ABOUT THE CAVE “BACHO KIRO”
Bacho Kiro Cave is situated in the picaresque canyons of the rivers Andaka and Dryanovska, 300 m. away from Dryanovo Monastery "St Archangel Michael", in a vertical , limestone cliff with height 25 meters. The cave stands at an altitude of 335 meters above sea level. It is the first electrified cave in Bulgaria (1938) and it is named after the hero from the April Uprising – Bacho Kiro (in 1940). In 1962 the cave was officially proclaimed for a natural site of national importance. In 1961 the route for tourist is extended and electrified. In 2002 the electrification is repaired and modernized once again, with the support of the Ministry of Environment and Waters. ( the project "Reconstruction and modernization of the tourist route and electrification of Bacho Kiro Cave", prepared by Tourist Association Bacho Kiro Dryanovo and Dryanovo Municipality). The cave was officially re-opened after the repairing works on 1 July 2002 and the new electric lighting allows many beautiful halls and rock formations in the cave to be better seen.
The cave is a complicated, four storey labyrinth of galleries. It was formed under the force of underground floating rivers in limestone rocks. According to the geomorphological researches the initial formation lasted for about 1 800 000 years. Gradually the waters of the rivers formed the galleries and the halls, during the Late Tertiary. The secondary formation is the process of "painting" of the rocks and the formation of stalactites, stalagmites and stalactones by the karst drops of water containing lime.
The electrified route for tourist is 700m. The new metalhalogen lighting , whose light is close to day light allows the tourists to see the fantastic formations of nature called: the Rain Hall with the Stone Flower, The willows, The Lake of happiness, the Concert Hall situated on 18m. above the entrance, the Medusa, the Bear's Slide , the Bear's meadow, the lonely Stalactone, Pop Hariton's Hall, the Elephant, the Cave Ear, the Purgatory, the Throne, the Cave Eagle, the Reception Hall with thousand of forms.
The cave was studied and described for the first time in 1890 by professor Urenich, who at that time was a teacher in the Aprilovska secondary School in Gabrovo. Five years later the Shkorpil brothers, who were the pioneers of Bulgarian Archeology, made some researches.
Between 1920-1937 few archeological expeditions were made by the famous Bulgarian archeologist and speleologist Rafail Popov, who gathered the first scientific data and who found the first remnants of prehistoric people, who has lived in the cave. An archeological expedition, lead by the English explorer and expert in the Old Stone Age Dorothy Garod, came in 1937. They found a skeleton of a cave bear with a jaw about 3 m long. The skeleton is exhibited in the British Museum in London.
In 1971 – 1976 the Bulgarian-Polish expedition of the famous archeologists Sirakov, J. Kozlovski, and B. Drobnevich made detailed excavations of the cave. As a result of them thousands of artifacts, mainly implements made of flint and bones ( like knives, scrapers, ) dating back to 40-70 000 years B.C. were found.
To tell it in a few words the analysis of the data showed some of the earliest traces of human life on the Balkan Peninsula.
The cave is managed by the Tourist Association in Dryanovo since it was opened for visitors for the first time in 1938. Nowadays the visitors of the cave are lead by guides. The cave is opened for tourists during the whole year, each day of the week from 8,00 a.m. till 7.00 p.m. in the Summer season and from 10.00 a.m. till 4.00 p.m. in the Winter season. Visitors can choose between two routes: a short one ( 25 minutes) and a long one ( 60 minutes).
For information and booking: Tourist Association "Bacho Kiro" Dryanovo, tel. +359 676/2332, e-mail: bacho_kiro2@abv.bg
Tourist Association Council on Tourism Dryanovo - tel. +359 676/2436, e mail: tcct2@abv.bg
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