Gura Plaiului Cave

The Gura Plaiului Cave is located in the Valcan Mountains, on Gura Plaiului Hill, near Tismana. The cave can be reached by a forest road of approximately 4 km and then climbing Gura Plaiului Hill. The cave is located at an altitude of 650 m.

The cave starts with a deep pit of 7 m, closed in front with a gate of metal beams. The pit can be easily descended using a carved trunk usually found here, or better yet, using a speleological ladder. Then a large cone of rubble is descended, leading to a long hall of 70 m, with a sloping floor and heights of 3-6 m. This hall is adorned with many stalagmite formations. We are drawn to a group of slender stalagmites and two massive columns, standing over 3 m high, which appear to support the vault. The working conditions for photographers are excellent.

At the southern end of the hall, the floor is covered with a calcite crust, with many holes. This is a corner with an extraordinary high density of a single species, here you can imitate on a small area hundreds if not thousands of specimens of the beetle Tismanella chappuisi. In the holes live many underground crustaceans (nifargi). In the middle of the hall, a wide branch heading east branches off and climbs uphill. It is an area rich in speleothems, some of an unusual type. Stalactites, columns, and stalagmites predominate, but you can also see some anemolites and eccentric stalactites. The terminal fissure of this hall is rich in concretions. In this sector, detailed images of calcite concretions can be made, but there are also favorable angles for the overall ensemble of speleothems.

The total length of the cave is 150 m.

It was formed by the intense dissolution process at the intersection of two faults, on which the two extensions of the hall were also formed.
The cave can be visited. The entrance is more difficult being a small aven with a depth of 7 m, which can be descended with the help of a rope.

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