Krásnohorská Cave is a karst

KARST

Kilometer-square Area Radio Synthesis Telescope is a Chinese telescope project to which FAST is a forerunner. KARST is a set of large spherical reflectors on karst landforms, which are bowlshaped limestone sinkholes named after the Kras region in Slovenia and Northern Italy. It will consist of...

 cave situated at the northern foot of the Silická planina Plain, in the Slovak Karst

Slovak Karst

The Slovak Karst is one of the mountain ranges of the Slovenské rudohorie Mountains in the Carpathians in southern Slovakia. It consists of a complex of huge karst plains and plateaus. Since 1973 it was a protected landscape area. On 1 March 2002 Slovak Karst National Park was declared...

, 6.5 km southeast of Rožňava

Rožnava

Rožňava is a town in Slovakia, approximately 71 km by road from Košice in the Košice Region, and has a population of 19,120.The town is an economic and tourist center of the Gemer. Rožňava is now a popular tourist attraction with a beautiful historic town centre. The town is an episcopal seat...

, in Slovakia

Slovakia

The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...

. With unique natural decorations of bizarre shapes and unusual structure composed almost entirely of calcium

Calcium

Calcium is the chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. It has an atomic mass of 40.078 amu. Calcium is a soft gray alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth-most-abundant element by mass in the Earth's crust...

, it is currently listed by the Guinness Book of Records as the cave containing the largest 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...

 in existence, generally accepted as being about 12 m in diameter and 32.7 m in height. It grows significantly in volume every year as the incessant drips solidify.

The length of the cave is 1350 to 1450 metres and it represents the end of the cave system underground stream Buzgó.

Description

Part of the cave from the entrance to the Hall of Giants (Sieň obrov) is formed in dolomite

Dolomite

Dolomite is a carbonate mineral composed of calcium magnesium carbonate CaMg2. The term is also used to describe the sedimentary carbonate rock dolostone....

 and dolomitic limestones with impressive limestone layers. The back parts of the cave like the Pearl Passage (Chodba perál), the Great Hall (Veľká sieň) and the Mirror Hall (Zrkadlová sieň), are located in pure limestones areas. The Great Canyon (Veľký kaňom) passageway was formed as a result of tectonic faults which also helped shape large chambers in the back part of the cave, discovered by Rožnava cavers in 1964. Like the other caves in the Slovak Karst zone, it is on the UNESCO

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

 List of the World Natural Heritage.

External links

• Krásnohorská cave at krasnohorskajaskyna.sk