Cioclovina Cave is located within the village of the same name, in the commune of Boșorod, at the springs of the Lucanilor Valley. The beauty and mystery of this cave envelops the cave in a special aura. The cave is more accessible to speleologists, but there are also areas where tourists without much experience can visit. Here, one of the greatest treasures was discovered in the 20th century. It is a texaur of ornaments dated in the First Iron Age, respectively a deposit that contained over 6,000 objects made of bronze, amber, tiles and glass. Also here was discovered the largest skull of Homo Aapiens Fosilis, over 30,000 years old. Ponorici Cave - Cioclovina with water is located in the Șureanu Mountains and was gorged in the mountains by the Ponorici brook, being, in fact, consisting of two caves: “Dry Cioclovina” (or dry cave) and the water cave.
Ponorici-Cioclovina Karst Complex is a protected area of national interest, located within the Grădiștea Muncelului-Cioclovina Natural Park. The natural area has an area of 1.50 hectares. The area has a great paleontological value (Dry Cioclovina Cave), speleological (Călianului Valley Cave, Dry Cioclovina, Water Cioclovina) but also a floristic, faunal, landscape and scientific one.
Crystal over a meter and a skull of Homo Sapiens Fosilis
This cave is also recognized and appreciated because here is a crystal which is over one meter in height (113 centimeters). Cioclovina Cave is one of the most important caves in the basin and exceptional discoveries have been made, such as the oldest skull of Homo Sapiens Fosilis in Romania, a new phosphate mineral Ardealitul (four overlapping Paleolithic strata were discovered here), guano deposits. In the first decades of the twentieth century, more than 30,000 cubic meters of guano-phosphate were extracted from the galleries of the cave. In the late 1930s, during guano exploitation, a human skull was discovered among the many fossils of cave bears, which, according to researchers, date back almost 30,000 years. The skull belongs to a person that combines the features of modern man and the archaic Neanderthals.
In 2016, the skull was confirmed as belonging to a Homo sapiens and among the oldest Europeans discovered to date. Although the skull had clearly visible fractures, their origin has been intensely debated since its discovery. Experts say the man was killed, most likely during a fight. Traces on the skull lead to the conclusion that he received several blows in a face-to-face confrontation. A mining gallery was dug in the wall of the slope where the Dry Cioclovina Cave is located, in order to make it easier for the miners to reach the guano-phosphate deposit. The special forms of corrosion are rendered by pressure tubes with a diameter of up to 5 meters, ceiling and wall pots, as well as by the Great Ceiling Section of 6 meters. Initially, the cave was 763 meters long, now it is 2,002 meters.
Cioclovina cave with water
The cave entrances are located near the shale and limestone contact, in the southern and northern extremity of the Luncani karst plateau. Ponorici Cave opens at the base of a rock 80 and 90 m high, close to the riverbed, near Aven de Ponorici. The gallery network is 7,800 m long. Between the two entrances, the karst system can be traversed with specific speleological equipment. About 200 meters from the entrance to Ponorici, to the first well of -27 m, the cave can be visited by any tourist. Also, you can easily reach the entrance to the Cioclovina Cave with Water, following the forest road upstream of Luncani.
Dry Cioclovina Cave
The dry Ciclovina cave was the second cave in the world in which guanophosphate was exploited, the thickness of the deposit reaching in some places 15 meters, with an average phosphate content of 12%. The entire deposit was estimated at 50,000 tons, of which approximately 30,000 tons were exploited, excavating almost the entire surface of the sediment on a thickness of 8 and 9 meters, over two years. The name of the cave appears in the list of UNESCO monuments due to the existence here of a large deposit of guano-phosphate and the skull of primitive man. You can visit the anthropic tunnel through which wagons carrying the guano-phosphate once entered. The natural entrance is difficult to access.
Photo source: Facebook / Cioclovina Cave Facebook/ TNS Adventures – Outdoor Activities Guides
Facebook/ TNS Adventures – Outdoor Activities Guides
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