Serbia’s Hidden Wonder: Samar Cave and Sudvek Natural Bridge

Hello everyone. I want to talk about a place near the village of Kopajkošara in southern Serbia. We had the chance to visit this place last autumn. Here you can find the Samar Cave and the Sudvek Natural Bridge. We left our car in the village and walked about one and a half kilometers. Along the way, we collected mushrooms. It had been a long time since we last foraged for mushrooms in the fall and we missed it.

Sudvek is a stone bridge that is 14 meters high and 25 meters wide. Its arches vary in thickness from 2 to 5 meters. It was once the vault of a cave, an entrance arch, but over time, it collapsed, leaving behind a stone bridge. It is unknown how many millions of years ago this happened.

We saw an owl sitting in a niche of the cave. We were still on top of the arch when it suddenly flew toward us, leaving us in awe. I had never seen an owl this close in the wild before. The Sudvek river flows through here. When we visited, it was shallow due to the hot summer. This river enters a cave and in Serbia, such a river is called a ponornitsa. On the other side, the Žljebura River also flows in. Over a long period, these streams merged to form the Samar cave system. Locals refer to this cave as Veliki Peshter.

It’s impossible to visit such an atmospheric place without having a small picnic. After consuming some calories, we had to walk to another spot and get some exercise. We collected mushrooms along the way. There are also apple trees here. The apples looked bad, perhaps they were grown as animal feed or for making liquor, but we made an amazing apple pie with them. If these apples belong to someone, we sincerely thank them. On our way back to the car, we walked about 400 meters from the village.

The cave has two entrances and one exit. The Kopajska river flows through here. Although this massive vault looks like a cave entrance, it is not. Perhaps it was an entrance in the past, but it collapsed. The actual entrance is small and unremarkable, located below with a commemorative plaque. This cave is also known as Milutinova, named after speleologist Milutin Veljković. In July 1969 he descended into the cave with his dog, cat, chickens and a large supply of canned food. He made it into the Guinness Book of World Records, having broken the previous record four times. He spent 464 days - 15 months underground.

The main channel of the cave is tunnel-shaped, filled with whirlpools, waterfalls and water obstacles, so it cannot be explored without proper equipment. However, there are guided groups that enter from here and exit where Sudvek begins. The cave has a three kilometer long corridor system. Milutin's residence was located in a small side passage, 900 meters from the entrance. He conducted scientific research, explored the channels and studied insects. It is believed that he even discovered a hot water source and examined the bones of unknown animals. Perhaps this was his way of challenging himself—an experiment on human nature... It’s incredible because the conditions there were harsh. The temperature ranged from 7 to 11 degrees Celsius and the humidity was 100%. He even extracted his own bad tooth under these conditions. A very persistent, strong person, someone to be respected.

He kept a journal, which was later published as a book titled Under a Stone Sky. I really want to read it, but I’m not sure if it’s available in stores.

What an amazing place and what an extraordinary person. Thank you for reading to the end. See you soon.