Jomblang Cave is one of the famous caves in Indonesia, located in Jetis Wetan Hamlet, Semanu District, Gunung Kidul Regency, Yogyakarta Special Region. Even though it is far from the hustle and bustle of the city, this cave is quite popular with foreign tourists. This cave includes a vertical cave, where to enter visitors must go down using a safety device.
Jomblang Cave was formed due to geological processes thousands of years ago. The ground collapse forms a sinkhole or well, which in Javanese is known as luweng. This cave has a very varied depth, namely 80 meters (lane A), 60 meters (lane B), and 40 meters (lane C).
Unlike the area around the cave which is arid because it is located in a limestone mountain area, the conditions inside the cave are actually very fertile. There, a lot of plant vegetation grows which are not found outside the cave. Even in this cave there is an ancient forest that seems as if there is another world under the ground. The atmosphere of this cave when the sunlight enters through the cracks and mouth of the cave is so charming.
The depth of the Jomblang cave is quite extreme, making it a challenging place for adventurers. However, for beginners, usually use the C route in exploring this cave. When you reach the end of the cave, there is a luweng or another well known as the Gubruk Cave. This well has a depth of 80 meters, making it the deepest well on the island of Java.
Besides having stunning natural beauty, Jomblang Cave also has a dark history. It is said that this cave was used as a place for mass killings of PKI members. It is estimated that hundreds of PKI members died in this cave. During the execution, they were lined up on the edge of the mouth of the cave with their hands tied to one another. When one person is shot, all of them will go to the bottom of the cave and die horribly.
Jomblang Cave is an attractive place for tourists, as seen from several incidents in the past. In 2011, this cave was used as a shooting location for the program “Amazing Race”, an American television program. Not only that, in 2020, this cave was used as a shooting location for the film Twogether, starring Lee Seung Gi and Jasper Liu. Apparently, this cave not only offers extraordinary natural beauty, but also provides an unforgettable experience for its visitors.