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LOCATION
The caves
of Nerja are located in the South of
Spain, in the slopes of Sierra Almijara
mountains, a few kilometres from the town
of Nerja, in the province of Malaga.
Access to the caves is indicated on the
Mediterranean highway (35 minutes from the
capital of Malaga). They are perfectly
situated in the picturesque surroundings
of typical Mediterranean villages, full of
the unique beauty of Andalusia. To
facilitate the access to the Nerja Caves
the bus service is provided as well.
THE CAVES OF NERJA
Are the formation of karstic cavities,
with its origin in the chain of the
geologic processes occurred within the
last ww5 million years. In the period of
Triassic significant quantities of the
calcareous mud settled down on the fond of
the ancient Mediterranean sea, later onn
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transforming
into the calcareous-dolomite marble,
which at present shelter the Caves of
Nerja. In the period of the alpine
orogeny (the end of Cretaceous –
beginning of Miocene), started 65
million years ago and lasting up to 5
million years ago, drifts between
tectonic layers of Africa and Europe
resulted in the creation of the
Beticas mountains, such as Sierra
Tejeda or Almijara. The rain abundance
in the last 5 million years (Superior
Mioceneand – Inferior Pleistocene)
infiltrated the fissures of marbles
stimulating its further dissoluton. In
this way, huge cavities in which the
underground waters circulated were
formed. Later on due to the surge of
the ground embossment, resulting from
the mountain slides in the region in
question, the subterranean waters were
forced to look for the lower layers to
circulate in. In the consequence the
caves commenced to refill with
carbonate deposits stalactites and
stalagmites. In the last 800,000 years
(Medium Pleistocene and Holocene) the
impressive stalactites and stalagmites
have been formed thanks to the further
settling of calcite. The settlement
processes have created subterranean
scenery of the Caves of Nerja, wich
can be admired nowadays.
TECHNICAL DATA
Length of the cavity: 7 219,28 m. of
polygonals.
Levels spread: 67,95 metres 32,99 +
34,96
Total Surface: 35 484 m2
Total Volume: 264 379,33 m3
Only one-third of the halls are
open for tourists: low galleries
(Entrance Hall, Créche Hall, Elephant
Eye-Tooth Hall, Ballet Hall, Phantoms
Hall and Cataclysm Hall), throughout
the latest one can pass up to the High
halls discovered in 1960 and New
galleries, discovered in 1970, both of
wich are accessible to he reduced
groups of visitors dedicated to the
speleological tourism. The approximate
duration of the visit to the tourist
zone in the Caves of Nerja accounts up
to 45 minutes. |
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