Ягодинска пещера

Iagodinska Peštera - Iagodina Cave - Jagodina - Yagodina - Yagodinska Cave

Imamova Dupka - Jamova Dupka

Useful Information

Location:	Near Iagodina. Mursalica, Rodopi (Western Rhodopes). Near the border to Greece. From Pazardžik follow road 37 south 84 km to Dospat. Turn east to Tešel 12 km. Turn south to Jagodina 5 km. South-west of Jagodina, on the right valley slope of Buynovska river. At the village Dospat. (41.6289681, 24.3300445)
Open:	MAY to SEP daily 9-17, last tour 16. OCT to APR daily 10-17, last tour 16. Tours every hour on the hour, depending on demand Eneolithic dwelling: currently closed. [2025]
Fee:	Adults BGN 14, Children (6-18) BGN 8, Children (0-5) free, Students BGN 12, Disabled BGN 10. English Guide BGN 20. Eneolithic dwelling: currently closed. [2025]
Classification:	Karst Cave
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:	L=10,500 m, VR=36 m, T=6 °C, A=930 m asl. Eneolithic dwelling: Ar=200 m², T=18 °C.
Guided tours:	L=1,250 m, D=45 min, Min=6. V=51.000/a [2010]
Photography:
Accessibility:	360 m of the cave are wheelchair accessible
Bibliography:
Address:	Yagodinska cave, Sergei Genchev, Tel: +359-889-903-642, Tel: +359-895-658-658. E-mail: Eneolithic dwelling, Snezhana Kukundzhieva, Tel: +359-895-658-549.
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

1963	explored by the Speleological Club of Chepelare led by Dimitar Raychev, survey of 8,500 m.
1982-1986	second survey of the cave, total length 10,500 m.
1971	beginning of cave development.
1982	opened to the public.
2002	Rhodopea Tourist Company founded which now operates the cave and several other related sights.

Description

Ягодинска пещера (Iagodinska Peštera) has seven levels and is the 5th-longest cave of Bulgaria [2025] and the longest in the Rhodopes. With a temperature of only 6 °C it is also rather cold. Ягода (Iagoda) is the Bulgarian word for strawberry, so this cave, although named after the nearby town Iagodina, may also be translated Strawberry Cave. Another point is the transliteration from the Cyrillic alphabet, Ягодинска is transliterated Iagodinska, Jagodinska, or Yagodinska.

This is a real show cave, with well-built paths, electric light and an artificial 150 m long tunnel into the cave, and an 80 m long exit tunnel. The cave is famous for various extraordinary speleothems, but unfortunately only the names of the speleothems are mentioned. They are called Santa Claus, Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs, Virgin Mary and her newborn child, the Elephant, and the Crocodiles. Pizho and Penda are named after two characters from a famous Bulgarian legend. The speleothems are stalactites, stalagmites, draperies but also quite impressive cave pearls and helictites. One hall is called the New Year’s hall, as the local caving club has a party here every year at New Years Day.

Some show caves have a habit of publishing strange superlatives. This cave is said to be the 3rd-longest in Bulgaria, wikipedia says the 4th-longest, but actually it is the 5th-longest [2025]. Its possible it once actually was the 3rd-longest, but cavers discover new caves and extend known caves, and so this kind of superlative changes quite frequently. Quite funny is the fact that the cave contains 22 of the world-known 28 cave formations. There are actually hundreds of different speleothems and every year new ones are discovered, so this claim is quite hilarious. Obviously someone found a book listing speleothems and checked if they exist in the cave. As this list was obviously just a small subset and the reason why they were chosen remains unclear, this statement is simply nonsense.

Iagodinska Peštera is an important site for bats with 11 recorded species of bats, which is quite exceptional. Bats are generally protected in Europe, but several of the species are of special importance as they are listed on the IUCN Red List as endangered or vulnerable. The bats at Iagodinska are the greater horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum), lesser horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus hipposideros), Bechstein’s bat (Myotis bechsteinii), Geoffroy’s bat (Myotis emarginatus), greater mouse-eared bat (Myotis myotis), lesser mouse-eared bat (Myotis blythii), whiskered bat (Myotis mystacinus), Daubenton’s bat (Myotis daubentonii), serotine bat (Eptesicus serotinus), brown long-eared bat (Plecotus auritus), and grey long-eared bat (Plecotus austriacus). The cave is also home to troglobites like cave locusts and spiders.

Ten minutes walk from the cave entrance is a natural entrance portal of the cave system, where Paleolithic remains were discovered. The natural entrance is located 30 m above the entrance tunnel and is guided on a separate tour which is named Енеолитно жилище (Eneolithic dwelling). The cave entrance was an important ceramics producing workshop, the findings were dated to the 4th millennium BC. Clay from the interior of the cave and from the bed of the Boynovska River was baked in clay furnaces. The place was finally abandoned after a collapse caused by an earthquake. The tour shows the natural entrance with a small exhibition of ceramics created by experimental archaeology. The visit is currently [2025] not possible, they say for technical reasons, which is not further explained.