Description of the attraction
The Utroba cave is located near the village of Nenkovo in southern Bulgaria, in the vicinity of the town of Kardzhali, at a distance of about 17 kilometers from it. This cave was relatively recently discovered by archaeologists, their scientific research proved that this cave is a Thracian sanctuary dating back to the 11-10th centuries BC. In ancient times, not far from the cave, a whole ritual complex was built, consisting of special niches in the rocks, which were used for winemaking and transportation of the finished drink (in Bulgarian, these structures are called sharapani). The Thracians used wine in their rituals, which were carried out in the cave of the Utroba.
The cave owes its name to its appearance - it is a long natural natural gap in the rock, located horizontally, which resembles a woman's womb. The ancient Thracians also had a hand in decorating the walls of the cave. The height of the passage is about three meters, the width is two and a half, and the depth is 22 meters. Inside the cave, at its very end, the creators of the sanctuary carved out an altar, the height of which is no more than a meter. Water constantly flows down the cave walls.
Every day, through the hole, the sun penetrates here at noon, but only once a year - on March 20 or 21, on the vernal equinox, the sunbeam expands, falls exactly on the altar and is on it for several minutes. The ancient Thracians considered this process a symbol of fertility: the cave is the personification of the mother goddess Earth, and the Sun God fertilizes her. A sacred marriage takes place between the sun and the rock, which symbolizes the rebirth of life. This belief is supported by the very shape of the cave. It is likely that folklore about mysterious conceptions and births in caves is a later adaptation of an ancient cult. Ancient rituals, in which young people were taken to a cave and left there for some time, have a similar meaning - initiation into maturity of young men and women.
The Womb Cave is a unique natural and cultural phenomenon that does not exist in the world.
Description added:
Vladimir Ovsyannikov 2016-20-04
The text contains the following inaccuracies: in the cave of the Utroba, the practice "Birth of a new life" was carried out by the Priests of ancient Trakia, wine was not used in this practice; the sunbeam falls deepest into the cave on December 22, but never reaches the altar niche at the end of the cave, this is confirmed by observations in
Show full text There are the following inaccuracies in the text: the practice "Birth of a new life" was carried out in the cave of the Womb. Priests of ancient Trakia, wine was not used in this practice; the sunbeam falls deepest into the cave on December 22, but never reaches the altar niche at the end of the cave, this is confirmed by observations over the past 3 years; the symbolism of the cave as a place of the beginning of a new life is expressed not so much in the external resemblance to the mother's organ of a woman, but in the practice itself, which repeats the process of conception, development and birth of a child in full accordance with the actions performed by a person in the cave.. the basis for practice is the sun and sound vibration inside the cave, in addition, the Priests also used gold discs to reflect the Sun into the altar niche.. I am ready to provide a photo and more complete information !!!
Hide text
