Turold, Nature reserve and cave system in Mikulov, Czech Republic

Turold is a nature reserve on a Jurassic limestone cliff north of Mikulov, rising to 385 m. Its main rock body, built of Ernstbrunn limestone, holds the Na Turoldu cave system, of which 2,200 m of passages are known; most of the original cave was destroyed by limestone quarrying, which reduced the hill to about a third of its former size.

Turold is a limestone cliff of Jurassic Ernstbrunn limestone rising to 385 m, with the Na Turoldu cave system formed about 15 million years ago during the Miocene. Quarrying of the pure Pálava limestone reduced the hill to roughly a third of its original size and destroyed most of the cave passages; 2,200 m of corridors are known today.

The name Turold probably derives from the German Dürraltberg, "dry old mountain", garbled in South Moravian German. The reserve protects limestone steppe and scrub of the Pavlovské vrchy cliff belt, and the cave is a winter roost for bats; the lesser horseshoe bat appears in the logo of the Na Turoldu cave.

The cave system Na Turoldu holds 2,200 m of mapped passages, most of the original system having been lost to limestone quarrying that cut the hill to about a third of its former size. The quarry walls and cave entrance sit just north of Mikulov, reachable on foot from the town. Sturdy shoes help on the uneven paths around the quarry.

The cave is a winter roost for bats; the lesser horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus hipposideros) is the rarest species recorded there and appears on the cave's emblem. The invertebrate Mantispa styriaca was first found at Turold in 1983.