- Marble cave
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Marble cave (Albanian: Shpella e Gadimes, Serbian: Мермерна пећина, Mermerna pećina) is a karst limestone cave located in Kosovo[a], in the municipality of Lipljan. Much of it is still unexplored.
Contents
Location
The Marble Cave is located in the village of Donje Gadimlje, in the vicinity of Pristina (20 km). It lies 360 km from Belgrade and 65 km from Skopje.
The Cave
The entrance to the cave was discovered in 1966 by Ahmet Diti while he was building an extension to his house. The cave was opened to tourists in 1976. The total length of the cave is 1260 m and the tourist path is 440 m long. The air temperature ranges from 12 C to 15 C, the relative humidity is less than 100% and the air velocity is between 5 and 10 m/s.
The cave is made up of marble peaks formed by the metamorphosis of limestone, a very rare phenomenon. The following can be differentiated in the cave: the Entrance and Western, Northern and Eastern Galleries. Massive pillars are predominant in the halls while the ceiling is covered with stalactites. Many pillars reach heights of up to 5 meters and they are covered with spikes, which is a special oddity of the cave. Ornaments are in different colours, ranging from aragonite white crystal to red, with all shades in between these two contrasting colours.
Notes and references
Notes
a. ^ Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Serbia and the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo. It declared independence on 17 February 2008, while Serbia claims it as part of its own sovereign territory. Its independence is recognised by 85 UN member states. References
- 501 Must-visit Natural Wonders. Bounty Books. 2007. ISBN 978-0-753715-91-8.
- "Mermerna pećina". http://www.serbia-tourism.org/srpski/tekst.php?podaci=priroda.txt&gde=mer. Retrieved 2009-02-18.[dead link] (Serbian)
Categories:- Caves of Serbia
- Kosovo geography stubs
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