One of the most mysterious civilizations, which ceased to exist in a mysterious way, left behind many secrets. The inhabitants of South America have created a very complex and completely unencrypted calendar system, characterized by amazing accuracy. And if many have heard about the Mayan calendar, then few people know about this, located in one of the caves in Bulgaria.
Natural masterpiece in Bulgaria
A famous tourist attraction, the sensational findings of which change the views of the townsfolk about the distant past, is located near the village of Rabisha, in the area of the town of Belogradchik, inside the limestone Rabishsky mound. Belogradchik cliffs in the north-west of the country are an amazing stone landscape that evokes a sense of admiration. But not only the towering giants can boast of territory paved with canyons.
It is here that a unique miraculous masterpiece is located, its dimensions resembling a colossal underground cathedral. Magura Cave, amazing in its beauty, is one of the largest in Bulgaria. The length of its galleries is about 3 thousand meters. The real miracle is famous for its 20-meter stalactone (drip deposition) and giant stalactite more than 11 meters long.
Monument to primitive art
However, the interest of scientists and tourists is not caused by column-like formations, but by prehistoric paintings carved on the rock walls and perfectly preserved. In underground labyrinths, whose age exceeds 15 million years, once lived people who left cave paintings. Therefore, it can be argued that the Magura Cave is the only monument of primitive art in the south of Eastern Europe. Even during the heyday of the Roman Empire, and then in the Middle Ages, its gloomy halls were explored.
Unique drawings
On the walls of the cave, which for a long time played the role of a sanctuary, carved images of dancing female figures, men hunting animals, people in ritual masks. Scientists suggest that they are all participants in some kind of magic ritual.
In addition, in the cave of Magura, multilayer paintings on religious themes, images of military scenes, constellations, animals and plants were found. The giant human figure, located next to the giraffe, caused a lot of controversy among experts. Four-meter people, in their opinion, are ancient Atlanteans, whose civilization reached the top of its development, and then mysteriously disappeared.
And the images of the Moon, Earth and the Sun, made by our ancestors, are surprising among contemporaries. Even in those days, primitive people knew that the globe rotates around a red-hot celestial body counterclockwise. Cave dwellers who knew astronomy and other sciences left unique images made by bat litter.
It is known about 700 specimens that date from different eras. It was established that the first cave paintings in the Magura cave, the description of which is no longer difficult for specialists, appeared 7 thousand years ago. And I must say that they turned all our ideas about distant ancestors. Scientists admit that they will even have to rewrite history textbooks.
One of the oldest calendars in the world
In addition, an ancient solar calendar with a duration of 366 days was discovered in Magura Cave. It is dated to the end of the Eneolithic and Bronze Age. The ancient inhabitants of the underground labyrinths saved information on the five holidays through drawings.
Scientists who worked on deciphering the calendar claim that the knowledge of primitive people about the world is encoded here. Most likely, the cave was the leading cult center of antiquity. However, not all signs are unraveled. It seems unbelievable, but here you can see analogues of Celtic runes and alchemical symbols, as well as prototypes of the Cyrillic letters, carved several millennia before the appearance of Slavic writing.
As some scholars suggest, it was from the Magura cave, the photo of which is allowed to be taken by all visitors, that the spread of ancient religions in the world began. Perhaps very soon we all will find out what is actually hiding the underworld.
An excursion that leaves no one indifferent
You can visit the grottoes, the atmosphere of which is saturated with mysticism, only as part of tourist groups. The cost of a fascinating tour of the halls immersed in the darkness is 5 euros / 375 rubles. Magura Cave in Bulgaria consists of a main gallery and three branches from it. The entrance to the underground palace, created by nature itself, is not accessible for guests without special equipment, so for the convenience of tourists another manhole was made. All the labyrinths are lit, but due to the huge number of protrusions, a mysterious twilight remains inside.
All year round the temperature here is around 12 o C. It is not very cold, but rather humid, and visitors go outside in wet clothes. It is curious that the microclimate of the miraculous monument is ideal for creating a wine cellar. Under natural conditions, red wines and champagne are produced, which are not inferior in quality to sparkling drinks from France.
In the 80s of the last century, local authorities proposed to include the Magura cave in Bulgaria and the region around it in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Unfortunately, this proposal is still under consideration. But the hope that the cave paintings will still be protected, exists.