Magura Cave, the Prehistoric Painted Cave near Belogradchik
Magura Cave opens in a limestone hill near the village of Rabisha in north-west Bulgaria, in the Belogradchik area. Its 2.5 km of galleries combine vast halls full of stalactites and stalagmites with more than 750 prehistoric paintings, some of the most remarkable rock art in the Balkans. It is a rewarding stop for anyone exploring the north-west.
Prehistoric artists painted here with bat guano, and one group of squares has been read as a solar calendar. The cave also hosts a sparkling-wine cellar in a side gallery.
The history of Magura Cave
Magura formed over millions of years through karst processes in thick-bedded Lower Cretaceous limestone, and one source puts its age at about 15 million years. It sits on the southern slope of Rabisha hill in the Western Fore-Balkan. The cave has a main gallery with six chambers of varying size and three lateral galleries, with a total length of about 2.5 km. Its constant temperature of around 12 °C and high humidity suited both the people who sheltered here and the bats that still live in it.
Bones of cave bear, cave hyena, fox, wolf, wild cat and otter show that animals used the cave long before the paintings. German Wikipedia states that people first used it between about 50,000 and at least 36,000 years ago, in which case the first visitors would have been Neanderthals. The wall art itself is much younger. It was made with fossilised bat guano by successive communities from the Epipaleolithic through the Neolithic and Eneolithic to the Bronze Age, with the youngest drawings dated between about 3000 and 1200 BCE in one Bulgarian source.
More than 750 images have been identified. They include dancing figures, hunting scenes, archers, animals such as caprids and bovids, masked people, suns and stars, and many geometric signs. In the so-called Cult Hall a large horizontal scene of dance and hunting, arranged in two rows, is the best known and most reproduced. One Bronze Age group of black and white squares has been interpreted as a solar calendar used to count the days of the year, described by researchers as the earliest such representation found in Europe. The style is compared with the Grotta dei Cervi in Italy.
For a long time the cave had no protection. Before 1993 anyone could enter, and some drawings were vandalised and scratched, while treasure-hunters left Latin inscriptions and paintings of their own. Magura was declared a natural landmark on 3 May 1960, covering 71 hectares around the cave, and tourists have been able to visit it since 1961. Moisture and vandalism damaged the paintings, and the gallery that holds them was closed, then restored from September 2007; access to the painted area has since been restricted to protect it.
In 1984 the cave was entered on Bulgaria’s tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage. In 2012 the Council of Ministers transferred its management to Belogradchik municipality. Today it is one of the Hundred National Tourist Sites of Bulgaria and one of the roughly twelve cave sites in the country adapted for visitors, while also serving as the most important cave for bats in the north-west.
Curious facts about Magura Cave
- The wall paintings were made with bat guano, an organic material that is rare in rock art and is also reported at the Grotta dei Cervi in Italy.
- The largest chamber, the Arc Hall, is 128 m long, 58 m wide and 21 m high.
- A side gallery of the cave is used to make sparkling wine, because conditions there are said to be very close to those of the French region of Champagne.
- Between 1942 and 24 October 1972 the cave was officially called the Rabisha Cave.
- Eight bat species live in the cave all year round, including more than 2,000 hibernating bats and a winter colony of over 450 lesser horseshoe bats, a record for the country.
- The cave’s Fallen Pine stalagmite is about 11 m long, and the nearby Rabisha lake is the largest inland tectonic lake in Bulgaria.
Tours near Magura Cave
Experiences in the area that you can book online with Viator:
Visiting Magura Cave: what to expect
- Visits are guided, run by staff of Belogradchik municipality; ask about the route, as access to the painted gallery has been restricted and has changed over time.
- Inside, the temperature stays around 12 °C and the air is humid, so a warm layer is advisable even in summer.
- Highlights on the route include the great halls with stalactites and stalagmites, named formations such as the Poplar, the Pipe Organ and the Fallen Pine, and the spacious concert hall.
- The cave is a protected natural site and a bat refuge, so follow the guide’s instructions and do not touch the walls.
- Belogradchik Fortress and the Belogradchik rocks lie about 12 km away, and Rabisha lake is close to the cave; check the current opening hours before you go.
Opening hours, access and conditions can change. Check before you go.
Map: where Magura Cave is
Photos of Magura Cave
Questions
What is Magura Cave?
Magura Cave is a show cave in north-west Bulgaria near the village of Rabisha. It is known for its huge halls with stalactites and for over 750 prehistoric paintings.
Where is Magura Cave and how far is it from Belogradchik?
It lies in Belogradchik municipality, Vidin Province, about 1.5 km north-west of the village of Rabisha. Sources give differing road distances from Belogradchik, between about 17 and 25 km.
How old are the paintings in Magura Cave?
They were made over a long span of time, from the Epipaleolithic and Neolithic through the Eneolithic to the Bronze Age. Sources differ on the date of the very oldest images.
What are the Magura paintings made of?
They were painted with bat guano. This organic material is unusual in prehistoric art.
Can you see the cave paintings at Magura?
Access to the painted gallery is restricted to protect the drawings, and the rules have changed over time. Ask about current conditions before you go.
What else is worth seeing near Magura Cave?
Belogradchik Fortress is about 12 km away, Castra Martis about 20 km and Albotin Monastery about 31 km. The Roman site of Ratiaria lies some 28 km away.
Also nearby
Belogradchik Fortress
Belogradchik · Roman-era fortress using towering natural rock
12 km away
Castra Martis
Kula · late Roman fortress and the tower that named a town
20 km away
Ratiaria
Vidin region · Roman Danube colony and capital of Dacia Ripensis
28 km away
Albotin Monastery
Deleyna · 14th-century rock monastery and Easter dances
31 km away