The cave, located in the Świętokrzyskie Mountains, southern Poland, has since become a major tourist attraction, drawing over 100,000 visitors each year.

“Sixty years ago today, boys from the Geological Technical School in Krakow entered the cave for the first time. One of them exclaimed, 'Oh my (Polish-Oh paradise), it’s so beautiful in here!'” said tour guide Aleksandra Duchniak, describing the chance discovery.

According to the cave’s official website, it is renowned for “the richness and diversity of calcite dripstone forms” and contains “clusters of stalactites with a density rare on a global scale.”

The cave opened to tourists in 1972 and has been a protected natural monument since.

The 180-meter tourist route starts at a pavilion with a museum exhibit showcasing flint tools found in the cave used by Neanderthals, dating back some 50,000 years, and the remains of prehistoric animals like mammoths and bears.

Despite its relatively small size, the cave boasts some of the best-preserved rock formations among Poland’s limestone caves. It was formed over 360 million years ago from marine sediments.