Bulgaria Cave
Temnata dupka, Gara Lakatnik
35 m deep, 7.0 km of galleries.
Iliana Teneva · CC BY-SA 4.0
The descent
35 metres down, to scale.
The real relief above Temnata dupka, Gara Lakatnik, measured on the Copernicus model every 30 m, and the cave going down at the same vertical scale.
a two-storey house (9 m) would fit upside down 3.9 times.
The depth is the one published by those who explored it; the shape of the galleries is a sketch, not a survey.
35m
Depth
published (Wikidata)
7.0km
Galleries
surveyed length (Wikidata)
406m
Entrance altitude
from the 30 m relief model
12°C
Inside, all year
the yearly average outside, at the entrance
376m
Rock above
the highest point within 1.5 km
Inside and outside
12 °C inside, all year.
Deep inside, a cave keeps the average temperature of the year outside: about 12 °C here, in January and in August. In August the afternoon reaches 30 °C at the entrance, 18 °C warmer than inside: take a jacket. The best months to escape the heat are from July to August. The wettest months are from May to June: water rises fast underground, so never go in without a guide after heavy rain.
- 4°-4°Jan
- 6°-3°Feb
- 11°1°Mar
- 16°6°Apr
- 22°11°May
- 26°15°Jun
- 29°17°Jul
- 30°17°Aug
- 24°12°Sep
- 18°7°Oct
- 12°2°Nov
- 5°-2°Dec
Outside: afternoon and night averages for 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the entrance. Inside: the yearly average, which deep parts of a cave keep. Near the entrance it follows the weather a little.
Cave in Gara Lakatnik, Bulgaria
Temnata dupka, Gara Lakatnik is a cave in Bulgaria. It goes down 35 m below the entrance and has 7.0 km of surveyed galleries. The entrance is at 406 m. It has an underground river.
Getting there.
- Wild cave: only with caving equipmentNo paths or lights inside. Go only with a caving club or a qualified guide.
- Lakatniknearest town · 4.4 km in a straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 0.2 km from the entrance
- Sofia Airport (SOF)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 44 km in a straight lineCar hire at SOF airport (Sofia)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
Plan the visit
Guided tours, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
The water
The the river runs highest from March to June.
The the river carries about 31 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from March to June.
- 27 m³/sJan
- 41 m³/sFeb
- 67 m³/sMar
- 72 m³/sApr
- 74 m³/sMay
- 63 m³/sJun
- 42 m³/sJul
- 25 m³/sAug
- 25 m³/sSep
- 35 m³/sOct
- 25 m³/sNov
- 12 m³/sDec
From about 12 m³/s in the lowest month to 74 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 4,315 km².
Follow the Iskar from source to mouth on Riveryas
Estimate: long-term flow from the HydroATLAS model (WaterGAP, 1971–2000) shaped by the monthly rain, snow and temperature of the area (NASA POWER). Dams change it. Not a forecast.
From above.
The ground above the cave, with the relief shaded, the line of the section and what people have mapped around the entrance.
N
1.5 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6.0 × 6.0 km, north up. The line is the section above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the entrance.
- 22other cave entrances within 3 kmЗиданка, Темната дупка, Житолюб and 19 more
- 4springs within 2 km
- 12viewpoints within 3 km
- 3marked hiking routes within 3 kmПешеходен маршрут Ком - Емине (част от Е3), Екопътека Петренски Дол
- 3climbing crags within 3 kmLakatnik, Вражите дупки
- 1named waterfalls within 4 kmПетреница
- 5car parks within 2 km
- 3information boards and visitor centres within 3 km
- 1bus stops within 2 km
- 3campsites within 8 kmfishing hunting, Беседка, Balkan Station
- 15hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmВила "Скакля", Аламуровата къща, Туристически заслон "Мики" and 12 more
- 6restaurants and cafés within 3 km
- sinkholes within 3 km
- caving clubs and spots within 15 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the entrance. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Towns nearby
- Lakatnik4.4 km in a straight line
- Bov6.3 km in a straight line
- Svoge14 km in a straight line
- Varshets14 km in a straight line
- Vratsa20 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Temnata dupka, Gara Lakatnik.
The river at the entrance, the waterfalls, the lakes, the mountains and volcanoes above, the canyons, beaches and islands nearby — from our other atlases.
Peakyas6 mountains within 10 kmFigures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, NOAA, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Month by month
The weather outside, at the entrance.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon | 4 | 6 | 11 | 16 | 22 | 26 | 29 | 30 | 24 | 18 | 12 | 5 |
| Afternoon | 4 | 6 | 11 | 16 | 22 | 26 | 29 | 30 | 24 | 18 | 12 | 5 |
| Night | -4 | -3 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 15 | 17 | 17 | 12 | 7 | 2 | -2 |
| Rain (mm) | 46 | 45 | 54 | 53 | 82 | 83 | 69 | 56 | 55 | 61 | 42 | 46 |
| Rainy days | 9 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 14 | 13 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 |
| Sun hours/day | 2.8 | 3.9 | 5.0 | 6.7 | 7.8 | 9.1 | 9.9 | 9.2 | 6.9 | 4.8 | 2.7 | 2.3 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 17 | 16 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 15 |
| Afternoon | Afternoon | Night | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 4 | 4 | -4 | 46 | 2.8 |
| Feb | 6 | 6 | -3 | 45 | 3.9 |
| Mar | 11 | 11 | 1 | 54 | 5.0 |
| Apr | 16 | 16 | 6 | 53 | 6.7 |
| May | 22 | 22 | 11 | 82 | 7.8 |
| Jun | 26 | 26 | 15 | 83 | 9.1 |
| Jul | 29 | 29 | 17 | 69 | 9.9 |
| Aug | 30 | 30 | 17 | 56 | 9.2 |
| Sep | 24 | 24 | 12 | 55 | 6.9 |
| Oct | 18 | 18 | 7 | 61 | 4.8 |
| Nov | 12 | 12 | 2 | 42 | 2.7 |
| Dec | 5 | 5 | -2 | 46 | 2.3 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the altitude of the entrance (406 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.
Photographs
Inside and around.
Recent years
Wet years, dry years.
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 35% | 243% | 192% | 80% | 93% | 83% | 122% | 145% | 55% | 126% | 36% | 117% |
| 2021 | 300% | 58% | 156% | 126% | 73% | 75% | 97% | 79% | 45% | 161% | 82% | 593% |
| 2022 | 56% | 74% | 43% | 120% | 57% | 136% | 109% | 141% | 140% | 27% | 144% | 97% |
| 2023 | 166% | 51% | 88% | 140% | 114% | 187% | 45% | 58% | 67% | 11% | 315% | 92% |
| 2024 | 87% | 34% | 101% | 85% | 148% | 82% | 40% | 38% | 97% | 50% | 134% | 149% |
| 2025 | 24% | 41% | 98% | 124% | 110% | 22% | 37% | 89% | 54% | 247% | 272% | 78% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Caves nearby.
Temnata dupka, Gara Lakatnik
Bulgaria
- 35 mDepth
- 7.0 kmGalleries
- 406 mEntrance altitude
- 12 °CInside, all year
Ledenika Cave
Bulgaria · 16 km
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 1,116 mEntrance altitude
- 7 °CInside, all year
Prohodna Cave
Bulgaria · 57 km
- 3 mDepth
- 0.4 kmGalleries
- 245 mEntrance altitude
- 13 °CInside, all year
Saeva dupka cave
Bulgaria · 65 km
- 40 mDepth
- 0.2 kmGalleries
- 520 mEntrance altitude
- 11 °CInside, all year
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length, visitors | Wikidata (Q12296153) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| The relief above, the entrance altitude, the section and the 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| River flow and basin | HydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Entrances, springs, sinkholes, opening hours and what is around | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Rivers, waterfalls, lakes, mountains, canyons, beaches and islands nearby | Coastya, Lakeyas, Peakyas, Cascadyas, Islandyas, Riveryas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
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