The drove from Tirana to the village of Pellumbas takes about 45 minutes. We walked 2 km up the trail that leads to “Shpella e Zeze” or “The Black Cave of Pellumbas”.
They had some very impressive haystacks in the village.
The view from the trail is spectacular, with the mountainside dropping down into the canyon of Erzen River.
The trail was repaired by the Outdoor Albania Association in 2010 and in a very good condition.
The cave stands at an elevation of 350 meters and is said to be one of the earliest prehistoric settlements of the area. Tools and artifacts dating back to the neolith, bronze and iron eras have been found there, as well as fossils attributed to the cave bears (ursus spelae) that lived in the cave more than 10,000 years ago.
We observed the stalactites and stalagmites, and heard bat sounds and also saw a few bats in the cave. It was extremely muddy and slippery, and some places our feet just disappeared under us.
Because of the obvious similarity this stalactite (or stalagmite?) is named after Albania’s hero, George Kastrioti Skanderbeg. Skanderbeg was an Albanian who had served as an Ottoman military officer, renounced Ottoman service, allied with some Albanian chiefs and fought off Turkish rule from 1443-1478.
One of the visitors to the restaurant, where we had our lunch, was not impressed by the menu of the day, and decided to change it
They had some very impressive haystacks in the village.
The view from the trail is spectacular, with the mountainside dropping down into the canyon of Erzen River.
The trail was repaired by the Outdoor Albania Association in 2010 and in a very good condition.
The cave stands at an elevation of 350 meters and is said to be one of the earliest prehistoric settlements of the area. Tools and artifacts dating back to the neolith, bronze and iron eras have been found there, as well as fossils attributed to the cave bears (ursus spelae) that lived in the cave more than 10,000 years ago.
We observed the stalactites and stalagmites, and heard bat sounds and also saw a few bats in the cave. It was extremely muddy and slippery, and some places our feet just disappeared under us.
Because of the obvious similarity this stalactite (or stalagmite?) is named after Albania’s hero, George Kastrioti Skanderbeg. Skanderbeg was an Albanian who had served as an Ottoman military officer, renounced Ottoman service, allied with some Albanian chiefs and fought off Turkish rule from 1443-1478.
One of the visitors to the restaurant, where we had our lunch, was not impressed by the menu of the day, and decided to change it
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