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The plateau of Nišići is north from Sarajevo. On the north, the plateau is bordered by mountain
Zvijezda, and by a river Ljubina from the east. From the east is bordered by Čemerska and form
west by Daštanska mountain. It is an area with slopes, coniferous forest and pastures cut by
numerous brooks going on after another. There are plenty beautiful landscapes for easy walks
in fresh mountain air. The area has rich fauna and it is popular and frequently visited by hunters.
For mountaineers, mountain-climbers and speleologists the most interesting areas is Bijambare.
In the central part of this area, are two rivers with lakes, five caves in three horizons and
numerous abysses, karst holes and rocky massif.
Bijambare tract, encompassing 370 ha, is recently proclaimed by law as protected area of the
fifth grade (“protected landscape”). It is traditionally highly valued because of its natural beauty
and richness.
It is easily reachable since it is near by the regional road Sarajevo-Tuzla, what makes it
additionally attractive for tourists.
Altitude averaging 950 m a.s.l., with thick old evergreen forest, with various pine trees, beautiful
meadows crossed by two creaks that form small lakes and sink underground into karstified
limestone rock base, can be found here what will make your stay more than pleasant.
Being situated in the karstic region area is rich with most karst phenomena such as karstic
depressions, sinkholes and, most importantly, 6 known caves. The reserve is attractive for
speleology, hiking, cycling, horse-riding, picnic, mountaineering, alpinism, fishing, hunting,
skiing, collecting of medical herbs and mushrooms, etc.
Certainly, the greatest attraction is the presence and accessibility of caves that are nicely
grouped. In three horizons there are five caves that are named and better known, but there is
also one more unnamed cave and possibly even more undiscovered ones. The largest cave is
called Bijambare main cave, or sometimes: mid-Bijambare or simply Bijambare.
The main cave is of considerable magnitude, 420 m long (along the main path, neglecting
branches) with 4 huge “halls” stretching up to 60 m in the diameter and to over 30 m in height.
One of the halls (the last one) is commonly called “concert-hall” due to its impressive size. The
cave is rich with cave “jewellery” forms such as stalactites, stalagmites, curtains, basins, sideblocks and alike. It is presently inhabited by colony of bats and crickets. Other inhabitants could
possibly also be found.
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Introduction
In the Bijambare area, 8 caves are known and although some are not so large, they have very
complex and interesting morphological forms.
Only Srednja Bijambarska and Gornja Bijambarska are open and easily accessible to visitors.
All others caves can be visited only together with experienced cavers/speleologists.
Gornja Cave
It is hard to tell when first speleological investigations of Bijambare caves started.
The oldest signature in the cave interior indicate to the end of 19th century, when numerous
foreign workers of Austro-Hungarian Monarchy came to Bosnia and Herzegovina and
participated in exploitation of forest and mine resources, and in construction of first Bosnian and
Herzegovinian hiking clubs, such as: “Prijatelji prirode” (Friend of Nature), “Kosmos” (Cosmos)
and HPD Bjelašnica who left their signatures in this cave, and as well many other caves in
closer Sarajevo surroundings.
Unfortunately, these first explorers did not leave us many written documents, drawings or
photographs.
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Srednja Cave
First popular texts about Bijambare area were written by famous Bosnian hikers Vejsil Čurčić
and Eugen Kumičić in the mountaineering periodical, but during very unfortunate times – period
of World War II. First more serious efforts to valorize the Bijambare area in the real way,
originate from the middle of 20th century, as part of activities of the Republic Institute for
Protection of Cultural Monuments and Nature Rarities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially in
works of Viktor Ržehak and Ivo Baučić. (Srednja Cave interiors)
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Palentology & Archeology
Gornja cave is the oldest cave in Bijambare area. It is neither a big speleological structure nor
does it have the beautiful decoration which make Srednja cave so attractive. However it hides in
its floor the most important records of the past fauna and mankind prehistory.
Gornja Cave
Gornja Cave Interior
In the past a test hole was excavated and it brought to light information about past ages.
Different sediments strata deposits during Pleistocene (from 1.8 Myear to 10000 years ago)
were found during this study. Fossils of animals living in cold climes testify about the period of
Ice Age (Wurm III), while in upper layers, the presence of remains of animals typical of steppe
highlight a shift to a warmer situation. The following Atlantic period (around 8000-45000 years
ago) is considered as the warmer period of the Holocene.
Within the animal fossils, one of the most representative inhabitants of the caves during the cold
period was the cave bear. This specie was more robust and bigger than the actual bear. Most of
the weak and old bears died inside the caves during the hibernation period and for this reason
many bones were found. The cave bear became extinct at the end of the last Ice Age around
10000 years ago.
The Cave Man
The Gornja cave entrance is oriented to south-west and this it allows light to enter deep inside.
In addition the cave is relatively dry and it is located in at high elevation. All these characteristics
had probably made this cave ideal shelter.
This is not surprising that not only animal fossils were found in Gornja cave but also stone
instruments created by the prehistorical man.
The finds from the layerd deposits during the last Ice Age indicated that the cave was used by
people belonging to the Epigravettian culture (an extension of the Upper Paleolithic). The stone
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tools range from small knives, scrapers, pins, sharp tips, to retouched plates. All tools are made
of finely grained rocks: jasper, chalcedony and chart.
It is the same time the first findings of such Paleolithic culture, in exactly stratigraphically fixed
layers in the area of Bosnia and more in general the first cave archeological Paleolithic site in
the entire area of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In the upper layer many fragments of ceramic were found and based on the quality of material
and decorations were attributed to the late Bronze Age.
Geology & Hydrology
In the wider Bijambare area comprises of different geological formations. Some of them appear
only in traces, as eruptive and metamorphic rocks represented by melaphyres, chert,
serpentines, peridotites and lercolites, while other sediment rocks such as slate, sandstones
and limestones build the wide area extending from the Zvijezda Mountain toward Bijambare and
further on to the south.
Verenic slates and quartz sandstones represent the oldest sediment rocks, which means
approximately 250 million years ago. Over them, limestones and dolomites were deposited in
Middle and Upper Triassic. Limestone is constituted by calcium carbonate (CaCo2) produced as
shell material by organisms and slowly deposited on the sea bottom. Dolomite, although it looks
rather similar, also contains magnesium (CaMg(CO2)2) and of this reason it is more resistant to
water dissolution and thus it is less prone to karstification than limestone.
By subsequent tectonic movements there rocks were exposed to bending and breaking,
therefore, they are today visible as ridges protruding from clastic sediments that are supposed
to be softer and eroded. Later, stronger karstification contributed to forming of almost all karstic
forms in the Bijambare relief.
In the wider Bijambare region, in the Jurassic times, approximately 200 million years ago, there
are marlstones and salty sandstones, tuffs, and occasionally slates, radiolarites and
multicolored cherts. From the period of Lower Chalk different lime facies may be found in this
area. During last geological period (quatermary), lake sediments and alluvial deposits
developed in the valley of Bjelila and Brodić creeks.
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Water
Rain water infiltrates inside a karstified massif through different pathways. Drop by drop it is
absorbed by the reticulate of fractures or more concentrated through depressions named
dolines (sinkholes) which represent one of the most typical karst surface morphologies.
Moreover, when water flowing on impermeable rocks arrives on karst terrain, at the contact,
creeks or even entire rivers disappear underground in places named ponors (swallowholes).
In Bijambare area, Bjelila and Brodić creeks flow on alluvium sediments (which slow down
infiltration) and reaching the limestones they sink underground in Dimišina cave and Donja cave
respectively. (Water richness of the area)
These streams didn’t sink always at the same place and the progressive lowering of their level
left dry the older sinking points. This is particularly visible for Brodić creek which has created,
from the past up to now: Gornja, Srednja and Donja caves.
During its travel inside the mountain, the water is collected and it runs fast through conduits of
progressively larger dimensions. Usually it reaches a zone where all conduits and fractures are
filled by water (the saturated zone). This point of the karst aquifer (from aqua = water and ferre
= to carry) assumes an important role for the underground travel of water (the water collected in
Bijambare area exits at the Orlja spring located 2 km north and tributary of the river Krivaja).
Karst aquifers have a low self-cleaning capacity (pollutants can pass from swallows point to
spring almost untouched) mainly due to the relatively high velocity of the water passing on them.
If we add that karst springs are very often used as sources of drinking water we can understand
the importance and vulnerability of karst water.
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Cave Formation
The pure water is rather ineffective to dissolve the limestone rocks in a rate high enough to
justify the cave genesis.
However, when rain water enters into
contact with the carbon dioxide (CO2, a
gas abundantly present in the soil due
to biological activity) it becomes much
more aggressive (even 100 more than
distilled water).
Water and CO2 react to create a weak
acid (the carbonic acid) which is mainly
responsible for calcium carbonate
dissolution. Nevertheless, this chemical
reaction (more correctly, a set of
chemical equilibriums) can proceed in
both directions and, if the water loses
part of the gas dissolved, limestone is
deposited
again
in
form
of
speleothemes.
Beside limestone and water there is
another important elements which plays
a primary role in cave formation: the
initial reticulate of small fractures in the
massive rock. Without fractures, that act as focal points to drive a cave formation, the rock will
be corroded more or less uniformly in the surface without creation of underground passages.
Water moving through rock fissures slowly enlarges the passage. As the dimension increases,
more water is passing inside and the fracture widening became faster. In addition, the initial
diffuse system of small fissures undergoes a hierarchical process where water is progressively
“stolen” from small passages and it ends up in the few large collectors. When water abandons
the passages (for example because new conduits are available at lower elevation) a new cave
is ready to be explored.
Speleothem
Water creates the caves but it is also responsible for the formation of all the extraordinary
mineral decorations that fill ceiling, floor and wall of underground passages. All these natural
sculptures together are named speleothemes.
When water, saturated with calcium carbonate, reaches the cave ceiling it can lose part of the
carbon dioxide and it is not able anymore to carry all the calcium carbonate in solution.
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Drop after droop small quantities of mineral deposit appear on the ceiling and with time they
grow to create a stalactite. However, if the water is dripping too fast, it does not have time to
leave all calcium carbonate on the ceiling and part of it is left on the floor forming a stalagmite.
Stalagmites and stalactites grow generally very slowly. How fast depends strongly from the local
geological and climate conditions. In some conditions they can completely stop growing and
even be corrode. From 3 to 400 mm every 1000 years is a typical range of velocities.
The different colors are caused by small impurities in the water. White is normal color of pure
calcium carbonate while brown-reddish color is caused by the presence of small traces of iron
or manganese.
Besides stalagmites, stalactites and columns (when stalagmites and stalactites are joined
together), in Srednja Bijambarska cave there are nice examples of rimstone pools (or gours).
This special type of speleotheme is formed by groups of pools (with dimension from millimeters
to meters) and occurs on the floor or slightly inclined surfaces. When water, flowing on an
irregular base, finds a small obstacle, while passing over, it is more exposed to the atmosphere
and it loses a little more CO2. For this reason in that point a small additional quantity of calcium
carbonate is deposited which, by growing, takes the shape of a small dam.
Cave Fauna
Many small animals live in the darkness of caves. Since far ago living organisms have
developed extraordinary capacity of adaption even to the most hostile environment.
However, not all what is found in a cave is adopted to live in the underground world. They are
usually divided into three categories.
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Trogoxenes are surface animals that accidentally found themselves in the cave (for example
they fall in a pit). They are surface species and since they are not adopted they will not survive
for a long time.
Among the cave inhabitants we have the
Troglophile animals (for example the bats or
the cave butterflies - Trifoza dubitata and
Skoliopterix libatrix) which found the cave an
ideal place for some of their life exigencies but
they are not necessarily bounded to the cave
environment.
The real cave animals, Troglobites, are
completely adapted to a life without a light
(they lost the eyes but they enhanced other
senses) and they totally depend on the stable
cave climate (almost constant temperature and
high humidity). They can’t survive outside due
to this relative segregation they are often
endemic in specific area.
The coleopteran Anthroherpon Stenocephalum
from Srednja cave was already mentioned in
the European scientific literature in the 1901 as
endemic specie.
Bats
The bats or Chiroptera are only mammals that regularly frequent the caves and also they are
the only ones that developed the capacity of an active fly.
These harmless creatures eat a large quantity of insects (even 2000 – 3000 every night) hunting
during the night, outside of the cave, through a sophisticated system of eco-localization similar
to a sonar.
During the winter most of the bats found
shelter inside the caves and they fall in
lethargy while ion summer they move at great
distance to the places of hunting.
Although these animals have an invaluable
ecological role in controlling the insects
number, most of the species are nowadays
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endangered. Main reason are the decrease of habitats, pollution and lack of protection of
lethargy and reproduction sites. In addition, during the past, bats were targets of wide (not
justified) negative superstitions which surely did not help their protection.
Few species of bats roost the Bijambare caves: Barbastelle (Barbastella barbastullus), Lesser
horseshoes (Rhinolophus hipposiderus), Myotis blythiioxignathus, Myotis mystacinus, Myotis
myotis and Myotis capaccini.
Amont them, a special remark should be given to the Barbastelle bat. This specie belgons to the
Vesperilionidae family and it is considered to be one of the rarest European bats and it is
included in IUCN red list of endangered species as vulnerable since it population is in decline. In
Bosnia and Herzegovina, up to now it was recorded only in one more cave near Banja Luka. It
need forests together with wetland for hunting and cold caves (typically 2-5 C) for winter shelter,
all habitats and cold caves are present in Bijambare protected area. If you see a bat sleeping
don’t disturb it. To wake up a bat during the winter lethargy means in most cases to kill it.
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