a

show cave A show cave—also called tourist cave, public cave, and, in the United States, commercial cave—is a cave which has been made accessible to the public for guided visits. Definition A show cave is a cave that has been made accessible to ...

in the

Rhodope Mountains The Rhodopes (; bg, Родопи, ; el, Ροδόπη, ''Rodopi''; tr, Rodoplar) are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe, and the largest by area in Bulgaria, with over 83% of its area in the southern part of the country and the remainder i ...

, away from the town of

Peshtera Peshtera ( bg, Пещера , sometimes transliterated as ''Peštera''; rup, Peshtera) is a town in the Rhodope Mountains, southern Bulgaria. It is located in Pazardzhik Province near the towns of Batak and Bratsigovo. The town is the third lar ...

, southern

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Mac ...

. It was discovered in 1961. The cave is 145 metres long, with a constant annual temperature of , and was formed by the Novomahlenska River 3.5 million years ago. Forest - Rhodope mountain

The cave is rich in

stalactite A stalactite (, ; from the Greek 'stalaktos' ('dripping') via ''stalassein'' ('to drip') 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 an ...

stalagmite A stalagmite (, ; from the Greek , from , "dropping, trickling") is a type of rock formation that rises from the floor of a cave due to the accumulation of material deposited on the floor from ceiling drippings. Stalagmites are typically ...

s, draperies and

sinter Sinter may refer to: * Sinter plant, in which iron-ore dust gets mixed with other fine materials at high temperature, to create a product – sinter – for use in a blast furnace * Sintering, a high temperature process for fusing powder together ...

lakes. It consists of several halls: Udders Hall, The Large Hall, The Music Hall, linked by the Toppling over which a metal bridge runs. In the Wonderful Hall, built by snow-white crystal sinter, nature has shaped a figure, often likened to the fairy-tale character Snow White, after which the cave was named. In the middle of the cave there are circular hearths, where animal bones and artifacts dating back to early

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

were discovered. The

Thracians The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied ...

used the cave as a refuge from their enemies. Snezhanka is among the 100 National Touristic Places of the Bulgarian Touristic Union. The cave is open to visitors. Snejanka Cave.JPG Snejanka-cave-udder.jpg Snezhanka Cave 2012 07.JPG Snezhanka Cave 2012 17.JPG File:Snezhanka Cave 060.jpg File:Snezhanka Cave 019.jpg File:Snezhanka Cave 024.jpg File:Snezhanka Cave 025.jpg File:Snezhanka Cave 030.jpg File:Snezhanka Cave 040.jpg File:Snezhanka Cave 034.jpg File:Snezhanka Cave 035.jpg File:Snezhanka Cave 047.jpg File:Snezhanka Cave 051.jpg File:Snezhanka Cave 068.jpg File:Snezhanka Cave 070.jpg File:Snezhanka Cave 077.jpg File:Snezhanka Cave 078.jpg {{DEFAULTSORT:Snezhanka (Cave) Tourist attractions in Pazardzhik Province Show caves in Bulgaria Rhodope Mountains Limestone caves