Bacho Kiro Cave

Bacho Kiro sits in the gorge beside Dryanovo Monastery, a cave of about three and a half kilometres of galleries on several levels, of which several hundred metres are open on two routes, with formations, narrow passages and small lakes. Its significance is archaeological: excavation has produced a long occupation sequence, and a study published in 2020 dated human remains from the cave to around forty-five thousand years ago and identified them as Homo sapiens, which made them among the earliest modern humans known in Europe and pushed back the date of the arrival. The cave was one of the first in Bulgaria opened to visitors, in 1938. The gorge around it has walking routes and the monastery is at the entrance.

What you actually see

• Some of Europe's earliest modern human remains - dated to around 45,000 years ago.
• Two visitor routes - a short and a long circuit through the galleries.
• Narrow passages and small lakes - the character of the longer route.
• The Andaka gorge - the valley the cave and monastery sit in.

When to go

April to October; winter opening is limited. Two hours including the gorge walk. Tours are timed. The longer route involves tight sections and is not for everyone.

Honest expectations

The longer route has narrow low passages that are uncomfortable for larger visitors. Tours are in Bulgarian unless arranged. The archaeological finds are not in the cave; there is little interpretation of them on site. It is cold and wet underground.

Nearby

Dryanovo Monastery is at the cave entrance; Veliko Tarnovo lies east.