Welcome to Bears Cave
Location:
Chiscau Village, Bihor County
Address:
Chiscau Village, Bihor County
Length:
1.500 m
Altitude:
482 m
Date of discovery:
17th September 1975
Opening hours:
10.00 – 17.00 from Tuesday until Sunday (Monday closed)
Prices:
Adults: 20 RON
Children: 10 RON
Parking: 3 RON
Photo tax: 15 RON
Video tax: 25 RON
Telephone:
+40 359 411 083 or +40 744 638 244
Website:
http://www.pesteraursilor.ro/en/
How to get here:
By car:
Situated on the right hand side at the exit from Chişcău Village (Pietroasa Commune) towards Giuleşti Village, the easiest way to get to Urşilor’s (Bears) Cave by car is:
From North: follow the European road E79 (DN76) from Oradea – Beius and turn left when you see the postsings for Chişcău Village after Drăgăneşti and before Sudrigiu.
From South: follow the same European road E79 (DN76) from Deva – Brad – Rieni and turn right after Sudrigiu when you see the postsings for Chişcău Village.
From E79-DN76 until Chişcău are 16 km.
By plane:
The biggest and nearest International airport is in Hungary at Budapest where you can find regular coaches to Oradea and from here by bus. Also by plane you can arrive even in Cluj Napoca (International) or in Oradea (National).
By means of transport:
From Oradea you can get here by bus only till Pietroasa or you can change in Beiuş with a bus which takes you to Chişcău.
You can always check http://www.autogari.ro/Transport/ Oradea-Pietroasa for details. The easiest way is if you go with an organised group or to rent a car for at least 1-2 days or more if you want to visit other objectives or tourist attractions in the area.
Bears Cave
What you can visit and what to do at Bears Cave from Romania:
Bears Cave (Pestera Ursilor) is considered one of the most beautiful caves from Romania and is also the best conserved and arranged cave from the country. As interior design at European standards the cave has lights in every visited chamber, rails, metallic stairs and others. The cave is situated on two levels, where the superior level can be visited on 488 m length and the lower level of 521 m is not opened for public, used only for scientific research. Also before the main entrance, it was built a ticket shop, a waiting room, a small Speleology museum, a bar and a restaurant with terrace. Tourists can buy different souvenirs and other objects specific to this place from one of the tens of stands which are placed near the cave.
History of the Bears Cave:
As a short history, Bears Cave was found in an accidental way by the miner Traian Curta, when following an explosion in the nearby marble quarry, one wall of the cave was destroyed, leaving enough space to enter and to allow researchers to explore for the first time this wonder of the nature. Fortunately the discover of the cave was made only in 17th of September 1975, quite recently and we say that, because in our days many tourists are concerned about vandalizing and not to protect the caves. After few years of researches and improvements, the cave was inaugurated and opened for public visit on 14th of June 1980.
Lights or Candles Gallery each side of the interior footpath
Temperature, fauna and name of the Bears Cave:
The temperature in the Bears Cave is around 10-11º C all year round and the humidity is very high over 95%. At the moment fauna in the cave is almost absent, but 15.000 years ago it had its prosperous period here. The name of the cave was give because the researchers found a lot of cave bears bones (over 130 bears) which lived in this cave and maybe in other places 15-17.000 years ago when they disappeared completely from the Earth. (Find more journeys on blog.worldlifetimejourneys.com) It is said that due to a powerful earthquake, the only entrance in the cave in that period crashed resulting a complete isolation of the bears inside. The bears died because of hunger, but not before cannibalism to survive. In the cave were also found cave hyena bones, lion or chamois bones.
Interior of Bears Cave, Chiscau, Bihor County
Galleries and formations from the Bears Cave:
Once with the modern restoration of the Bears Cave there were opened 3 out of 4 galleries to visit. The Scientific Gallery where the access is through a 30 m hole is reserved to professional speleologists for the future scientific researches. The tree galleries, together with 4 chambers opened for the public are:
The Bears Gallery named also as the Bones Gallery due to the fact that here were found over 1.500 of bones and around 140 cave bear skulls and also claw marks on the cave walls is the first presented to the tourists and the wall thickness which was destroyed in 1975 is only 2 m.
Emil Racoviţă Gallery, is the second one named due to Speleological foundation in Romania. This is the biggest and the most spectacular, having also the most thickness ceiling. Here tourists can discover wonderful stalactite and stalagmite formations, but also some are very interesting like Dwarfs House, the Rocket ready to take off or Elders Council, these wonderful formations being continued in the next gallery as well.
The cave splendid formation also known as The Launching Rocket
The last gallery from the Bears Cave, the Light or Candle Gallery will receive its name from the thin stalactites which are like candles and their light give the impression that they are made from wax. Here as well tourists can discover the Lake with water lilies, Enchanted Palace, the captive bear trying to get out from the cave, the Cathedral, the Curtains, the Mastodon and other formations which stimulates the imagination of every visitor.
Candles Gallery with the captive bear trying to get out from the cave in the back
How you can visit the Bears Cave:
In these bigger galleries are named 4 chambers of which name is similar or the same: Candles Hall, Spaghetti Hall, Emil Racoviţă Hall and Bones Hall. Also in the Lights Gallery is the artificially created exit. (Find more journeys on blog.worldlifetimejourneys.com) The cave visit is made in a group of minimum 3 persons till 20, only with a specialized guide and between the groups you have to wait around 20-30 minutes. The cave tour in which the guide will explain you details about this natural wonder, takes around 45 minutes and during this time we recommend to forget about everything from the exterior and let yourself surrounded by imagination. Visit Bears Cave!
Candles Hall, Bears Cave
