Only tourist cave in Thrace home to bats

KIRKLARELİ- Anadolu Agency

Dupnisa Cave, which is the only tourism-open cave in the Thrace region and hosts thousands of bats, will be contributing more to tourism with new investments.

Located in Sarpdere village of Demirköy district in the northwestern province of Kırklareli, Dupnisa Cave was opened to tourism in 2003 after a series of rearrangements by the Culture and Tourism Ministry and the Special Provincial Administration and is home to approximately 60,000 bats of 16 species.

The part of the cave consisting of continuously flowing underground rivers and lakes with a depth of more than two meters in places, every year for six months remain closed to visitors to help breed bats.
Local and foreign tourists can visit 100 meters of the 500-meter section of the 1,977-meter-long cave, which fascinates with its stalactites, stalagmites and colorful columns of huge sizes. 

The cave opened to visitors on May 15 and will remain so until Nov.15.

Dupnisa was one of the rarest caves in the world  due to its geological structure, told Kırklareli Governor  Osman Bilgin told state-run Anadolu Agency.

Stating that Dupnisa cave is the only cave that is open to tourism in Thrace and that it has the distinction of being the longest cave, Bilgin said that projects have been implemented to revive tourism in the region and to draw more tourists.

Bilgin stated that environmental arrangements had been made around the cave and the road used to reach the cave, adding, “Bicycle and walking paths, parking lot and local product sales points were rearranged and inside and around the cave were lighted. Dupnisa Cave is one of the most important tourist areas in our region. It is one of the rare caves in the world. Dupnisa, which is visited by thousands of local and foreign tourists every year, has become the center of attraction of Thrace.”

Stating that 14 million Turkish Liras have been invested in the cave and its surroundings, Bilgin said, “Physically, we have done 50 percent of the projects. We will complete the entire project this year. With the bungalow houses that we will build around the cave, local and foreign tourists will be able to both visit our cave and rest in the natural conditions of the region. I invite everyone to see our cave.”