Bosnia & Herzegovina Places To See

History & interesting facts on B&H

In the southwestern no-man’s land of Herzegovina is the stunning valley of Popovo Polje. The ancient karst field is a minute piece of what is the world’s largest karst field that stretches all the way into Croatia and Slovenia.
Near the small town of Ravno and the medieval orthodox monastery of Zavala is the largest cave system discovered in Bosnia and Herzegovina – Vjetrenica Caves. This extensive cave system travels over 1.5 kilometres into the belly of the earth, with well marked and lit trails for guests.
Amongst the many archeological discoveries are the ancient cave bears and leopards, cave drawings that are estimated to be over 10,000 years old, and an old wood carved canoe from ancient times. The Cave is also home to many small lakes and endemic types of shellfish only found in deep underground aquifer systems.
Vjetrenica is now on the list for Unesco protected areas in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The cave has recently been re-opened after extensive research and improvements to the infrastructure. Well marked road signs are visible throughout the main Popovo Polje road from Stolac to Trebinje and from the main coastal road in Croatia towards Ravno.

Vjetrenica (“wind cave”) is the largest and most important cave in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and one of the most interesting caves in the Dinar mountain range, which is famous world wide for its speleological riches. In the warmer parts of the year a strong blast of cold air blows from its entrance, which is very attractive in the middle of the rocky, hot and waterless terrain.
The cave has been explored and described to a total of about 6,1 thousand meters in length; of this the main canal is about 2,47 thousand meters long. It runs from the edge of Popovo polje to the south, and on the basis of analysis of the terrain, geologists have concluded that Vjetrenica could stretch right to the Adriatic sea in the Republic of Croatia, 15-20 km away from its entrance. Along with the hydrological arguments, this assumption is also supported by the unnatural end of Vjetrenica in the form of a huge heap of stone blocks that have caved in.
First sciencefistic value of Vjetrenica cave we are finding at Plinio Secondo, who is mentioning at History naturalis first Europeian encyclopedia. Where he is determining sources of the wind Plinio Secondo, 1884:245). Even do he is not mentioning its name, speleologist are defining that there is no other cave that this one...

The morphology
Vjetrenica consists of three levels of canals:
a) The Main Canal which is almost entirely horizontal
b) the vertical canals (chimney) turning off the main canal and turning towards the topographical surface, and
c) a younger network of canals (Donja Vjetrenica and Absolonov kanal) spreading below the main canal.
There is an abundance of streams, both permanent and occasional, and lakes, whose surface area may be compared to a still sheet of glass. The largest, the Great Lake, is about 180 m. long. There are very many large stalactites and even some giant flowstone and draperies. The highest reach 60-130m. and are up to ten metres thick. There are also other decorative forms, especially stalactites, cascades and others.

Zoology
Vjetrenica is perhaps most interesting in a zoological sense. In terms of its biological variety it is one of the richest caves in the world. It is officially in second place, with 85 troglobionates, animals who have completely adapted to life in eternal darkness. There are mostly crabs (Crustacea), molluscs, insects, and here too is the only European underwater vertebrate, the Human Fish, (Proteus anguinus L). There is also a large number of endemic species which only live in caves. In this sense, there is a rich choice of dwellings within Vjetrenica. Thus in contrast to the usual conception that the world underground is lifeless, and caves are some kind of empty holes, Vjetrenica has proved to be a home for numerous species who in some way suffered on the surface in the geological past, and it is a place which makes a new form of life possible.

Paleontology
In a palaeontological sense, Vjetrenica is an important cave since the remains of eight fossilised animals have been found in it, the largest being the cave bear (Carnivoria, Ursus spelaeus) and one complete skeleton of a leopard (Carnivoria, Panthera pardus).

History and Culture
Vjetrenica was not inhabited for any length of time by people, but at its entrance there was a building which was thought to be the summer residence of a prominent family from Popovo polje. Old texts state that the owner had developed a mechanism by which he could regulate the quantity of cold air passing through his home from the cave, which as far as we know, was the first use of cave air-conditioning in the world. The standing tomb stone on the rocks at the entrance to the cave is a further witness to his life there. He probably set it up himself, and it is in fact two carved stones, typical for Medieval tombstones in this region.
The mythological side of Vjetrenica is particularly strong, although details have not been well kept. Old texts state that fairies danced and sang in the cave – which is actually one of the earliest mentions of Vjetrenica - and a mechanism using many sounds is described by which the people of Popovo would predict the future.
In a scientific sense, Vjetrenica has been the site of many different forms of research, which may be traced back to the 16th century, and these texts actually confirm the suspicion that when Pliny the Elder in his work Historia naturalis mentions a nameless cave from which a strong whirlwind blows, he was actually referring to Vjetrenica. A great wave of research began in the 20th century, which is still going on today.