Șura Mare Cave

Șura Mare Cave lies in the village of Ohaba-Ponor, Pui commune, in the southern Șureanu Mountains, on the Ohaba valley, at an altitude of 460 m. It is a protected area of national interest managed by Grădiștea Muncelului-Cioclovina Natural Park. Access is from the DN66 (Hațeg-Petroșani) at Ponor, along the DC65 local road for about 4 km to Ohaba-Ponor, then through roughly 400 m of gorge walked in the stream, with no built path. The cave is formed in Jurassic and Cretaceous limestone and has 11,123 m of passages and a vertical range of 425 m. The entrance is almost 40 m high and 12 m wide at the base. The active gallery alternates dry stretches with lakes, waterfalls and boulder chokes; about 2,300 m from the entrance lies the Great Hall, with flowstone, canopies and rimstone pools. The first explorations took place in 1929, and after the Romanian-British expeditions of 1968-1969 the sump at the then known end was named the „English Sump”, which was bypassed only in 1983. Șura Mare holds the second largest bat colony in Romania after Huda lui Papară Cave: a Pipistrellus colony about 350 m from the entrance and colonies of Schreibers' bent-winged bat (Miniopterus schreibersii). Traces of Neolithic occupation and amber and bronze ornaments from the Hallstatt period have been found in the cave. The cave is not developed for tourism. Ordinary visitors can reach the entrance portal by wading through the gorge, without entering the cave. The interior is recommended only for trained cavers with wetsuits, ropes and lights, as the risk of flash flooding is very high. Activities in the cave require a permit from the Speleological Heritage Commission, and there is no access during the bat hibernation period (1 December-31 March).