Лъженската пещера

Liar's Cave - пещера Мандрата - Mandrata Cave

Useful Information

Location:	From Pleven 35 south 30 km to Lowetsch, turn left on 301 to Alexandrovo, turn right, through the village. Halfway between Aleksandrovo and Chavdartsi, turn right on single lane gravel lane, ends after 1.1 km at the cave entrance. (43.242010, 24.967250)
Open:	no restrictions. [2023]
Fee:	free. [2023]
Classification:	Karst Cave Lower Cretaceous limestones of Aptian age
Light:	bring torch
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Liar's Cave, Чавдарци, Aleksandrovo, Tel: +359-87-735-7743.
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

19-SEP-1926	first known survey by N. Radev.
1926	archaeological excavations by V. Mikov.
1929	archaeological excavations by V. Mikov.
1931	exploration, survey and description by engineer P. Petrov.
1965-78	several cave expeditions by local cavers.

Description

Лъженската пещера (Liar's Cave) is also known as пещера Мандрата (Mandrata Cave). It is a cave portal at the foot of a limestone escarpment, the entrance is partly closed by two walls on the sides. A road leads into the opening and the inside has a concrete floor. A few meters behind the first wall is a second, again with a huge door, big enough for a vehicle. The walls of the cave have numerous artificial holes, some used for timbers, and a huge wash basin or trough made of concrete. It seems the cave was used by local farmers as a barn for cattle.

The cave was opened for tourists during a project of the "Devatashko Plateau" association. At the entrance a picknick area was built. People are allowed to visit the cave freely, which unfortunately has the drawback of vandalism. Some visitors complained, that the cave was used as a toilet by some visitors and smells badly. That's unfortunately a problem, as the cave has no warden.