Pazjatva – a cave above the Cetina River

Note: We rated the trail as moderately difficult. Most of the trail is actually easy, but the final section is somewhat unclear and requires improvisation. The crossing over the karst rock (škrape) could be rated as difficult, especially if you have never walked across such terrain before.

We only learned about Pazjatva last year. As it happens, I came across a photograph with no description. Since I know that area quite well, from the angle of certain parts of the canyon shown in it I managed to work out the location and the name of the cave. We had passed above and below it hundreds of times, yet only discovered it now! That just goes to show how much lies hidden in our immediate surroundings without us even being aware of it.

The trail starts from the village of Čisla (Čišla) in the Omiš hinterland. Čisla lies just past Gata and before Ostrvica.

It is best to leave your car in front of the church of St. Peter, where there is a spacious parking lot. Looking south, Pazjatva is level with the church, but the trail first leads west along a field path, only to then turn back east and climb the hill southwards to the Cetina canyon.

Spring is in full swing, so everything is green and the whole landscape is picturesque, like something out of a storybook. Fields, meadows, forest… Views of Mosor in the hinterland and Biokovo in the distance to the east… The weather was on our side – sunshine with a light breeze, the temperature ideal.

The trail is not waymarked, but it is well-trodden and marked along its entire length by stacked piles of stones. It is also plotted on the AllTrails service and is mostly accurate up until the very end. There, both the plotted trail and the stone piles lead straight towards the canyon, which brought us to a “dead end”. Perhaps it was once possible to pass through there, but now everything is overgrown, so we could not find a way through anywhere. We backtracked part of the way and, where it seemed convenient, set off across the karst rock (škrape) towards the edge of the ridge. We never advise people to attempt improvisations like this on unmarked trails. In situations like this you should definitely carry a map, a GPS, and a spare battery.

So, the key thing is that at about the 1.65 km mark of the trail (we marked it on the map – point 1) you turn right onto the rocks (škrape) and, by the most convenient route, come out onto the trail that runs along the very edge of the ridge. Once you reach the edge of the ridge, you have a direct view of the cave from above.

The trail then moves a little away from the cave towards the southeast and descends. At one point there is a “step” where, holding on with your hands, you climb down the rock to the “lower” part of the trail, which leads right to the cave. The aforementioned “step” is easy to descend, but be sure to check first that there is no hidden snake, because the terrain is a combination of grass, bushes and rocks. You need to be careful on the karst rock (škrape)! It is not difficult, but any mistake can be fatal. The distance you have to cover across the škrape is about 60 metres. On the map we tried to reconstruct the trail as precisely as possible from our GPS track and satellite imagery of the terrain.

The Pazjatva cave is gorgeous! The view of it and of the Cetina canyon, with the sea in the distance, makes for a combination that is exceptionally striking and rare. It is a sight that will leave no one indifferent!

The cave itself is not deep, only about 10 – 15 m, but its high vault makes it extremely striking. Judging by the amount of droppings, sheep and goats clearly adore it, probably using it as shelter from rain and bad weather.

Although the maps show a trail heading west that loops back round, we preferred to return the same, tried-and-tested way.