7 September, 2016

Gunpowder cave

This cave is located in Sierra Espuña, a short distance from the Tajo-Segura water transfer. It belongs to the municipality of Alhama de Murcia. It is amusing to see how this cave is known in so many different ways: Cueva de la Pólvora (Gunpowder Cave), Laminador de las Niñas (en: Slicer of Girls), Cueva de la Visera (Peak Cave), Cueva de las Narices (Cave of the Noses) and Cueva de los Morciguillos (Bat Cave). Do you like to play with toponymy? … It is hilarious to try to find out the reason that leads to giving a particular name to a place, and even more so when you find out the answer. For those of you who are not from the region, for example, I can tell you that a “morciguillo” is a local name for a bat since inside the cave you can find several coleopterans taking a nap … Try not to disturb them too much, let them sleep! Perhaps, the name Cueva de la Pólvora (Gunpowder Cave) is related to the Civil War. Maybe it was used as a powder keg. Shall we play detectives?

In its 85 meters of development and -30 meters of unevenness, it lacks speleothems. Instead, it is a cavity formed in conglomerates, the largest in these materials in the Region of Murcia. Despite this, its beauty is captivating. It has two large rooms. In the deepest of them, known as the Sala de las Cazoletas (en: Hall of the holes), we will find five round holes cut out of the rock floor of problematic historical ascription. However, in the cave, for the moment, there have been signs of prehistoric and medieval habitat.

Links: catalogo cuevas de murcia
vídeo youtube

AUTHOR: Carlos Velasco