Pellumbas Cave, Prehistoric cave in Tirana County, Albania

Pellumbas Cave is a karst formation located in the mountain slopes of Dajti National Park, extending approximately 360 meters into the rock with passages between 10 and 15 meters wide. The interior contains multiple chambers distributed across different levels, spanning a vertical range of roughly 45 meters through the limestone structure.

The cave was inhabited since the Paleolithic period, as confirmed by archaeological excavations that revealed human settlement remains within it. Fossils of cave bears from approximately 400,000 years ago were also discovered, documenting the long history of this location.

Locals call it Shpella e Zezë, the Black Cave, alongside Shpella e Pëllumbasit after the village below. Behar Duqi, who first entered as a 17-year-old in 1992, serves as its guide and keeper; his father and neighbours believed the cave had no end. Visitors have long scratched their names into the limestone walls near the entrance.

The cave lies in the Skorana Gorge, about 25 km from Tirana on the left side of the Erzen valley, and is reached through the village of Pëllumbas. The first bus from Tirana leaves at 7:10 in the morning and the second only at 5 in the afternoon, and the bus stops at the junction on the Elbasan road rather than in the village. The entrance sits at about 500 m above the Adriatic, and a wooden platform with a railing stands in front of the opening.

Local guide Behar Duqi first entered the cave in 1992 at age 17 with a cousin; his father refused to believe they had reached the end, since villagers thought the cave was endless. Speleologists only surveyed it in 1995, placing it on the world map of karst caves.