Barac Caves

The caves rich history

Catch a glimpse of eternity as you walk through the halls and corridors of the Barać Caves, starting from the entrance, and the Guano hall, and continuing through the Elephant Feet Hall filled with cave formations and up to ten meter high columns (stalagnates).

Discover the grandiose Dragon’s Gorge and the Hall of Lost Souls and experience the distant past and the beauty of absolute darkness. The cave is particularly interesting due to the fact that in 1955 Professor Mirko Malez, Ph.D. claimed it to have been the home of the early man because of its location and age. In addition to these ancient humans, animal bones have been discovered in the cave along with ceramics and bronze pieces, including a bronze bracelet dating from the 7th century B.C. and a stone ax dating from the 6th century B.C.

Local legends of the caves

The Barać Caves were known as Radakovic Caves. The surname Barać is gone in this region – this is a toponym dating back from the times before or during the Turkish invasions. According to a local legend, the caves were named after a person called Barać who defeated the furious Turkish giant in the battlefield and with that act earned himself such great honor. We know that there are three caves. Some call them Large and Small, Upper and Lower, and the third one is simply called the Third, which allegedly has nothing to do with the two former ones. After rediscovering its entrance and position, along with some new channels, the third cave was named – the New Barać Cave.

Location and the glory of caves

The Caves of Barać are about six kilometers to the east of Rakovica (on the highway Zagreb-Split). Entrances to all three caves from the north are called Baraćeve Brine. At the bottom of Brine, between the entrances to the caves, there is the Baraćevac spring, which, together with two smaller springs create the Kršlja stream that merges with the Suvaja stream some twenty meters further. The Kršlja flows several kilometers through the field, and at its eastern part, through a series of pits, enters the Varićak Cave, where it accounts for the greatest amount of water in its channels.

So if you want to let nature teach us of the richness of simplicity and the beauty of historical life then take some time off to visit Barać Caves and experience the rich nature of our ancestors, clean and beautiful in its simplicity, which are slowly and increasingly forgotten by modern man.