In 1950, Dimitar Raychev - teacher and  Dimitar Sabev - geologist , founded a geology student club in the town of Chepelare, which began the first organized penetrations into the caves of the Rhodope Mountains. In 1963, supported by scientists and cavers, the club was transformed into the Studenets cave club.Then the scientific study of the caves began and for a period of 5-6 years, under the leadership of Raychev, nearly 200 caves in the Rhodope Mountains were explored. The artifacts discovered were collected in a Museum Collection of Speleology, opened in 1968 in the lobby of the local community center "Rhodopska Iskra 1880".In 1980, the museum collection was transformed into the Rhodope Karst Museum, included in the national museum network and housed in a specially built building for this purpose - the "Peshternyak" educational center, where it is located to this day.

The museum's exposition includes five themes that reveal the secrets of the science of caves - Speleology, as well as the karst wealth of the Rhodope Mountains and Bulgaria.

In the first topic "Geology", the museum shows that the Rhodopes are the oldest land in the Balkans. Minerals found on the surface of the earth, distinctive of this magical mountain - akhti, corundum and other precious and semi-precious stones are presented.

In the topic "Petrography", visitors are introduced to the science that studies rocks, the mechanism of their formation and their natural decoration. Here, surface and underground karst forms and the processes of cave formation are presented.

The primary and secondary karst forms, of which the greatest interest is caused by the various types of stalactites, stalagmites, corallites, cave pearls, etc. There is also a fake cave that creates the feeling that we are in the natural environment of these strange formations.

"Biospeleology" is the theme that presents the modern inhabitants of caves, vertebrates and invertebrates, with particular attention paid to the emblematic family of bats.Extremely important for the ecological balance, which is why they are all protected by law. The photophobic beetle also attracts attention here, as it dies if exposed to light, hence its name.

"Paleontology" is the science of long-extinct animals and plants. This topic also includes the museum's most attractive exhibit - a complete skeletAnother interesting find is the lower jaw of a cave leopard, which is the latest discovered remains of this species in Europe.on of a Cave Bear, a species that disappeared from the face of the earth about 22,500 years ago.  

The last topic shows the presence of man in the caves - "Cave Archaeology". One of the most interesting exhibits in the topic is a bronze axe discovered in Chaya Cave, which is only the sixth found on the territory of the Rhodope Mountains, as well as materials from the cave dwelling in the Yagodinska Cave dated back over 6000 years.

The walk in the museum ends with a poster dedicated to cave ecology. 

The museum houses more than 4,000 specimens of the living and non-living nature of Bulgaria and the Rhodope Mountains. It works without a day off, as well as on all official holidays. The average ticket price is about 3 leva and the talk 10 leva.