Magura Cave

Overview

Magurata is a cave in northwestern Bulgaria, Vidin district, Belogradchik municipality. It is famous for its drawings (since the Paleolithic) of primitive people and numerous bats. It is formed by karst processes in thick-layered lower-credit gray-white limestones. It is one of the largest Bulgarian caves. Its exit is called the Gatekeeper. There are halls and galleries: Triumphal Hall, Field, Harmana, Bat Gallery, Shooting Range, Picture Gallery, Ominous Gallery, Sun Hall, Stalacton Hall, Fallen Pine Hall, Poplar Hall, Poplar Hall, Throne Hall, Concert Hall. Some halls are colossal in size. All halls are connected by galleries and cave tunnels, there are many stalactites, stalagmites and stalactons, and in the Triumphal Hall there is a small lake. The cave has a constant temperature of 12 ° C. The total length of its galleries is 2500 m. On the walls you can see paintings from several historical epochs made with guano (bat manure). The earliest paintings are from the late Paleolithic, there are also from the Neolithic; the most recent are from the Bronze Age and were painted between 3000 and 1200 BC. The drawings depict mostly hunting scenes, solar-lunar calendar, fertility. Most are grouped, but there are also separate drawings. Some are relief due to the natural erosion of the rock below them. The microorganisms imported from the external environment, the molds formed due to the constant lighting and human intervention destroy most of the paintings and for a long time the Gallery of Paintings was closed.