The Caves of Barać () also known as Barać Caves or Barać's Caves are a group of

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

s located near the village of

Nova Kršlja Nova Kršlja is a village in Croatia. History In the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the gendarmerie of the Drežnik Grad ''općina'' was not in Drežnik but in Nova Kršlja, farther away from Drežnik than the gendarmerie of the Rakovica ''općina''. T ...

in the municipality of Rakovica,

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. In 1892 the caves were opened to visitors but subsequently abandoned and forgotten following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In July 2004 the Upper Caves of Barać were reopened to visitors. The caves are named after a certain Barać who was a fighter against the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

. According to a legend the caves bear the name of the victory of Barać at the caves. The surname of Barać does not exist anymore in this region. In 2022, tools that were likely from the

Neanderthal Neanderthals ( ; ''Homo neanderthalensis'' or sometimes ''H. sapiens neanderthalensis'') are an extinction, extinct group of archaic humans who inhabited Europe and Western and Central Asia during the Middle Pleistocene, Middle to Late Plei ...

s were discovered in the caves, the tool was found next to a

phalanx The phalanx (: phalanxes or phalanges) was a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar polearms tightly packed together. The term is particularly used t ...

and a

tooth A tooth (: teeth) is a hard, calcified structure found in the jaws (or mouths) of many vertebrates and used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores and omnivores, also use teeth to help with capturing or wounding prey, tea ...

of a

cave bear The cave bear (''Ursus spelaeus'') is a prehistoric species of bear that lived in Europe and Asia during the Pleistocene and became extinct about 24,000 years ago during the Last Glacial Maximum. Both the word ''cave'' and the scientific name '' ...

References

External links

The Caves of Barać - official website

Pictures of the Caves of Barać
Caves of Croatia Limestone caves Landforms of Karlovac County Karst formations of Croatia Show caves in Croatia Kordun {{Croatia-stub

See also

References

External links