Na Pomezi Caves

The Na Pomezi caves are cut into a lens of crystalline limestone - marble - in the Rychlebske hory, and they are the largest system of their kind in the Czech Republic, with about seventeen hundred metres mapped of which roughly four hundred are on the visitor route. Marble dissolves differently from ordinary limestone: the passages are irregular with domes, chimneys and pockets rather than following flat bedding, and the walls carry the banding of the metamorphosed rock. The dripstone is fine and varied, with curtains and formations named in the usual way - the Royal Dome and Klicova sin among them. It was discovered in 1936 during quarrying and opened after the war. The caves stay around seven degrees. Nearby is the Jesenik area with its spa tradition, founded by Vincenz Priessnitz, who developed hydrotherapy here in the nineteenth century and made the region famous for water cures.

What you actually see

• The largest marble caves in the country - about 1,700 metres mapped.
• Irregular dissolved passages - domes and chimneys rather than flat bedding.
• Banded marble walls - the metamorphic rock showing through.
• Fine dripstone - curtains and named formations on the visitor route.

When to go

April to October. Two hours.

Honest expectations

Guided tours only, seasonal, with reduced winter opening. Around seven degrees inside. Steps and low sections. The route covers a fraction of the mapped system.

Nearby

Jesenik spa is close; Rejviz bog is south.