Koněprusy (Koněpruské) Caves - characteristics
KONĚPRUSY CAVES
- They are located in the south-western part of the Bohemian Karts (Karlstejn Upland), 6 km south from Beroun, on the Zlatý kůň (Golden Horse) hill (475.34 meters above sea level);
- They were discovered during a detonation in the Zlaty konik quarry on 14 September 1950 [the fourteenth of September nineteen fifty];
- They consist of a three-floor complex of corridors, domes and abysses in the Devonian limestone strata in the geological area known as Barrandien;
- The corridors and domes discovered so far with a length of 2050 m and a height range (denivelation) exceeding 70 m are the largest and one of the deepest Karst cave systems in Bohemia;
- They represent a unique geomorphological phenomenon, finding site of fossils and mineralogical location of word significance;
- The caves have relatively rich and various dripstone decoration representing all five generations of the cave decoration in the Bohemian Karst, including small crystallic and coral aggregates, straws, stalactites and stalagmites, sinter dikes with cave pearls and massive sinter waterfalls, floor crusts and the largest stalagmite in Bohemia; the Koneprusy rosettes with presence of opal are unique in the whole world;
- They represent a significant paleontological finding site of bone remains of vertebrate and other mostly extinct animals inhabiting the central Bohemian region since the Tertiary period (e.g. bears, wooly rhinoceros, cave lions, Bovinae, horses, wolfs, monkeys, etc.);
- The caves are an archeological location with findings of human bone remains and tools from the young Paleolithic period;
- In the Middle Ages they were used as a secret workshop of money forgers, as is documented by findings of copper sheet cuttings, semi-finished counterfeit coins and remains of the coin plate and tools;
- They represent a unique geomorphological phenomenon, finding site of fossils and mineralogical location of word significance;
- They belong to the most valuable biotopes in the Bohemian Karst for strictly protected species of bats and horse-shoe bats including up to 10 species, namely the great mouse-eared bat and the lesser horse-shoe bat, which forms the largest known colony in the Bohemian Karts; the caves are also inhabited by several invertebrate species, such as the Tissue moth (Triphosa dubitata) or more rare Herald (Scoliopteryx libatrix);
- A part of the middle and top floors have been open to the public since 1959 [nineteen fifty nine]; the tour for visitors is 620 meters long and takes about 1 hour;
- The average air temperature is 10.5 °C ( 50°F) and a relative air humidity reaches up to 100 %;
- They are located in the territory of the national natural landmark Zlatý kůň in the protected landscape area Bohemian Karst and they are also included in the network of European significant locations NATURA 2000;
- Annually, the caves are visited by about 100 thousand of visitors.
Evolution of the Caves
The Koněprusy Caves are karst caverns formed by water passing through water-soluble rocks; in this region, such rocks are primarily limestone. The caves are tens of millions of years old and present the outcome of development since at least the Tertiary Period. The primary vertical cavities formed by thermal waters from deep below the surface were gradually transformed by atmospheric water introduced through the deepening of the river network. Thus, paradoxically, the higher cave floors are older while the lower floors are the most recent areas. The current shape of the cave area is chiefly the result of erosion; in many places, limestone was broken down resulting in an extraordinary amount of sedimentary fills – cave loams and clays. In the course of development, various parts of the caves were flooded with water, filled with deposits and emptied again. It is, however, not the case that there were permanent or continuous underground watercourses flowing through and forming this system of caves.
The levels of the three known cave floors as well as the arrangement and the shapes of the corridors reflect the geological structure of the Golden Horse hill and the texture of limestone. The highest and perhaps the oldest floor, known as the Medieval Money-Forging Workshop, was formed in colourful Suchomasty limestone. The most extensive, central floor of the caves, which features broad corridors and vast chambers, follows a striking interface and a deposit hiatus between the Koněprusy limestone in the subsoil and the Suchomasty limestone in the overburden. The bottom floor is a less extensive area as well; its corridors follow vertical fractures in the massive Koněprusy limestone. All of the cave floors are connected by vertical chimneys and abysses.
Numerous exploratory drills revealed that a large part of the cave system is filled with secondary cave deposits and today’s free spaces are just a fraction of the underground cavities formed in the Golden Horse massif.
Koněprusy Caves in 3D model on Youtube - from Martin Morong:
The Creation of Spatial Model of Koněprusy Cave