Marble cave ( Alb. Shpella e Gadimës , also Shpella Mermerit , Serb. Mermerna pećina ) is a cave near the village of Nizhny Gadime ( Serb. Doњa Gadimљe ) in the Lipljan municipality of the Republic of Kosovo . It is located west of the оваegovac massif, about 20 kilometers south of Pristina , next to the road to Skopje . The cave entrances are located on both banks of the Klisir River ( Alb. Klysyr ), 6-10 meters above the river channel - three on the right bank and one on the left [1] .
| Marble Cave | |
|---|---|
| Alb. Shpella e Gadimës (Shpella Mermerit) , Serb. Mermerna pećina | |
 | |
| Specifications | |
| Length | 1260 m |
| Volume | 1350 m³ |
| Opening year | 1969 |
| Type of | karst |
| Enclosing rocks | marble, limestone |
| Number of inputs | four |
| Location | |
| A country |
|
The cave is formed by karst processes in marble, which is rare. Before the discovery, it was almost completely covered with mud and silt. Numerous branches of the cave are still not cleared and therefore not explored. The total length of its corridors is about 1260 meters, and their area is 1350 m² [1] . At its lowest tier there are more than 25 permanent lakes, [1] the depth of which reaches 10 meters. In the corridors of the cave, stalactites and stalagmites are found in many. Here, there are large, up to 30 centimeters in length, aragonite crystals growing in all directions [1] .
The cave was opened in 1969. A local resident named Ahmet opened the entrance when he mined a stone in the courtyard of his house. In the same year, the territory around the entrance with an area of 56.25 hectares was declared a natural monument (III category according to IUCN ) [1] . By 1976, the cave was equipped and open to tourists. The main entrance to it is taken up by a massive iron door, [2] access to the cave with dogs or other animals is prohibited [3] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 Sabri AVDULLAHI et al. GADIME CAVE IN KOSOVO, ITS GEOTOURIST VALUES AND IMPACTS : [ eng. ] // GeoJournal of Tourism and Geosites. - 2013 .-- Vol. 11, no. 1 (May). - S. 7-15. - ISSN 2065-0817 .
- ↑ Footsteps in Kosovo
- ↑ Shpella e Mermert - Gadime Marble Cave (link not available) . Date of treatment April 5, 2016. Archived April 15, 2016.