Pirate Cave Vrsar

Pirate cave near Vrsar is acctualy called Romuald's cave in Croatian after St. Romualdo. He was a hermit who lived in a cave around 1000 AD. He is credited with the founding of the Benedictine Abbey of St. Michael the Archangel in 1040. The cave is located near the town of Vrsar in the Lim Channel. It was more than 20,000 years that the cave is formed with numerous sediments now keeping valuable findings which indicate development of life in these areas. A large number of animal species were inhabiting this cave, including the cave bears and lions, leopards, wolves, foxes, hyenas, snow hare, wild horses, goats and numerous bird species. Pirate cave had been visited by a prehistoric man in Palaeolithic thus the findings of flint, stone and bone tools that were in use back then. The most important finding are the child's teeth of Homo sapiens which is the oldest find of its kind in Istria. The cave is inhabited by endangered and protected species today, namely Romuald Trcak, which is endemic subterranean beetle, and a large colony of bats Myotis myotis. Because of the colonie of bats, visit to the cave are limited, from 15 June to 15 September with expert guidance from 10 am to 5 pm.
From 1595 until the World War 2, local residents were celebrated St. Romuald day on 7 February, commemorating it with the long procession that descended to the cave entrance. Today this custom is forgotten, but do not let that keep you away from the Pirate cave. Guided groups are organized with up to 10 people, and 105 meters of the cave at 128 meters above sea level will give you a pleasant cool and amusemet in a hot summer days.