CAVES ARE AN UNDERGROUND FORM OF KARST RELIEF
They are consisted of horizontal channels and halls, often rich in a variety of cave jewelry. They are divided into dank and dry, sink and siphon, simple and complex. They could have different dimensions, locations and accessibility, as well as the degree of unexploredness and tourist value.
The caves are characterized by aesthetic touristic attractiveness that originate from speleotems, watercourses and archeological traces and also are characterized by curiosity, aesthetic and other characteristics that have value for tourism. These features come from the attractiveness of speleotems, siphons, halls, the silence of underground spaces, the forests of underground streams, the specific living world, as well as archeological traces.
In the tourist valorisation of caves are evaluated their many general and special characteristics, phenomena and processes. The basic elements of the tourist valorization of caves are: the attractiveness of canals, halls, jewelry, underground streams and lakes.
Important for the tourist-geographical position are the traffic connection, the construction of tourist-catering facilities, the level and manner of presentation and propaganda, that is the complementarity and competitiveness with the tourist values in the environment.
The pits are less attractive for tourism and touristic valorisation
The dominance of vertical channels, and because of their specific morphology, it is difficult to equip them for safe and numerous tourist visits, although they have exceptional attractive features. In the area of Konjic municipality, the caves are mostly present in mountainous areas, and they are not attractive for tourism, nor can they be valorized. They are established on Bjelasnica, Ljubina and the northwestern slopes of Visocica. They are recognized as an additional tourist motif combined with other potentials located in a given area, and they are part of the tourist corridor or the tourism itinerary.
Caves in Konjic
The Hladna cave in village Gorani
Cold Cave is located in the village of Gorani, about 28 km from Konjic, which has been inhabited since prehistoric times. It is the historical background of this village that connects it with the former population of Hladna Cave. The approach to the cave is difficult because of higher slopes of the terrain, as well as the shrubs and trees. Speologists have recorded this cave in the cadastral scriptures as a natural rarity located near the Hum hill (Cadastre of Speleological Objects in Bosnia and Herzegovina, ordinal no. 4056). It is approximately 300 m from the village of Gorani, or 200 m from the road leading to Celina. With its dimensions (50 m in length, up to 70 cm wide and up to 17 m high at the entrance and 2 m at the end of the cave), and a slight crack in the direction of the NS, walls of modestly ornamental decoration and a sedimentary rug of sand and fine gravel, the cave was the habitat of a cave spider (latin Meta menardi), several specimens of butterflies and one species of bat from the horseshoe family. In this complex there are also Ciganska cave, followed by Govedja and Kozija cave.
Due to the environmental integrity of outstanding natural value in the presence of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina, at a session held from 7th to 13th of July 2009, it was decided to designate the natural and historical area of Gorani village in Konjic Municipality as a National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Zabrdjanska cave in village Zabrdjani near to Glavaticevo
The Zabrdjanska cave is located above the village of Zabrdjani, in the upper reaches of the Neretva river, about 40 km from the town of Konjic. The cave is consisted of two larger cave rooms, 18 and 25 m long, 10 and 12 m wide, with relatively few cave decorations. It has a smaller number of calcite salts of gray or yellow, then stalagmites and stalactites, which are of interesting shape. It is assumed that there are still unknown and undiscovered rooms, which will certainly indicate future speleological research. According to the decision of the Institute No. 08-284/1-58, and by the decision of the National Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments and Natural Rarities of NR Bosnia and Herzegovina, it has been declared as a protected natural monument. The cave is on the valley side of the creek Rijeka.
According to reports, Josip Broz was staying in the cave at the time before the Fifth Offensive in 1943, and it is referred to as Tito's Cave.
The Vrpec cave, village Odzaci next to Bjelimici
Cave Vrpec is located in the village Odzaci, and by decision no. 06-64-1/66, of the National Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments and Natural Rarities of the ex People's Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was declared as a geological natural rarity. It is located in the karst area of Odzaci village. You can enter the cave from the south and west, but only by crawling. The main channel has a direction of NW-SE, intersected by a stream, which appears below the entrance to the cave as a spring. The length of the main channel is about 150 metres, and it contains numerous stalactites and stalagmites, and some of them are damaged. The first hall is about 25 m long and 2-5 metres wide.
The Kuhija cave in village Ribici
In the untouched nature of the village Ribici you can see many abundant sources of drinking water, as well as several caves and largest of them is cave Kuhija. The Kuhija cave is located above the village Ribici and it is deep about several metres. From the tight outer entrance it opens a spacious hall, which narrows and ends in an underground lake with its bottom. Cave walls are extremely rich by cave speleotems, both stalactites and stalagmites. In the cave is evident the karst process, which continues to nowdays.
The Celebici cave, near to Konjic
Cave in Celebici nowtodays has the same name for a restaurant located on the site of a natural cave. The cave is a few kilometers away from Konjic and is located next to the waterfall of the Bascica river. Also, the aforementioned restaurant is today recognizable for its fish ponds and owners prepare fish from it for restaurant guests. The advantage for this cave is certainly the unusual ambience, then location in the immediate vicinity of the M-17 route, as well as the distinctive gastronomic offer.