History - Baredine cave

Prehistoric and roman period

Baredine cave has been known since ancient times, which is testified to by the remains of prehistoric ceramics that was found in the cave. The assumption is that our long-time ancestors might have disposed their ceramic containers in the cave during those dry summers so that they could, drip by drip, fill them up by the precious water. With the arrival of agriculture in these areas and later, during the Roman period when 2000 years ago farming plots started forming, the cave was used as a place where the cleared away rocks were thrown. Such process, having lasted over many years, got the upper parts of the cave almost completely closed up.

First expeditions

Members of the Speleological Society Proteus from Poreč recognized the importance of the cave and have been actively and systematically exploring it since 1973. It was then, during their descend to the lower areas of the cave, when they discovered the vertical leading to the underground lakes. At the time, despite being rather poorly equipped and with for that purpose specially designed ladders, they managed to explore the cave entirely all the way to its lowest bed, precisely to the two underground lakes at a depth of 116 metres. The measured water depth was 6 meters in the first lake and 16 metres in the other. A written document testifying the 1926 expedition to the upper parts of the cave by speleologists from Trieste was found at about the same time at the Trieste Land Registry Office.

Modification and tourist valorisation

With the aim of tourist valorisation, speleologists organized a couple of visits to the site and at the same time started to campaign for the protection of the Poreč area significant speleological objects. Thanks to their initiative and its exclusivity, Baredine cave was proclaimed geomorphological monument of nature in 1986. Its proper reconstruction started at the beginning of the nineties. 1995 marks the year when this first Istrian speleological site was open to tourist visits thanks to the support of all Istrian County Tourist Offices, the City of Poreč and the residents of Nova Vas. Its infrastructure was improved in the following years, while its facilities offer a wider range of content, thus providing conditions for a better quality visit to the cave and its surroundings.