Baredine is a cave not far from village Nova Vas near Porec city of Istrian Peninsula.
The depth of the cave Beredine is up to 66 m. Beredine is especially popular because of unusual forms of numerous stalactites and stalagmites in five cove halls. Many of them have their own titles and history.
Distance to Pula 72 km
Distance to Rovinj 52 km
Distance to Zagreb 242 km
In Croatia there are more than 10,000 caves, many of them are open for visiting, cave Baredine is one of the most beautiful. It was the first to be opened for visiting in 1995.
The rarest species of salamander “European mud puppy” or “Human fish” inhabits in the cave Baredine, it lives up to 100 years and can be found only in the caves of Istria.
In front of the entrance to the cave there is a viewing point with the most beautiful view of Limski channel. The film by Harald Rainl “The treasure of Silver Lake” was shot here. The temperature is in the cave is never higher than 14 degree.
During summer time excursions in the cave are held every 30 minutes. Excursions are in Croatian, Italian, German, English and Russian languages. Entrance ticket to the cave costs 60 kn for adults (adults from 65-55 years of age) and 35 kn for children (6-12 years old). Also near the cave there is a museum of tractors.
Proteus or “Human fish”
The olm, or proteus (Proteus anguinus), a salamander, is the only cave-dwelling chordate species found in Europe. In contrast to most amphibians, it is entirely aquatic; it eats, sleeps, and breeds underwater.
It is also occasionally called the “human fish” by locals because of its skin color, similar to that of white people (translated literally from Slovene: človeška ribica and Croatian: čovječja ribica), as well as “cave salamander” or “white salamander”.
This animal is most notable for its adaptations to a life of complete darkness in its underground habitat.
The olm’s eyes are undeveloped, leaving it blind, while its other senses, particularly those of smell and hearing, are acutely developed. It also lacks any pigmentation in its skin. It has three toes on its forelimbs, but two toes on its hind feet.
The olm’s body is snakelike, 20–30 cm (8–12 in) long, with some specimens reaching up to 40 cm.
The Baredine cave on map of Croatia
On this page used photos from web baredine.com, istra.hr, partly text from en.wikipedia.org