Dobšiná Ice Cave
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The Dobšiná Ice Cave (Slovak: Dobšinská ľadová jaskyňa) is an ice cave in Slovakia, close to the mining town Dobšiná, in the Slovak Paradise. It is included in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list. It lies 130 m above the Hnilec river, and the entrance is at an altitude of 970 m.
The cave was discovered in 1870 by royal mining engineer Eugen Ruffinyi, though the entrance was known from time immemorial as Studená diera (Cold Hole). The cave was open to the public just one year after its discovery, and in 1887, it was the first electrically lit cave in Europe.
The cave slowly descends from the entrance and with the northern orientation it cools off cave's interior in winter, as the cold air falls down. In the summer, the warm air cannot fall down to the cave. Thus the annual temperature average stays around 0°C. The cave iced up, as this cycle repeated for many centuries.
The total length of the cave is 1388 m, out of which 475 m are open to the public. It is open to the public from May until September.
