Uhlovitsa () is a
show cave
A show cave—also called tourist cave, public cave, and, in the United States, commercial cave—is a cave which has been made accessible to the public for guided visits.
Definition
A show cave is a cave that has been made accessible to ...
in the Blue Pools Area (Bulgarian: Mестността „Сините вирове“, or ''Mestnostta "Sinite virove"'') in the
Smolyan Province
Smolyan Province ( bg, Област Смолян, ''Oblast Smolyan''; former name Smolyan okrug) is a province in Southern-central Bulgaria, located in the Rhodope Mountains, neighbouring Greece to the south. It is named after its administrative ...
of the
Rhodope Mountains
The Rhodopes (; bg, Родопи, ; el, Ροδόπη, ''Rodopi''; tr, Rodoplar) are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe, and the largest by area in Bulgaria, with over 83% of its area in the southern part of the country and the remainder in ...
, southern
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
. The cave is close to
Mogilitsa
Mogilitsa ( bg, Могилица; also ''Mogilitza'', ''Mogilica'', meaning "hillock") is a village in the Rhodope Mountains in southernmost Bulgaria, part of Smolyan municipality, Smolyan Province. As of September 2005, it has a population of 483 ...
village and 37 and 47 km away from
Pamporovo
Pamporovo ( bg, Пампорово, ''pronunciation'': /pam'porovo/) is a popular ski resort in Smolyan Province, southern Bulgaria. It is set amongst Norway spruce forests and is primarily visited during the winter for skiing and snowboarding. ...
and
Chepelare
Chepelare ( bg, Чепеларе ) is the principal town in Chepelare Municipality, part of Smolyan Province in Southern Bulgaria. It is situated in the central part of the Rhodopes, on the banks of Chepelare River. Chepelare is a popular winte ...
respectively. About 3000 tourists visit the cave every year.
Uhlovitsa is about 460 m long, 330 m of which are well-explored and developed. It is 1040 metres above sea level. The average temperature is about 10–11°C.
Many
corallite
A corallite is the skeletal cup, formed by an individual stony coral polyp, in which the polyp sits and into which it can retract. The cup is composed of aragonite, a crystalline form of calcium carbonate, and is secreted by the polyp. Corallit ...
s can be found in the cave, as can an impressive
flowstone
Flowstones are sheetlike deposits of calcite or other carbonate minerals, formed where water flows down the walls or along the floors of a cave. They are typically found in "solution caves", in limestone, where they are the most common speleothe ...
formation known as the Icefall at its end.
The cave was discovered in 1967 by Dimitar and Georgi Raichev. The name Uhlovitsa comes from the word "улулица", meaning
Strix
Strix may refer to:
* Strix (mythology), a legendary creature of ancient Roman mythology
* ''Strix'' (bird), a genus of large "earless" wood-owls
* Strix Ltd, manufacturer of kettle controls, thermostats and water boiling elements for domestic ap ...
.
{{Smolyan
Tourist attractions in Smolyan Province
Show caves in Bulgaria
Rhodope Mountains
Limestone caves