State Nature Conservancy of the Slovak Republic Slovak Caves Administration
Štátna ochrana prírody
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Gombasecká Cave

logo_gombasecka_jaskyna.png

From the canyon of Slaná to the underground of the Silická plateau

Gombasecká Cave belongs among the most important caves of the Slovak Karst national park. It is known mostly by occurrence of thin straw stalactites. Within the „Caves of Slovak and Aggtelek Karst“ it was inscribed on the world heritage list.

Opening times and cave map


Cave map
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Closed Open

Price list


Cave tour Adults Children 6-15y.,
handicapped people *1
Students,
> 60 years *2
Photo-Video
without using a tripod *3
Extra
admission *4
Gombasecká Cave 10,00 € 5,00 € 9,00 € 7,00 € 50,00 €

Notes:

*1 - Children from 6 to 15 years; disabled over 15 years with valid certificate
*2 - Full-time students - if studying at a university, a confirmation of student status for the current academic year; Persons over 60
*3 - Photo-Video - Taking pictures and short video recording without using a tripod can be accomplished only during cave visit after payment of entrance fee and extra fee for taking pictures. The fluency and safety of cave operation mustn’t be disrupted.
*4 - Extra admission can be enabled by the cave manager on visitor’s request only between the times of regular admissions and after paying the admission fee and extra fee. The fluency of cave operation mustn’t be disrupted.

NO RESERVATIONS OF ADMISSIONS ARE PROVIDED. During low visiting numbers the admission are scheduled according to preset times, however during high visiting numbers the admissions are organized continuously in intervals corresponding to current possibilities at individual caves, i.e. also between the preset times.

Cave tour


Duration Lenght Average temperature
Gombasecká Cave 30 min 530 m 9,0 - 9,4 °C

The length of accessible part of the cave is 285 m, but since almost all the path is walked through twice, the length of the show path is 530 m, the duration of the visit is 30 min. Vertical distance is only 7-8 m, and the number of steps is 87. Air temperature in the cave reaches 9 to 9,4°C.

The visitors can watch the thin, hollow flowstone soda straw stalactites, which are formed and preserved here like in no other cave in Slovakia. Except for them, there are other forms of stalactites, stalagmites, thin flowstone layers and crusts.

Basic information and contact


Cave manager:Ing. Ján Karcagi
Adress:049 11 Plešivec
Phone:+421/ (0)58/ 788 20 20
E-mail:gombj@ssj.sk
District:Rožňava
Region:Košický
Cadastral territory:Slavec
Geomorphological unit:Slovenský kras
Designation:Sprístupnené SSJ, Národné prírodné pamiatky, Jaskyne svetového dedičstva
Lenght:3 057 m
Depth:68 m

Location


It is situated on the western foothill of the Silická Plateau in the Slovak Karst National Park. Cave entrance is located 11 m above the Black Resurgence  at elevation of 250 m above the sea.

Access to cave


The cave is located 10 km southerly from Rožňava, on the left hand side of the Slaná River canyon, between Rožňava and Plešivec. The parking place is very close to the cave.

The closest stop of public transport:

  • Slavec (bus, train)

Car access to cave:

  • from Rožňava direction Tornaľa – 10 km
  • from Tornaľa direction Rožňava – 20 km

GPS súradnice

N 48,5628014 E 20,4664993
Enter a city where you want to get to us: Sorry, you can not calculate route.

Natural settings


Gombasecká CaveIt is formed in the Middle Triassic pale Wetterstein limestones, dark-grey Gutenstein limestones, pale limestones and dolomitic limestones along the tectonic faults, by corrosive and erosive activities of the Black Brook  and its intermittent tributary from the well in the Marble Hall. The Gombasecká Cave and Silická Ice Cave are a part of the Silica-Gombasek underground hydrological system. Both the caves are separated by so far unknown section of the Black Brook. It springs to the surface through the Black Resurgence, 11 m above the bottomland of the Slaná River.

The Gombasecká Cave represents a fluviokarst outlet cave, which is 1,525 m long. The two floors consist of oval, river modeled as well as fissure passages, which are in places widened by collapses into domes and halls. The upper floor is situated 5 to 10 above the active riverbed of the Black Brook, which flows in the lower parts of the cave. The Dry Passage, located on the upper floor, was formed by waters of unknown origin, which intermittently rise through the 10 m deep well in the Marble Hall also at present.

Gombasecká CaveThe cave is unique by thin straw stalactites, which can reach as much as 3 meters’ length. Also other forms of stalactites, stalagmites, sinter curtains, coatings and crusts can be found here. Air temperature in the cave ranges between 9.0 and 9.4 ºC, and relative humidity between 95 and 97%.

Remarkable is the finding of a blind multipede of Typhloiulus sp. genus with 26 mm body length, which represents the biggest troglobite – genuine cave animal ever found in the Slovakian caves. From among the bats, which occur in the cave only occasionally, we can observe the Smaller Horseshoe Bat sometimes in spring or autumn season. Fire salamanders (Salamandra salamandra) use to dwell in the entrance passage from autumn to spring in the recent years.

History


Gombasecká CaveVolunteer cavers from Rožňava, organized in the Slovak Speleological Society, discovered the cave in 1951 (V. Rozložník, L. Herényi, Š. Roda, A. Abonyi, A. Rusňák, Š. Ivanec and others). They entered the underground spaces through the Black Resurgence with the help of some excavation works. The cave has been opened to the public since 1955, thanks to L. Herényi and his collaborators. It had been used for speleotherapy for ten year since 1968, as the first cave in Slovakia. The length of accessible part is 285 m.

Photo gallery


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News

15. vedecká konferencia: "Výskum, využívanie a ochrana jaskýň" / 15th scientific conference "Research, utilization and protection of caves"

Konanie: 24.- 26. september 2024. Bližšie informácie o tomto podujatí nájdete na odkaze.

The conference will be held from September 24 to 26, 2024 in Liptovský Mikuláš. More on the link.

Cave visit with small children

Dear visitors, due to increased visitation of parents with very small children (circa up to 3 - 4 years of age), we would like to kindly ask you to have a rucksack baby carrier with you for visiting the more demanding caves in given time. This recommendation concerns all caves but the most concerned are the following ones: Demänovská Cave of Liberty, Belianska Cave, Dobšinská Ice Cave, Demänovská Ice Cave, Harmanecká Cave. We also ask you to consider visiting the cave with your crying child, which could disturb the other visitors. Thank you for understanding and we wish you a nice experience.

Cave tour guides for download

Dear visitors, cave tour guides are available for download
Contact form

Partner

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