Bull Rock Cave

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The Bull Rock Cave (jeskyně Býčí skála) is located in the Josefov area of the Křtiny Valley in the central part of the Moravian Karst. It represents approximately a half of the total length of the Jedovnice Creek cave system. The system is ca. 15 km long, second longest in the Czech Republic. It is located under the Rudice Plateau, 60 - 220 m beneath the surface. The 3.8 km long (straight length) Rudické propadání is the ponor cave. The Bull Rock Cave is the resurgence (emergence) cave. It consists of several distinguished units, each of them bearing its own name. The first section of the cave, the Old Bull Rock Cave, represents a paleo-resurgence passage of the underground Jedovnice Creek. However, during extraordinary floods it also serves as an active karst spring.
The Bull Rock Cave is frequently called "the most memorable cave of the Moravian Karst", mostly on the account of its prehistory. The Southern Branch yielded evidence of Paleolithic (Magdalenian) settlements. The entrance part, called the Hall (also Entrance Hall, Hallstatt Hall, Předsíň in Czech), is the site of the famous "Hallstatt burial". The burial was discovered by Jindřich (Heinrich) Wankel, M.D., in 1872.
The cave is also a well-known paleontological station. In addition, it belongs to the best studied caves in the Moravian Karst as far as cave biology is concerned. More than 2000 bats regularly winterize in the cave, making it one of the largest such places in the Czech Republic. The bibliography of the Bull Rock Cave begins in 1663 and is probably the most extensive of all caves in the Moravian Karst.
Systematic speleological exploration of the Bull Rock Cave began in 1902. It was carried out by members of the Verein der deutschen Touristen in Brünn, Gruppe für Höhlenforschung (VDT-GfH, a German caving group in Brno). In 1912, the cavers focused their attention on the key problem - the then terminal point of the cave, the Šenkův (Šenk's) siphon. In 1920 their effort was crowned with a success - the overcoming of the siphon and the discovery of the New Bull Rock Cave with the underground Jedovnice Creek. Since 1947, namely from 1973 to 1985, Czech cavers gradually discovered the underground stream of the Jedovnice Creek between the New Bull Rock Cave and the Rudické propadání. They also have discovered the underground course of the creek between the Bull Rock Cave, the Bar (Barová) Cave and the springs in Josefov.
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