St. Michael's Cave
St. Michael's Cave or Old St. Michael's Cave is the name of a limestone cave system in the Upper Rock Nature Reserve in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar , at an altitude of 300 meters above sea level. According to Alonso Hernández del Portillo , the first historian of Gibraltar, the name is derived from a similar grotto in Monte Gargano near Monte Sant'Angelo in Apulia , where the Archangel Michael is said to have appeared.
It is the most visited of the 150 or so caves on the Rock of Gibraltar with around one million visitors a year.
history
Emergence
The cave was created when the limestone was washed out by rainwater, which is why there are numerous stalactites and stalagmites in the cave .
Early history
In 1974 a Neolithic shell was found in the cave, which proves that it was known and used in early history . Likewise were cave paintings discovered that exhibit painted with charcoal goat. Due to the style, these paintings were dated to the Solutréen period (15-20 thousand years ago). However, after Neanderthal skulls were found on Gibraltar, it is possible that these already set foot in the cave around 40,000 BC.
Antiquity
The first recorded description of the cave was written by Pomponius Mela , a geographer from Algecira , 45 AD. He describes Gibraltar with the words:
"A mountain with beautiful valleys that is almost open on the west side through a very deep cave."
However, Homer's writings and objects found in the cave show that the Greeks , Romans and Phoenicians knew the cave very well.
Spanish time
The name Cueva de San Miguel (the current English name is a direct translation of Spanish) was documented by Gibraltar's first historian, Alonso Hernández del Portillo , in his work Historia de la Muy Noble y Más Leal Ciudad de Gibraltar . In his work, Hernández del Portillo also suspects that the name comes from a similar grotto in Monte Gargano near Monte Sant'Angelo in Apulia .
18th century
During the first 100 years of British times there are some records of attempts to change the name of the cave in St. George’s Cave to the patron saint, St. George . However, this was unsuccessful.
19th century
During the Victorian Age , the cave was used as a place for picnics, celebrations, concerts, weddings, and even duels. If special guests were present at these conditions, the cave was even lit with torches by soldiers crouching on the stalagmites.
The first official excavation took place in 1867 and was arranged by Captain Brom, the governor of the military prison. There were stone axes , arrowheads , shell jewelery , bone needles and pottery found. However, as Captain Brom illegally used the prisoners as workers, he was released.
Officers explored the caves in their spare time. Around 1840 Colonel Mitchell and another officer disappeared without a trace. This triggered extensive investigations of the cave system in 1840, 1857 and 1865, without any indication of the whereabouts of the two could be found. In 1936 and 1938 a scientific expedition was carried out that covered all known parts of the cave.
Military use
Since the entrance of the cave was protected by a Moorish wall, it is assumed that it was used militarily since Tariq ibn Ziyad 711 the Iberian Peninsula for the Umayyads conquered.
After Gibraltar was taken by British Dutch troops in 1704, 500 Spanish soldiers hid in the cave to carry out a surprise attack.
During the Second World War the cave was prepared as a military hospital, but was not used as such.
New St. Michael's Cave
In 1942 it was decided that another entrance would be needed to improve air circulation for the hospital. Another deeper cave system was discovered during the blasting. These chambers, known as New St. Michael's Cave or Lower St. Michael's Cave , contain a variety of different cave structures including a cave lake.
Todays use
auditorium
The largest chamber is known as the Cathedral Cave because of its special acoustics and currently houses an auditorium with a stage and 100 seats.
Events such as plays, son et lumière shows, music concerts, the Gibraltar World Music Festival or the Miss Gibraltar beauty pageant take place here on a regular basis . Well-known artists who performed here were, for example, Steve Hogarth and Breed 77 .
tourism
The cave is now one of the most popular attractions in Gibraltar with nearly one million visitors a year. The rock formations are colored and you can find out more about the history of the cave.
St. Michael's Cave can be reached by cable car, among other things. The tickets also allow entry to the Moorish castle and galleries .
Legends
- The cathedral cave has long been considered bottomless and legend has it that a 24 km long tunnel leads to Morocco from here. The Barbary macaques are said to have come to the rocks from Morocco .
- In the same way as the rock is said to be one of the legendary pillars of Heracles, it is said that the cave is the gateway to Hades of the Greek underworld.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Gaspar Cuesta Estévez: Toponimia bilingüe de Gibraltar: Acercamiento a un problema histórico y sociolingüístico . In: Almoraima . No. 25, 2001, ISSN 1133-5319 , p. 443.
- ↑ St. Michael's Cave. Gibraltar Info gibraltarinfo.gi ( Memento of June 29, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ a b c St. Michael's Cave. Duquesa duquesa.net ( Memento of July 11, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Cave Art discovered in St. Michael's Cave. The Gibraltar Museum gib.gi ( Memento from August 22, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ a b c Andalucia Travel Guide - St. Michael's Cave
- ↑ a b Government of Gibraltar - St. Michael's Cave ( Memento of the original from September 7, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Steve Hogarth concert to take place in St. Michael's Cave. ( Memento of the original from November 18, 2008 in the Internet Archive ; PDF) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Government of Gibraltar Press Release
- ↑ Gibraltar Autumn Festival of Art and Culture Program of Events ( Memento of the original from March 27, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Costa del Sol - St. Michael's Cave
- ^ William GF Jackson : 1. Mons Calpe to Djebel Tarik: Prehistory to AD 711 . In: The Rock of The Gibraltarians - A History of Gibraltar , Second. Edition, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, London and Toronto 1987, pp. 20-21 (accessed October 15, 2008).
