Crnopac – A Mountain Labyrinth
Speaker: Teo Barišić
Date and time: 9 September 2026 at 6 p.m.
Venue: Croatian Natural History Museum, Demetrova 1, Zagreb
Please note: The lecture will be held in Croatian.
The Crnopac massif is the highest and most rugged part of southeastern Velebit – a remarkable landscape of deep sinkholes, steep cliffs, white limestone peaks and forested plateaus. Its central section lies at an elevation of between 900 and 1,100 metres, forming a true natural labyrinth.
An even greater labyrinth lies beneath the surface. Speleologists have discovered more than 500 entrances to the underground world of Crnopac and explored over 100 kilometres of passages. The largest, the Crnopac Cave System, is more than 68 kilometres long and ranks among the world’s 50 longest cave systems.
New underground spaces are discovered every year, while researchers continue searching for connections with the large caves in the surrounding area, including the Cerovac Caves, Munižaba, Jama na Javoru, Duša and Burinka. These explorations are extremely demanding, involving several days underground, rope descents, transporting heavy equipment, squeezing through narrow passages and technical climbing in complete darkness.
Join Teo Barišić’s lecture to discover the spectacular landscape of Crnopac, its most important speleological discoveries and the challenges of exploring one of Croatia’s most complex and still insufficiently known underground environments.
Programme coordinator:
Branimir Ivić
branimir.ivic@hpm.hr