Prohodna Cave
ะัะพั ะพะดะฝะฐ
Interesting facts
- In Bulgarian the two ceiling openings are properly called 'the Windows' or 'the Chimneys'; 'Eyes of God' is a popular nickname.
- The waters of the Iskar once flowed through the cave; the river has since cut down and now runs well below its floor.
- The tunnel runs east to west, and its Small Entrance is itself about 35 metres high.
- The pale limestone walls hold fossils of bivalves, brachiopods, snails, sea urchins and ammonites, most visible at the western end.
- Besides The Way Back, the cave has appeared in the historical film Boris I and the French epic Vercingรฉtorix, and actors including Ed Harris and Colin Farrell have worked here.
- A 2008 student geological expedition assessed Prohodna as a geosite of national importance in Bulgaria.
Why it is worth it
Prohodna is a natural rock tunnel just outside the village of Karlukovo in north-central Bulgaria, in the karst of the Iskar gorge. Its name means "the passage", because the cave runs straight through a limestone ridge with a large entrance at each end. It is the longest cave tunnel in Bulgaria, and the Big Entrance rises more than 40 metres high. The cave has been a protected natural landmark since 1962. What makes it famous, though, is its roof.
High in the ceiling of the central chamber are two openings of almost the same size and shape, worn through the rock by erosion. Seen from below they look uncannily like a pair of eyes staring down, and the formation is popularly called the Eyes of God. Daylight falls through them onto the cave floor, so the whole chamber is naturally lit. The image is one of the best-known in Bulgarian nature photography. It appears in the 1988 film Time of Violence, where a priest prays beneath the eyes, and dozens of other productions, including the American film The Way Back, have been shot here.
People used the cave long before the cameras arrived. Traces of Neolithic and Chalcolithic occupation have been found. Archaeologists have suggested it was a ritual site, and local accounts connect it with a spring-equinox fertility rite, when sunlight crosses the chamber at a particular angle. During the Second World War villagers sheltered here from bombing. Today the Big Entrance is one of the few places where people bungee-jump inside a cave. The surrounding Karlukovo karst, part of the IskarโPanega geopark, holds many more caves, including the much longer Temnata Dupka, and a path leads from the Big Entrance to the Petar Tranteev National Caving House.
Getting there
The cave is on the edge of Karlukovo, in Lukovit Municipality, beside the road between Karlukovo and Lukovit. There is a parking area near the Small Entrance, and it is open to walk through in every season. It can also be reached by road from Rumyantsevo. Botevgrad is about 38 km away. The nearest airport is Sofia Airport (SOF), about 75 km away as the crow flies.
On these lists
From the encyclopaedia
Prohodna is a karst cave in north central Bulgaria, located in the Iskar Gorge near the village of Karlukovo in Lukovit Municipality, Lovech Province. The cave is known for the two eye-shaped holes in its ceiling, known as the 'Eyes of God'.
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