Jaskinia Raj
Encyclopedia
Jaskinia Raj is a horizontal limestone cave in Poland
located in the hill Malik, to the south of Kielce
, Świętokrzyskie Voivodship.
It is part of the
"Red tourist trail Chęciny
- Kielce
" in the Świętokrzyskie Mountains
(Holy Cross Mountains).
s, stalagmite
s and columns of rock created over thousands of years. A maximum of fifteen people are admitted every fifteen minutes to the cave under a guide's protection. This is to maintain an internal temperature of eight to ten degrees Celsius to preserve the cave's historical value. The cave's humidity is above 95 percent. Before the entrance there is an exhibition of archeological and paleontological findings from the cave that include prehistoric tools (the cave was inhabited by Neanderthal
s) and animal bones. It is illuminated by an optical fiber
.
era, approximately 350 million years ago. Inside, there are traces of occupancy by Neanderthal men dating back 50 to 60 thousand years. There were signs of cave bear
s, woolly rhinoceros
, and mammoth
s having previously inhabited the cave as well.
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
located in the hill Malik, to the south of Kielce
Kielce
Kielce ) is a city in central Poland with 204,891 inhabitants . It is also the capital city of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship since 1999, previously in Kielce Voivodeship...
, Świętokrzyskie Voivodship.
It is part of the
"Red tourist trail ChęcinyCheciny
Chęciny is a town in Kielce County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, Poland, with 4,252 inhabitants .The town is first mentioned in historical documents from 1275. It obtained its city charter in 1325. The most important sight in the town is the royal castle built in the late 13th or early 14th century...
- Kielce
Kielce
Kielce ) is a city in central Poland with 204,891 inhabitants . It is also the capital city of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship since 1999, previously in Kielce Voivodeship...
" in the Świętokrzyskie Mountains
Swietokrzyskie Mountains
Świętokrzyskie Mountains , are a mountain range in central Poland, in the vicinity of the city of Kielce. The mountain range consists of a number of separate ranges, the highest of which is Łysogóry . The two highest peaks are Łysica at 612 meters and Łysa Góra at 593 meters...
(Holy Cross Mountains).
Description
The cave has a length of 240 m and vertical range of 9.5 m; however, only 180 m and 2 entrances is open to visitors. Despite its small size, it is regarded as one of Poland's most beautiful caves. Its corridors lead through five chambers ornamented with stalactiteStalactite
A stalactite , "to drip", and meaning "that which drips") is a type of speleothem that hangs from the ceiling of limestone caves. It is a type of dripstone...
s, stalagmite
Stalagmite
A stalagmite is a type of speleothem that rises from the floor of a limestone cave due to the dripping of mineralized solutions and the deposition of calcium carbonate. This stalagmite formation occurs only under certain pH conditions within the underground cavern. The corresponding formation on...
s and columns of rock created over thousands of years. A maximum of fifteen people are admitted every fifteen minutes to the cave under a guide's protection. This is to maintain an internal temperature of eight to ten degrees Celsius to preserve the cave's historical value. The cave's humidity is above 95 percent. Before the entrance there is an exhibition of archeological and paleontological findings from the cave that include prehistoric tools (the cave was inhabited by Neanderthal
Neanderthal
The Neanderthal is an extinct member of the Homo genus known from Pleistocene specimens found in Europe and parts of western and central Asia...
s) and animal bones. It is illuminated by an optical fiber
Optical fiber
An optical fiber is a flexible, transparent fiber made of a pure glass not much wider than a human hair. It functions as a waveguide, or "light pipe", to transmit light between the two ends of the fiber. The field of applied science and engineering concerned with the design and application of...
.
History
The cave was discovered in 1963 by Józef Kopeć and Feliks Wawrzeńczak, students of a local technical school. It was opened to the public in 1972. The five chambers of the cave were formed during the DevonianDevonian
The Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic Era spanning from the end of the Silurian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya , to the beginning of the Carboniferous Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya...
era, approximately 350 million years ago. Inside, there are traces of occupancy by Neanderthal men dating back 50 to 60 thousand years. There were signs of cave bear
Cave Bear
The cave bear was a species of bear that lived in Europe during the Pleistocene and became extinct at the beginning of the Last Glacial Maximum about 27,500 years ago....
s, woolly rhinoceros
Woolly Rhinoceros
The woolly rhinoceros is an extinct species of rhinoceros that was common throughout Europe and Asia during the Pleistocene epoch and survived the last glacial period. The genus name Coelodonta means "cavity tooth"...
, and mammoth
Mammoth
A mammoth is any species of the extinct genus Mammuthus. These proboscideans are members of Elephantidae, the family of elephants and mammoths, and close relatives of modern elephants. They were often equipped with long curved tusks and, in northern species, a covering of long hair...
s having previously inhabited the cave as well.
External links
- Official homepage
- Photo gallery
- Jaskinia Raj – with a map