Romania
Dragon’s Gate Cave
Located at 1150 m in the Trascau Mountains, the cave was discovered by the local shepherds from Bedeleu.
According to the legend, there was a castle of dragons. Sometimes, one of them took a human appearance, went to the village to dance with the most beautiful girl and disappeared with her at midnight.
One day, the locals burned down all the surrounding forests, destroyed the castle and killed the dragons.
All that remained from the castle is a natural stone bridge resembling a portal, which inspired the name of the cave: The Dragon Gate.
The ceiling is tall so one can easely stand up and walk around. The total lenght of the cave is 125 m.
Inside you can admire stalactites, stalagmites, parietal leaks, gurus, draperies, montmilch deposits, of white or yellow origin now blackened by the humus reached in the infiltration waters.
The entrance in the cave is very small (less than 2m diameter) but inside there’s plenty of space to explore it.
You can also adminre the Travertine Waterfalls (Sipote Waterfall), following the trail to Salciua.
To reach the cave, you have to do a 6 h hike (around 14 km from the nearest village Izvoarele or Salciua de Jos).
You can follow the circuit from Salciua De Jos – Dragon’s Gate Cave – Izvoarele, or you can choose to come back on the same trail you went.
