Harmanecká Cave

The inside of the cave

The Harmanecká Cave ( German Herma Netzer [ stalactite ] Cave ) is a cave located in the middle of Slovakia at the community Dolny Harmanec. Geomorphological it is in the Kremnitz mountains and the entrance ( 821 m nm) is 260 meters above the valley of the brook Harmanec situated. The cave is 2763 m long in total, of which 720 m operated as a show cave.

The entrance area called Izbica has been known for ever and was used as an accommodation in bad weather by loggers and forest workers. A further examination of the interior was granted in 1932. The discoverer was in turn a penalty for unauthorized entry into the land of the urban forest. During the Second World War, in 1944, the cave served as a hiding place for the local population. In 1949 the cave and the surrounding terrain was surveyed in order to operate a part of the cave to the public since 1950 can. In 1968 the cave was declared a protected natural monument.

The cave was formed in two layers of the Mesozoic lime Gutensteiner the Middle Triassic. It was created by corrosion and erosion of the slowly flowing water. Worth seeing are white pagoda-like stalagmites, sinter lakes, wall waterfalls in the Gothic cathedral, and the stone vase in the Great Cathedral, has also become the symbol of the cave. The air temperature at 6 ° C, relative humidity 94 % to 97 %.

It is also one of the most important bat localities in Slovakia, with 11 so far proven bat species. Here belong: Greater Horseshoe Bat ( Rhinolophus ferrumequinum ), Lesser Horseshoe Bat ( Rhinolophus hipposideros ), Greater mouse- eared bat (Myotis myotis), whiskered bat ( Myotis mystacinus ), Geoffroy's bat (Myotis emarginatus ) and Lesser Mouse- eared bat (Myotis blythii ).