May the 17th, 2025 – Did you know that there’s a Croatian volcano that once hid semi-precious stones? Gaveznica is now a protected area, but you can still visit it…
As Putni kofer writes, there are plenty of countries across the globe in which volcanic eruptions are a completely normal occurrence. One of them close to home in Europe is of course the famous Iceland, where observing the glowing lava has even become a tourist attraction. The most famous European volcano, Etna, in neighbouring Italy, still occasionally comes alive to this very day. There are also numerous volcanic islands scattered throughout the oceans. Did you know about the continental Croatian volcano? Probably not. Luckily for us all, it’s no longer active, it’s also the location where semi-precious stones were discovered, at the only such site in all of Croatia.
If you ever happen to find yourself near Lepoglava, be sure to visit Gaveznica, the only preserved Croatian volcano in the continental part of the country. It is located on the site of the former Kameni vrh hill (373 metres tall). Far from the lava spilling scenes of Etna and co, you’ll come across a huge hole, which is actually the ancient crater of a former volcano that formed on that very area approximately 22 million years ago.
Gaveznica is a protected area and is the only known place where semi-precious stones have been found in Croatia – the one and only Lepoglava agate. This location is also a fascinating archaeological site, as the remains of a prehistoric settlement from the Late Bronze Age were also found at the very top of the former hill.
Turning the pages of the (pre)history book back, you’ll learn that there were actually several volcanic phases in the area of what is now northwestern Croatia. The rocks formed by these volcanic activities were mostly eroded, tectonically shifted or simply covered with younger and younger sediments. An exception to that apparent rule is the only Croatian (fossil) volcano of Gaveznica. Prisoners doing time at the infamous Lepoglava prison once mined volcanic rock (hypersthenic andesite) for almost half a century (1923-1967). This form of rock is extremely hard and perfectly suitable for road surfaces.
The exploitation of volcanic rock over the years eventually excavated the volcano’s “chimney”, which caused a deep landslide with a fall towards the volcano’s crater, as revealed by Priroda Varaždinske županije/The Nature of Varaždin County. The only Croatian volcano to have produced semi-precious stones has also attracted particular attention to this former quarry. It was formed during the final stages of volcanic activity, when hydrothermal effects on the volcanic rock occurred.
