The chief objective of the article is to learn the spatial characteristics of stress distribution around a shallow buried cylinder karst cave in limestone strata. Firstly, taking into account the geometry of limestone formations, and the characteristics of karst geomorphology in China, a spatial axial-symmetrical hollow model was established. Concurrently, combing available work and the concept of elasticity, the boundary conditions are determined. Subsquently, Love displacement method was introduced, in addition to the expressions of stress components were gained. The diagram characteristics of each stress component are summarized, which are affected by various influencing factors. Finally, in order to prove the rationality of the general solution, a numerical simulation was carried out on the basis of practical engineering, and the maximum error is less than 5%. Thus, the analytical solution could represent the spatial characteristics of stress distribution around a shallow buried cylinder karst cave in limestone strata.