Snezhanka (, "

Snow White "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...

") 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 (; , ; , ''Rodopi''; ) 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 in Greece. Golyam Perelik is its highest peak ...

, southern

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. It was discovered in 1961 and opened for visitors in 1965. Snezhanka is among the

100 Tourist Sites of Bulgaria 100 Tourist Sites of Bulgaria is a Bulgarian national Social movement, movement established in 1966 to promote tourism among Bulgaria's most significant cultural, historic, and natural landmarks. As part of this program, sites of cultural and his ...

of the Bulgarian Tourist Union.

Location

Snezhanka cave is situated in the Batak Mountain of the western Rhodope Mountains in the valley of the river Novomahlenska, a tributary of the Stara reka. The cave is located 5 km southwest of the town of

Peshtera Peshtera ( , sometimes transliterated as ''Peštera'') 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 largest in the province after Paza ...

Pazardzhik Province Pazardzhik Province ( ''Oblast Pazardzhik'', former name Pazardzhik okrug) is a province in Southern Bulgaria, named after its administrative and industrial centre: the city of Pazardzhik. The territory is that is divided into 12 municipaliti ...

. It is accessible from the second class II-37 road between Peshtera and

Batak Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of closely related Austronesian peoples, Austronesian ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia, who speak Batak languages. The term is used to include the Karo people ( ...

, from where a 2 km narrow asphalt road leads to a parking. From there a 830 m foot trail leads to the cave's entrance.

Geology and description

The total length of the cave is 368 m long, with its main gallery reaching 145 m. Its area is 3,150 m² Inside there is constant annual temperature of . The cave was formed 3.5 million years ago by the river Novomahlenska. Despite its small size, the cave is rich in

stalactite 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 (chemistry ...

stalagmite A stalagmite (, ; ; ) 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 composed of calcium carbonate, but may consist ...

s, draperies and sinter 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 historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

were discovered. The ancient

Thracians The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European languages, Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared betwee ...

may have used the cave as a refuge from their enemies.

Fauna

Snezhanka is an important wintering site for several bat species, including greater mouse-eared bat (''Myotis myotis''), Geoffroy's bat (''Myotis emarginatus''),

greater horseshoe bat The greater horseshoe bat (''Rhinolophus ferrumequinum'') is an Insectivore, insectivorous bat of the genus ''Rhinolophus''. Its distribution covers Europe, Northern Africa, Central Asia and Eastern Asia. It is the largest of the horseshoe bats i ...

(''Rhinolophus ferrumequinum''),

lesser horseshoe bat The lesser horseshoe bat (''Rhinolophus hipposideros'') is a type of small European and North African insectivorous bat, related to its larger cousin, the greater horseshoe bat. As with all horseshoe bats, the species gets its name from its dist ...

(''Rhinolophus hipposideros'') and Mediterranean horseshoe bat (''Rhinolophus еuryale'').

Citations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Snezhanka (Cave) Tourist attractions in Pazardzhik Province Show caves in Bulgaria Rhodope Mountains Limestone caves