Špilja Biserujka

Vitezić Špilja - Slivanjska

Pearls Cave - Knights Cave - Slivanjska Pothole

Useful Information

Biserujka Cave inside view. Public Domain.

Location:	Rudine 5, 51514, Rudine. Island Krk. From Krk 102 towards Omišali, turn right at Rasopasno, Tribulje, Čižići to Rudine. From bridge/airport 102 towards Krk, at Omišali left towards Čižići, after 3.6 km left to Rudine. 300 m north of Rudine. (45.1874213, 14.6097768)
Open:	APR daily 10-15. MAY to JUN daily 9-17. JUL to AUG daily 9-18. SEP daily 10-17. OCT daily 10-15. [2024]
Fee:	Adults EUR 6, Children (5-12) EUR 4, Children (0-4) free. [2024]
Classification:	Karst Cave
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:	L=110 m, VR=3-5 m, A=50 m asl, T=10-13 °C,
Guided tours:	L=110 m, VR=3-5 m, D=15 min, Max=25.
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address:	Biserujka Špilja, Šilo Turist, Na Vodici 2, 51515 Šilo, Tel: +385-51-852-203, Cell: +385-98-211-630. E-mail:
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

1834	cave first mentioned.
1859	first documented cave visit.
1950	cave first developed as a show cave.
1965	cave surveyed by the geologist Srećko Božičević from the Instituta za geološka istraživanja (Institute for Geological Research).
1997	cave completely refurbished with new trails and light.
1998	opened to the public.
2009	cave resurveyed by Juraj Posaric.
2023	survey of the cave in 3D in high resolution using the GeoSLAM Zeb Revo mobile handheld LiDAR scanner.

Description

Špilja Biserujka (Biserujka Cave, Pearl Cave) is located above the bay of Slivanjska. The huge entrance was known for centuries and was the reason of local legends of smugglers, which used it as a hideout. According to a legend, the smugglers hid a treasure in this cave, and so it was called Biserjuka. Biser is the croatian word for pearl. The cave is also called Vitezićeva špilja (Vitezić’s Cave), which is the diminutive of knight, so it’s the cave of the little knight. Another name is Slivanjska Jama, named after the nearby Slivanjska Bay beach, which is also a tourist magnet.

The cave was obviously known to the locals for a long time, before the construction of the entrance building it was freely accessible. The first written mention was in 1834, when a smuggler from Senj was arrested at the cave. So the legend actually has some historic background. It was visited by locals and tourists for 150 years, and in early times they used torches which caused black soot at some places. Also, numerous speleothems were broken off as souvenirs. The people also left graffiti, the younger ones are considered vandalism and were mostly removed, the older ones are historical evidence and were restored. The oldest inscription documents a cave visit in 1859. After World War II the tourism in the area was continually rising. The cave was finally developed as a show cave in 1950, and the entrance building was erected. The closure of the cave protected it from further destruction. However, it seems the show cave was neglected after some decades, until it was finally completely refurbished in 1997. It was reopened in 1998 with new trails and new light system. The cave is now managed by Priroda, a governmental agency of the Primorsko Goranska county.

The entrance building is a typical local house, built of limestone blocks. Inside the building, a concrete staircase leads to a depth of 6 m below the surface. The cave is very close to the surface, the ceiling is only 2 to 5 m thick. The cave is also rather small, only 100 m long, but very well decorated with stalactites and stalagmites. The tour is even shorter, only 65 m long. It has three chambers named Velika dvorana (Great Hall), Dvorana mostova (Bridge Hall), and Čimprešna dvorana (Cypress Hall).

The growth of the speleothems is thought to be a result of the fact that the cave is close to the surface. Also, the temperature of the cave changes a little during the year, so there is a little outside influence. The cave is famous for its cave life, numerous troglobionts were found here. A scorpion was first found in the cave by Austrian zoologist Christian Erhard in 1978. It was published in 1983 as Euscorpius germanus. A pseudoscorpion, a tiny insect which looks like a scorpion, although it is actually a completely different species, was discovered in 2009. This species Roncus sp. nov. was formerly unknown and is endemic in the cave.

In 2023 the cave was mapped in 3D in high resolution using the GeoSLAM Zeb Revo mobile handheld LiDAR scanner.

Biserujka Cave is located on the island of Krk. The village Rudine is actually just a hamlet, the roads have no names, and the houses are just numbered. Follow the only road through the hamlet to reach the car park of the cave on the other side, after the last buildings. The area is quite nice with stone buildings erected of limestone and numerous dolines which are protected by drystone walls. The dolines have some soil and were used for agriculture, the walls kept the soil inside even with strong wind. The surrounding land is Karst Bare Karst and not suitable for agriculture. There is an educational trail from Biserujka Cave to Slivanjska Cove with five educational panels on the 30-minute walk.