Velebit - The Caves

The Caves

There are hundreds of "holes" on Velebit. It has the largest and deepest caves in Croatia. The three-part "Lukina jama" cave is 1392 m deep, making it one of the deepest caves in the world, and the deepest in southeast Europe, while the "Slovačka jama" is 1320 m. What makes it very particular is that it is completely vertical, steepest in the world. At the bottom of the pothole is a water course or siphon with branches that are still unexplored. A kind of leech was discovered in the pothole, which has been ascertained to represent a new species, genus and family; it has been named Croatobranchus mestrovi.

See Velebit caves.

List of potholes on Velebit deeper than 500 m:

1. Lukina Jama, 1392 m, Hajdučki Kukovi - North Velebit
2. Slovačka Jama, 1320 m, Rožanski Kukovi - North Velebit
3. Velebita, 941 m, Rožanski Kukovi - North Velebit
4. Meduza, 679 m, Rožanski Kukovi - North Velebit
5. Patkov Gušt, 553 m, Hajdučki Kukovi - North Velebit
6. Ledena Jama, 536 m, Lomska Duliba - North Velebit
7. Ponor na Bunovcu, 534 m, Bunovac - South Velebit
8. Jama Olimp, 531 m, Hajdučki Kukovi - North Velebit
9. Lubuška Jama, 521 m, Hajdučki Kukovi - North Velebit

It is also home to Degenia velebitica, an endemic and protected species of plant in the mustard family discovered in 1907 by the Hungarian botanist Àrpàd von Degen.

The imposing nature of the Velebit mountain has made it something of a national symbol in Croatian folklore. There is a patriotic folk song Vila Velebita that personifies a fairy in Velebit.