Govjestica Cave | Pećina Govještica | Romanija

Govještica Cave, perched at an elevation of 580 meters, is an underground wonder waiting to be explored. This 9.6-kilometer-long marvel boasts a grand entrance that doubles as a source of natural beauty.

The cave’s entrance, found on the southern side, welcomes you with a spacious 8-meter-wide and 12-meter-high opening. Right at the entrance, the cave’s ceiling hosts an oval-shaped opening adorned with deciduous trees. Beware, as this natural canopy can be a captivating, yet tricky obstacle to navigate. The entrance and its surroundings are adorned with lush mosses, adding to the cave’s mystique.

Inside, the main corridor splits into northwest and southeast branches. The northwest path remains open for further exploration and adventure.

Your journey begins with a challenge – a serene pond whose dimensions change with the season’s rainfall. During dry periods, the lake measures a mere 8 meters in diameter. Its waters flow from an undisclosed source deep within the cave’s underground realm. In winter and spring, the cave transforms into a magnificent underground river, with the water level rising by 3 meters, creating a mesmerizing spectacle as it cascades out of the cave’s expansive entrance. It’s believed that the subterranean waters from the Rešetnica River, which springs from the Glasinačka Plateau, emerge here in Govještica. During this time, access to the cave is restricted.

The initial section of the cave features an impressively wide and lengthy vault that stretches 30 meters to the north. From here, the passage leads westward, extending the cave by another 40 meters, culminating in a small, approximately circular lake that spans 10 meters in length and 8 meters in width. As you traverse passages adorned with exquisite calcite crystals and unique helictites, you’ll enter vast chambers, some reaching up to 100 meters in length. The cave’s numerous vertical shafts, several lakes, siphons, underground rivers, and sinkholes plunging over 60 meters in depth make Govještica a thrilling yet challenging destination.

Govještica isn’t just about its dimensions; it boasts natural, aesthetic, and scientific significance. The cave is home to a substantial colony of approximately a thousand bats, and it harbors significant quantities of cave bear (Ursus Speleus) bones, estimated to be 20,000 years old. The widespread presence of the troglobiotic species Anthroherpon cylindricollis and the stunning cave decorations add to Govještica’s allure, making it one of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s most captivating caves.


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