The Arnăuţilor Cave

It is located on the right slope of the Mânzului (Olăneşti) Gorge, at 1000 m absolute altitude and 60 m relative altitude. The cave is 150 m wide and has a large opening (24/15 m), disposed from north to west, easy to see from down the valley, placed on a rather abrupt wall. Visitors do not need any special equipment, a source of light is sufficient. (C. Goran, 1983)

The cave is a gallery lying almost in a straight line, in ascent at first, then horizontal, wide in the beginning and narrowing towards the end, because of the lowering ceiling. There’s only a small lateral diverticulum in the left wall. In the first part, the gallery is set on a surface of stratum then on an equilateral triangle shaped crack.

The concretionary formations can be seen only on the last part of the gallery, and on the floor there are only a few small domes, covered in clastic material and clay dust from the decalcification and mondmilch.

It is a cold cave (6° C in the air and 5.5° C în the water, in july 1966), rather stamp in the last part, where there are a few sinkholes filled with water, but not at all ventilated.

The fauna in the cave is very poor, as there are very few trophic resources. There are two species of diplopod myriapods (Dacosoma motasi) and chilopods (Lithobius decapolitus), that dwell only in caves, both of them represented by very few individuals.

Together with the Cave with Milk and the caves in the Cheia Gorge, it forms the most eastern nucleus of caves in the Southern Carpathians with species of caving microfauna.