Ðurovića Jama

Djurovica Jama - Ðurovića špilja


Useful Information

Location: Dubrovnik Ruđer Bošković Airport, 1 Rusići, 20215.
Cilipi, at the airport of Dubrovnik. In the Skycellar wine & souvenir shop.
(42.5595015, 18.2640066)
Open: closed.
[2024]
Fee: closed.
[2024]
Classification: SpeleologyKarst cave
Light: LightIncandescent Electric Light System
Dimension: L=199 m, VR=25 m, T=16 °C.
Guided tours: L=156 m.
Photography:  
Accessibility:  
Bibliography: Tihomir Kovačević (2006): Đurovića jama-špilja novi speleološki biser u turističkoj ponudi "Lijepe naše", Subterranea Croatica, Vol 4 No 6 June 2006, page 16-22, 64 pp, many photos, 2 loose surveys. ISSN 1334-5281
Published by Speleo Klub "Ursus Spelaeus", Kurelceva 3, 4700 Karlovac, 47000 Croatia. Hrvatski - Croatian online
Nenad Buzjak (2006): Speleomorfoloske I Hidroloske Znacajke Djurovica Spilje (Cilipi, juzna Dalmacija), [Speleogeomorphological and Hydrological Characteristics of Djurovica Cave (Cilipi, Southern Dalmatia)] Hrvatski Geografski Glasnik 68/1, 57-72. SB In Croatian with English summary. Hrvatski - Croatian
Address: Ðurovića Jama, Dubrovnik Partner d.o.o., Vukovarska 26, HR-20000 Dubrovnik, Tel: +385-20-773-331, Tel: +385-20-448-180, Fax: +385-20-358-008. E-mail: contact
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

190? explored by the Austrian biospeleologist Viktor Apfelbeck, the curator of the National Museum in Sarajevo.
1913 exploration by PeopleKarel Absolon from the Czech Republic.
1913 explored by the Czech biospeleologist Karel Absolon.
1958 visited by the philologist and historian Don Vice Medini and the academician Mirko Malez.
1962 exploration by the ZL Dubrovnik.
1963 entrance closed during the construction of the airport, tunnel with a gate installed.
2001 rediscovered during construction works at the south edge of the airport close to the control tower.
2001 explored by the Speleological Section of the Mountaineering Society "Mosor" from Split.
2001 detailed exploration of the cave on the initiative of Dubrovnik Airport.
2003-2005 seven ecological studies by the Croatian Biospeleological Society (HBSD).
2007 start of development after authorization by the Ministarstva kulture.
07-AUG-2008 opened to the public.

Description

As far as we know, this show cave had a rather short life. It is currently closed, so is the Skycellar wine & souvenir shop, which is the entrance. If this is connected and the shop just looking for a new tenant, is unclear. Actually, the cave vanished completely without even a newspaper article about its closure. The existing pages are from 2011 or older.

Ðurovića Jama (Djurovica Cave), also called Ðurovića špilja is located under the airport of Dubrovnik. The cave is entered through a 37 m long artificial tunnel from the Skycellar wine & souvenir shop. However, the Skycellar is actually located inside the cave, a wine cellar containing a unique collection of wines from the Konavle area, a region famous for fine, high quality and protected wine varieties. The store offers wine tasting inside the cave.

The cave is located in upper Cretaceous limestone, partly limestone breccia. The single huge passage is rich in speleothems. It ends at a chamber called Hall of the Republic of Dubrovnik which has some pools of water and an abundance of speleothems. It is actually located right below the runway of the airport.

The cave has been known since the early 20th century and was explored by many speleobiologists. Before World War I, the area still belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the cave was first explored by Austrian scientists. It was also explored by the Czech archaeologist from Brno, PeopleKarel Absolon in 1913. It seems it was visited by many scientists until finally the airport was built in the early 1960s and the cave entrance was closed in 1963. They installed a tunnel and a massive iron door. During the war in the 1990s, the cave was used by the airport personell as a bunker or air raid shelter several times. Its unclear how it was actually forgotten in a few years, or probably it's just a legend, that it was more or less forgotten until construction works close to the tower reopened the cave in 2001. The officials were surprised by the cave, but because of its size and beauty, and its ideal location, there were soon plans to convert it into a show cave. In 2007 the Ministry of culture allowed the development of the cave, and 2.2 Million Kuna were invested for the development. The cave was opened in summer 2008 and is now Croatia's youngest show cave.

The cave once had a natural entrance and was visited in prehistoric times. A probing revealed remains from the late Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age. But while the cave is very well explored concerning speleobiology, there was never an extensive archaeological excavation.