The underground river
Running through the system, making lakes and falls.
Vassia Atanassova - Spiritia โ Public domain ยท Hubertgui โ Public domain ยท Hubertgui โ Public domain
Bulgaria has more than five thousand caves, six of them equipped for ordinary visits with lighting, paths and guided tours. Closest to Sofia is **Saeva Dupka**, about 100 km north, with five chambers and acoustics good enough that concerts are sometimes held in it, and **Ledenika** near Vratsa, which has ice formations in winter. The most famous of all is **Devetashka Cave** โ an enormous chamber with seven openings in its roof letting down columns of light, internationally known from photographs, but **partly closed during the bat breeding season**, so check before going.
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Duhlata is **the longest cave in Bulgaria**: a network of passages totalling more than eighteen kilometres across six stacked levels inside the marble of Mount Vitosha, with an underground river running through it. The system is unusually complex โ chambers, tight passages, lakes, internal waterfalls and calcite formations โ and parts of it are still being explored. It was found in the 1950s and mapped over decades. **Read this carefully: Duhlata is not a show cave.** There is no lighting, no made path, no railing and no ticket office. Going in is genuine caving and requires a **qualified guide, equipment, a helmet and lighting**, arranged through the Bulgarian caving clubs. Entering without them is a real danger rather than an adventure. Anyone wanting a cave equipped for an ordinary visit should choose **Saeva Dupka** or **Ledenika** instead โ both lit and run with guided tours.
Running through the system, making lakes and falls.
A stacked system still being explored in parts.
Near Bosnek village, southern slope of Vitosha