Prohodna Cave l Breathtaking Geology

Prohodna Cave Facts

First of all, the incredibly unique Prohodna Cave truly represents a most appealing and fascinating view of the works of Nature. Furthermore, it also forms an example of a highly specific type of cave located in Europe.
But, its most easily recognizable feature remains the two distinctly eye-shaped openings located in the ceiling. Quite surprisingly, these naturally formed openings coincidentally developed roughly the same size and shape.
This rare and truly fascinating double formation, bears the name of Okanata. This means windows in the native language of the region. Further, Prohodna Cave featured prominently in a locally produced film entitled Time of Violence.
Given its astounding beauty and distinctiveness, one fact remains completely understandable. That’s the fact that this site easily ranks as one of the most popular tourist sites in the region, and remains well known throughout the world.

Prohodna Cave Physical Description

The truly impressive Prohodna Cave itself ranks as a moderately large cave. That’s due to the fact that it measures roughly 860 ft (262 m) in length. In addition, this measurement also makes it the longest cave passage in the country it formed in.

Furthermore, this sincerely magnificent wonder of geology also has two entrances. Fascinatingly, these lay almost directly opposite each other. For obvious reasons, these structures bear the names of the Big Entrance and the Small Entrance.

Firstly, the Big Entrance itself measures roughly 148 ft (45 m) in height. Meanwhile, the dimensions of the other opening are not significantly smaller. That’s because the opening named the Small Entrance measures 115 ft (35 m) high.

To further amaze us, Nature created yet another impressive feature to this location. That holds true because the efforts of entirely natural forces allowed for the two openings to form in roughly the center of the ceiling of the large chamber.

Finally, one more awesome sight greets the fortunate visitor to Prohodna Cave. Together, the two entrances also allow great amounts of sunlight to enter the cave. As a result of this, vegetation can be found growing in places throughout its length.

Prohodna Cave Location, Formation, and History

The gorgeous Prohodna Cave formed in a region of the world already renowned for its abundance of natural beauty. That’s due to the fact that this marvel of nature formed in what now represents the country of Bulgaria, in Europe.

Even more precisely, however, the cave sits roughly 1.2 mi (2 km) from the village of Karlukovo. Further, this stunning cave of wonders sits in the equally beautiful, and similarly-named, Karlukovo Gorge. This canyon itself forms part of the Geological Park Iskar-Panega.

This work of Nature itself remains worthy of mention, because it also constitutes one of the largest karst regions in the country in which it formed. This stunning site also represents what geologists commonly refer to as a karst cave.

That’s due to its very specific geology. The walls and ceiling of the gorgeous cave primarily contain relatively large quantities of the mineral limestone. This relatively soft mineral gradually eroded over great spans of time due to the action of flowing water.

Evidence found in various locations in Prohodna Cave also indicates that humans have been aware of and made use of the cave for nearly 12,000 years. A national movement in 1966 named this rather breathtaking location as one of the 100 Tourist Sites of Bulgaria.