Resava Cave

Resavska Pećina was opened to the public in 1972 and was long the most visited cave in Serbia, until Stopića overtook it, a system on several levels of which around eight hundred metres are on the tour route, running through halls with names attached by guides and formations coloured by different minerals: iron oxides give red, calcite white, and clay yellow, so the chambers differ markedly from one another. The cave itself is estimated at some eighty million years old and its oldest dripstone at forty-five million, and its corridors run to about four and a half kilometres; its symbol is a twenty-metre stalagmite known as the Mother with Child. The temperature inside stays around seven degrees year round, which makes it a good hot-day destination and a cold one otherwise. Tours run at set times in groups and take about forty minutes. Lisine waterfall and the Beljanica springs are close by on the same circuit.

What you'll find

• Coloured dripstone - red, white and yellow formations in successive halls.
• Large chambers - the biggest halls on the tour route.
• Columns and curtains - stalactites and stalagmites joined into pillars.
• The lit route - eight hundred metres of walkway through the system.

When to go

Year round; the cave stays at about seven degrees, so a jacket is needed even in August. Summer weekends bring queues and full groups. Winter is quiet with reduced tour frequency.

What to expect

Visits are guided only, in groups, at fixed times, and independent exploration is not possible. Commentary is usually in Serbian, with English by arrangement. It is cold and damp inside and the walkways are slippery. Summer queues can be long.

Nearby

Lisine waterfall lies southeast; Manasija monastery is west.

Key facts