Stopica cave
You can buy tickets for visiting the Stopića cave on the Visit-Serbia online platform. Link for purchase: https://bit.ly/stopica-pecina-online You can also visit this location with a combined ticket for the 4 Pearls of Zlatibor, which you can also buy on the Visit-Serbia online platform. Link for online shopping: https://bit.ly/4-bisera-online
Stopića cave is located on the northeastern side of the Zlatibor mountain, between the villages of Rožanstvo and Trnava, a few hundred meters from the Zlatibor-Sirogojno road, which makes it one of the most accessible speleological facilities in Serbia. It is 19 km from the tourist center of Zlatibor. The professional public became interested in the Zlatibor cave of imposing dimensions at the beginning of the twentieth century, and the first written information about it can be found in the Records of the Serbian Geological Society from 1901, while the first speleological research was carried out by our great researcher and creator of scientific speleology, the famous Jovan Cvijić from 1909 to 1913. Due to its natural characteristics, preservation of morphological and hydrological features, primarily bigren tubs, as unique in size and way of creation, preservation of endemic species of cave flora, environment and beauty of the landscape, Stopića cave was placed under the protection of the state as a nature monument, a protected natural asset of exceptional importance by the Decree of the Government of the Republic of Serbia in 2005. The Natural Monument "Stopića Pećina" is managed by the Zlatibor Tourist Organization. The cave was arranged for tourist tours and opened to visitors in 2009, when the access footpath leading from the parking lot to the entrance to the cave was built.
Stopića cave was named after the village of Stopići. The existing footpath joins the old approach path, which used to lead to the cave. The most interesting part of the old path is the passage between the wiggles. Wiggleds are openings in the cave ceiling, and are popularly known as dugures. There are six in total and each opening is connected to the cave by a system of side channels. The wiggles are of different sizes, and the largest is 22.5 meters long and 16 meters wide. That the wiggleds are connected to the cave was proven already in the early stages of the cave research, and the inhabitants of the surrounding villages came to that conclusion in a very interesting way, even before the first speleologists. They threw colored stones into each of the six chasms in the ground. Every colored stone they threw through the peephole was found in the cave, which was clear evidence that the holes in the ground were part of the cave system. Passing along the route past these openings is currently prohibited, as the route is not yet fully groomed. The entrance to the Stopića cave is one of the largest cave openings in Serbia, with impressive dimensions. It is 18 meters high and between 30 and 40 meters wide. It is located at 711 meters above sea level, on the right bank of the river Prištevica, whose roar can be heard all the time as you approach the path to the cave. The Prištavica River is a fast mountain river, so in the past, several watermills were built downstream from the entrance to the Stopića Cave, where the inhabitants of the surrounding villages, using the power of the wild river, milled grain.
The approach to the cave and the plateau in front of the entrance were decorated in 2009, the same year the cave was opened to visitors. Then a ticket office was built and furniture was arranged, tables and benches were placed for visitors to rest, and the entire access complex was reconstructed in 2018. Stopića cave is a river cave and the Trnava stream flows through it. The entire cave system is 1,691 meters long. The cave is of a branched type and consists of five speleomorphological units: the Light Hall, the Dark Hall, the Hall with Baths, the Canal with Baths, which are arranged for tourist tours and the River Canal, which is not yet open to the public. The Light and Dark Hall and the Hall with Baths are part of the Main Channel, and further on the cave splits into two parts. The river channel leads to the abyss of the Trnava Stream on one side, while the Canal with tubs leads to Pećinica on the other side. Stopića Cave, Trnavski Potok Abyss and Pećinica are parts of the same speleological system and are interconnected. Although the cave was examined by numerous expeditions, only Czech speleologists who stayed here on two occasions, in 1983 and 1984, were able to go through the entire cave system.
The light hall covers the part from the entrance to the limit as far as daylight reaches. It is 76 meters long and covers an area of 2,800 square meters. At a distance of 30 meters from the entrance, also on the left side, there is a sipar cup with a diameter of 15-20 meters and a height of 8 meters. Above the sipar cup is a wiggled - an opening in the ceiling, through which the sipar material reached and formed the cup. The height of the ceiling above the top of the Sipare compartment is 16 meters, while the height of the vertical channel to the ground is 44 meters. During research in 1984, six mummified animal remains of dogs were found on the Sipar mound, hence the name "Dog Cemetery".
The dark hall covers part of the cave from the line where daylight ends and shadow, ie darkness, begins. It is 98.5 meters long and covers an area of 1,200 square meters. In this hall is the highest height of the Stopića cave, which is 25.5 meters. In 2015, new footpaths on a metal structure were arranged, and in 2017, the flow of the Trnava stream was regulated. Before the construction of the dam and the arrangement of the riverbed, the bottom of the Dark Hall was completely flooded during high water.
The light and dark hall are poor in cave jewelry, the walls are bare and rocky, and also a significant part of the ceiling. This is a consequence of the large cave opening, which is why the entrance parts of the cave are strongly influenced by the external climate. Due to the large entrance to the first two halls of the cave, there is a stronger air flow, which reduces humidity and prevents the creation of rich cave jewelry. Unlike the Light and Dark Halls, the other parts of the cave are very rich in various decorations. Bats, spiders and river crabs live in the cave, which have lost their pigment over time due to the lack of natural light, so they are specific for their white color. The hall with bathtubs is 30 meters long and covers an area of 450 square meters. In addition to being rich in cave jewelry, nature was particularly generous to this speleological beauty by giving it a special value, bigrene tubs. They are the emblem of the cave, unparalleled in all of Europe, which is why they represent the main motive of the cave's decoration for tourist tours. Starting from the bed of the Trnava Stream, winding, reddish bigren folds are lined up, transversely, on the slope of the hall, which enclose depressions, i.e. bathtubs, different widths, lengths and depths. From top to bottom, towards the river bed, the bigrain mass ends with a one-meter-high section. Above this threshold, in the extension, shallow and narrow folds are arranged, and then they become bigger and deeper. Bigrene baths are accumulative forms of chemical erosion in limestone rocks.
From the top of the Sala with tubs, the Canal with tubs continues, through which water from rain, melting snow and other atmospheric precipitation reaches the cave. Atmospheric water is absorbed and sinks through cracks in the ground and with the help of carbon dioxide dissolves carbonate rocks, creating acidic calcium bicarbonate. Carbon dioxide is released from this unstable compound, on obstacles and rapids, and then calcium carbonate is deposited on the substrate. By constantly renewing that process, they are gradually created, i.e. big-green prechages, or big-green tubs, grow. The water that reaches the cave through the Canal with bathtubs fills the bathtubs with water, and in the period of increased rainfall, the water overflows over the bathtub and creates a special and authentic experience. In this Hall, the biggest tub is the one next to the northern wall. It is 12.5 meters long and 3 meters wide. On the lower side, it is limited by a 2.1-meter-high bigren rampart, and on the upper side, next to the wall decorated with saliva and stalactites, by a 1.5-meter-high ridge. In this Hall, there are bathtubs up to 2 meters deep, while they are located a little deeper in the canal with bathtubs, which is visited below. In 2015, the construction of the path and platform above the bigren baths was completed, and in 2016, ice lighting in different colors was installed, which emphasizes the extraordinary beauty of the underground landscape. Trnavski potok forms a unique underground waterfall with a height of 9.44 meters at higher waters. The name of the waterfall was given by speleologists who explored the cave in the 80s.
In the monograph on Stopića Cave, they wrote about the waterfall: "Due to the deafening noise, the interlocutor cannot be heard. As if from the sky, a foaming mass of water falls, causing the air to tremble, the walls seem to tremble, it is cold, and fear spreads in the pitch darkness. These are the orgies of nature, the moment of the creation of the Earth and the World. For this reason, the waterfall symbolically received the name "Source of Life." The platform in front of the waterfall was built in 2012 as part of the renovation of the entire cave complex. Behind the waterfall "Izvor života" there is a river channel that extends to the other end of the cave, all the way to the abyss of the Trnava stream. The total length of the River Canal is 795 meters, and the height difference between the place where the Trnava Stream plunges and the waterfall is 64 meters. The river channel is rich in cave jewelry, and the frequent water whirlpools in the so-called "giant pots" are particularly interesting. Among the attractive elements in the River Channel, a group of coral stalactites and stalagmites called the Coral Chimney stands out, followed by a large red lava called the Red Fireplace. The Hall with canopies, an extension where white and red saliva stand out and a lot of cave jewelry stand out for its beauty. In one part of the River Canal, the passage narrows so much that it is impossible to pass it without special equipment. In addition to narrowing, the channel is filled with water, so to pass further it is necessary to dive through the so-called siphon. This feat was only accomplished by Czech speleologists in 1983.
Due to the richness of the cave jewelry and the beauty of the underground landscapes, it is planned to arrange the River Canal for tourist tours in the future. The future footpath will lead to the top of the waterfall and further through the most attractive parts of the River Canal. The channel with tubs is the second branch of the Stopić Cave and leads to the old sinkhole of the Trnava Stream, which lost its hydrological function and got the name Pećinica. It is 587 meters long, and one part of this channel was opened to visitors in February 2019, when pedestrian paths were built through the channel, led lighting and underwater lighting were installed. The canal with tubs is very rich in cave jewelry. Stalactites are cave decorations that hang from the ceiling or wall of a cave and are formed by the precipitation of calcium carbonate from water droplets falling from the ceiling. Stalagmites are cave decorations that grow in the opposite direction of stalactites, from the floor to the ceiling. They are formed when drops from the ceiling fall to the ground and release calcium carbonate, which forms a stalagmite when it settles. In addition to these two forms, cave decorations are also cave pillars, draperies and saliva that are rich in certain parts of this cave. The hiking trail passes by seven large bigren tubs that can be filled with water in a certain period of the year. During rainy periods and when the snow melts, water from atmospheric precipitation is absorbed and sinks through the cracks in the ground and thus reaches this channel and fills the tubs with water. Water is poured from one tub to another.
Calcium carbonate is released from the water, the deposits of which form large-scale partitions. This means that the formation of bigrene tubs is an active process every time the tubs are filled with water.
In addition to the fascinating bigrene bathtubs, a massive stalactite can be seen on the right. That locality was called Kapija. Special attention in this part of the cave channel is attracted by the inscriptions that can be seen on the cave walls. The inscriptions testify that the cave was explored by numerous speleologists over many years. They carved the dates of their expeditions on the walls, and the black outlines on the ceiling indicate that the cave was also visited by curious visitors who lit the way with the help of wooden torches. At the end of the footpath through the Canal with tubs, there is the deepest bigren tub of the Stopića cave, 7.2 meters deep. A special attraction is the massive stalactites hanging over the bathtub. It is 6 meters long, has a diameter of 60 cm, and the top of the stalactite is immersed in a bathtub. On the platform near the stalactite immersed in the water, the path through the Canal with tubs ends. Since there are more attractive elements and parts rich in cave jewelry in the continuation of the canal, it is planned to equip the rest of the canal for tourist tours. Development activities include lighting and installation of new platforms for visitors in attractive areas.
The guards and guides of the Stopića Cave take care of the safety of visitors, tourist tours, cleanliness and preservation of protected natural assets. Currently, four people are employed as guards and guides, and they are available every day throughout the year to visitors who want to visit and get to know this speleological pearl in more detail. In addition to the preservation of protected natural assets, within the framework of the management of the Stopića cave, the greatest attention is paid to the safety of visitors, so the removal of moving stones from the cliffs of the cave, the maintenance of safety fences and footpaths are activities that are carried out every year. Stopića cave is the most visited speleological object in Serbia, which breaks records in the number of visitors year after year. The renovated caves are done selectively, almost every year something new is done, so the guests who have already visited the cave are happy to return to it again. In 2020, the number of visitors reached 100,000, which is an absolute record since the opening of the cave to the public. In addition to numerous guests from Serbia and the countries of the region, tourists from all over the world, from European countries, Russia, China, and the USA, are delighted with the beauty of Stopića Cave. Numerous reports were made about Stopića Cave, travel shows were recorded, and several times it was chosen as a location for shooting music videos.
You can visit this Zlatibor attraction all year round, every day, within the working hours of the cave.
Opening hours of Stopić Pećina: October 24 - April 5 - from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. April 6 - October 23 - from 9:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m
The ticket price is: 400.00 dinars - adults 250.00 dinars - children from 7 to 14 years old
You can get more information about this location by calling +381 31 583 377, +381 31 845 103.