What unites a human fish, a leopard fossil and a Czech explorer?
Vjeternica Cave in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is one of 26 new sites on the list of cultural and natural heritage of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Although they are on the list from earlier and Old bridge in Mostar and the Mehmed Pasha Sokolović bridge in Višegrad, a natural phenomenon from this former Yugoslav republic was selected for the first time.
After the Slovenian Postojna Cave, is the second cave from Yugoslavia under UNESCO protection.
"It is a natural treasure primarily because of its biodiversity, because it has many endemic (threatened) species and is one of the main research stations for underground fauna," says Jasminko Mulaomerović from the Center for Karst and Caves from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Vjetrenica, five million years old, the largest karst landscape in the country, he explains.
"This is a great and important recognition because more will be said about speleology and its significance," he emphasized for the BBC in Serbian.
Speleology is an interdisciplinary science that deals with the study of karst formations, including caves.
The site was chosen at the 46th session of UNESCO in New Delhi, at the end of July 2024, 17 months after the official nomination was submitted.
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There are currently 1.223 sites worldwide on the UNESCO list of cultural properties.
Next to the Bosnian-Herzegovinian cave, they are on the list in July to add and the Chinese complex Central wasp -a set of former imperial palaces, gardens, temples, Don't age - a cultural landscape of rural settlements and wooden structures in Russia, 14 places across South Africa key to the actions and ideas of human rights activist Nelson Mandela, the Pu Prabat mountain region, as well as a collection of boundary stones in India.
The Great Wall of China, the pyramids in Egypt, the English Stonehenge, Troy in Turkey, Peru's Machu Picchu, Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, New York's Statue of Liberty, Athens' Acropolis, Sydney's Opera House, Moscow's Kremlin are some of the most prominent historical and cultural monuments and sites in the world. under UNESCO protection.
Among them are five monuments from Serbia: Stari Ras and Sopoćani, Studenica monastery, medieval monuments in Kosovo, Gamzigrad-Romuliana and medieval cemeteries with stećci.
A Czech explorer met the First World War in a cave
The Vjeternica Cave, in the Herzegovinian municipality of Ravno, between Mostar and Trebinje, is surrounded by the Dinaric Mountains and is located at 260 meters above sea level.
It was first mentioned as a natural phenomenon in the works of the Roman scientist Pliny the Elder History of nature (Natural history) in the first century AD, says Mulaomerović.
"More significant research began in the 19th century, and the biggest discoveries were made by the Czech speleologist Karel Absolon, who was there as many as 27 times.
"This Czech met the beginning of the First World War in 1914 right there - he didn't even know that the war had started," adds this scientist.
The cave is for visitors first opened in 1964, only a decade and a half after the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina declared it a monument of cultural importance.
Tourists could enjoy the spacious halls and water courses, which make it special, until 1991 and the beginning of the war in socialist Yugoslavia.
After an 18-year break, it was possible to walk again in its lighted and cold corridors.
Main level it stretches from the entrance to the farthest point, it is also its longest and widest passage.
The floor is covered with walls of various sizes mixed with clayey sediment.
Several large rooms are completely filled with stone blocks, slabs and plaster.
So far, more than 7.000 underground channels and more than 200 different animal species have been discovered.
The remains of eight fossilized animals were found, among them cave bear i skeleton leoparda.
It is the unusual underground world of fauna and flora that particularly attracts people, but also the strong wind that comes from the cave due to temperature differences and cracks in the surrounding hills, says Davor Braković from the Public Enterprise "Vjeternica".
"There are also numerous lakes, waterfalls, several permanent streams and smaller streams that visitors are especially delighted with," he added for the BBC in Serbian.
The number of tourists is increasing year by year - about 17.000 people visited it in 2023, while in 2024 the number is 30 percent higher.
Freshness
Jovana Nikolić from Pancevo, a town 20 kilometers from Belgrade, got acquainted with this unusual cave world in 2022.
In red raincoats and helmets on her head, which can be obtained at the very entrance, she walked through the narrow corridors that lead to huge, illuminated rooms.
"It is the first, big, serious cave that I visited with my daughter and it was very interesting for us.
"There was a small group of tourists, and the guides were phenomenal, so we were able to tour it in detail and without rushing," Nikolić recalled for the BBC in Serbian.
Freshness. This is her first association with this natural wonder.
"I hate the heat, and it's about 11 degrees below, I didn't want to go outside, where it was four times hotter," he says with a smile.
Her daughter was especially delighted when they saw the manfish, one of the protected species living in this locality.
This rare animal still lives only in Slovenia's Postojanska Jama and some other locations in the Balkans and Italy.
What is UNESCO?
UNESCO brings together 193 countries - all countries recognized by the United Nations.
The organization was founded in 1945, after the end of World War II, and its headquarters are in Paris.
He pledges for access to education for every child, protection and promotion of cultural heritage and strengthening of ties between nations.
UNESCO is best known for the protection of culture and nature, in accordance with the Convention on World Cultural and Natural Heritage from 1971.
This document gives them the authority to list sites of universal significance for culture, natural beauty and intangible heritage.
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