The Deep Cave is located in the Zborów Mountain Reserve in the small town of Podlesice and is the only cave available for tourist visits in the Silesian province.
- the temperature in the cave is around 7 degrees Celsius all year round, it is humid and muddy - even on a hot day, make sure to dress warmly
- the tourist season usually lasts from April to October
- the cave tour starts on the hour from the building of the Natural and Cultural Heritage Center of Jura and lasts about 45 minutes
The miners and their destructive activities
In the Crow Rocks, as in most of the rocky hills around Podlesice, crystalline calcite, known as spar, was mined for glass production. Calcite is the mineral that creates beautiful stalactite forms - thanks to it stalactites, stalagmites or dripstone coatings are formed - the cave's dripstone coat was devastated and destroyed by spar mining. Fragments of broken cave stalactites and calcite lumps can still be found all around.
The deeper, the more beautiful!
Mining works have changed the microclimatic conditions of the cave. As a result of additional openings, its almost constant temperature became dependent on external conditions. This had a negative impact on the bats hibernating in the cave and other organisms. To restore the constant microclimate of the cave, two holes in its bottom were bricked up. Currently, the constant microclimate and dripstone coat are being restored.
Bats in the Deep Cave
The Deep Cave is inhabited by 7 species of bats. Above the entrance doors, there are special holes through which these small mammals can fly in or out of the cave. Every year after the winter period, their count is carried out. In 2020, 150 were counted. To protect the bats and not wake them from their winter sleep, the cave is closed to tourist traffic in the winter period.
The most venomous spider in Poland!
The caves of the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland are often inhabited by the Cave Orb-weaver, the most venomous of the spiders in Poland. Its cocoons can also be found at the entrance to the Deep Cave - it likes places where the cold cave air mixes with the warm air from outside, so it can be found on the ceiling about 4 m from the entrance to the cave. Although its appearance is very inconspicuous, cavers say that the pain at the bite is similar to a wasp or even a hornet sting.
Publish Date: 2023-08-08
More in the Region Jura (Jura)
Total Length 122 km
