Bulgaria Show cave
Saeva dupka cave
40 m deep, 0.2 km of galleries.
Edal Anton Lefterov · CC BY-SA 3.0
The descent
40 metres down, to scale.
The real relief above Saeva dupka cave, measured on the Copernicus model every 30 m, and the cave going down at the same vertical scale.
a two-storey house (9 m) would fit upside down 4.4 times.
The depth is the one published by those who explored it; the shape of the galleries is a sketch, not a survey.
40m
Depth
published (Wikidata)
0.2km
Galleries
surveyed length (Wikidata)
520m
Entrance altitude
published (Wikidata)
11°C
Inside, all year
the yearly average outside, at the entrance
98m
Rock above
the highest point within 1.5 km
Inside and outside
11 °C inside, all year.
Deep inside, a cave keeps the average temperature of the year outside: about 11 °C here, in January and in August. In August the afternoon reaches 29 °C at the entrance, 18 °C warmer than inside: take a jacket. The best months to escape the heat are from July to August.
- 3°-5°Jan
- 5°-4°Feb
- 11°0°Mar
- 16°5°Apr
- 21°10°May
- 26°14°Jun
- 28°16°Jul
- 29°16°Aug
- 24°11°Sep
- 17°6°Oct
- 11°1°Nov
- 4°-3°Dec
Outside: afternoon and night averages for 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the entrance. Inside: the yearly average, which deep parts of a cave keep. Near the entrance it follows the weather a little.
Cave in Bulgaria
Saeva dupka cave is a show cave in Bulgaria. It goes down 40 m below the entrance and has 0.2 km of surveyed galleries. The entrance is at 520 m. It has stalactites and stalagmites. It is open to visitors.
Getting there.
- Show cave: open to visitorsticket required
- Yablanitsanearest town · 7.3 km in a straight line
- Parking 340 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Sofia Airport (SOF)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 74 km in a straight lineCar hire at SOF airport (Sofia)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
Plan the visit
Guided tours, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
From above.
The ground above the cave, with the relief shaded, the line of the section and what people have mapped around the entrance.
N
1.5 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6.0 × 6.0 km, north up. The line is the section above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the entrance.
- 3other cave entrances within 3 kmСъева дупка, Голямата Леденица
- 1car parks within 2 km
- 1campsites within 8 kmWild camp place
- 1hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmКъщата на Билките
- 1restaurants and cafés within 3 km
- springs within 2 km
- sinkholes within 3 km
- caving clubs and spots within 15 km
- viewpoints within 3 km
- marked hiking routes within 3 km
- climbing crags within 3 km
- named waterfalls within 4 km
- information boards and visitor centres within 3 km
- bus stops within 2 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the entrance. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Towns nearby
- Yablanitsa7.3 km in a straight line
- Teteven16 km in a straight line
- Lukovit17 km in a straight line
- Ugarchin20 km in a straight line
- Roman25 km in a straight line
Month by month
The weather outside, at the entrance.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon | 3 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 21 | 26 | 28 | 29 | 24 | 17 | 11 | 4 |
| Afternoon | 3 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 21 | 26 | 28 | 29 | 24 | 17 | 11 | 4 |
| Night | -5 | -4 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 11 | 6 | 1 | -3 |
| Rain (mm) | 44 | 42 | 51 | 52 | 89 | 90 | 81 | 54 | 57 | 56 | 36 | 46 |
| Rainy days | 9 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 15 | 14 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 10 |
| Sun hours/day | 2.8 | 4.0 | 5.2 | 7.0 | 8.3 | 9.4 | 10.0 | 9.4 | 7.1 | 5.0 | 2.8 | 2.4 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 16 | 14 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 14 |
| Afternoon | Afternoon | Night | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 3 | 3 | -5 | 44 | 2.8 |
| Feb | 5 | 5 | -4 | 42 | 4.0 |
| Mar | 11 | 11 | 0 | 51 | 5.2 |
| Apr | 16 | 16 | 5 | 52 | 7.0 |
| May | 21 | 21 | 10 | 89 | 8.3 |
| Jun | 26 | 26 | 14 | 90 | 9.4 |
| Jul | 28 | 28 | 16 | 81 | 10.0 |
| Aug | 29 | 29 | 16 | 54 | 9.4 |
| Sep | 24 | 24 | 11 | 57 | 7.1 |
| Oct | 17 | 17 | 6 | 56 | 5.0 |
| Nov | 11 | 11 | 1 | 36 | 2.8 |
| Dec | 4 | 4 | -3 | 46 | 2.4 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the altitude of the entrance (520 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.
Photographs
Inside and around.
Recent years
Wet years, dry years.
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 31% | 170% | 147% | 52% | 98% | 85% | 103% | 106% | 38% | 155% | 66% | 109% |
| 2021 | 221% | 52% | 175% | 130% | 80% | 92% | 37% | 70% | 43% | 176% | 90% | 232% |
| 2022 | 64% | 96% | 43% | 138% | 39% | 92% | 69% | 114% | 111% | 21% | 129% | 75% |
| 2023 | 157% | 68% | 59% | 151% | 124% | 136% | 46% | 55% | 63% | 8% | 312% | 80% |
| 2024 | 82% | 38% | 86% | 95% | 111% | 52% | 47% | 32% | 80% | 36% | 117% | 230% |
| 2025 | 15% | 33% | 73% | 110% | 117% | 21% | 30% | 48% | 23% | 280% | 211% | 109% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length, visitors | Wikidata (Q7398333) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| The relief above, the entrance altitude, the section and the 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Entrances, springs, sinkholes, opening hours and what is around | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?
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