Post on 01-Sep-2014
description
The Maravillas Cave
Introduction
The Maravillas Cave is located in Aracena (Huelva) in the south of Spain.
Geological Characteristics
The geological history of the area of the Maravillas Cave began more than 550
millions.There are at least three levels of galleries. In the lowest one, we can find some of the lakes.
The geological history of the area of the Maravillas Cave began more than 550 millions years ago, when some of the oldest rocks were
formed in the nearby mountain, now called Sierra de Aracena. The special characteristic of these
carbonate-based rocks is that they dissolve very slowly when they are in contact with water. This process called 'Karstification' is responsible for
forming the characteristic landscape of the Maravillas Cave. This cavity has a predominantly
horizontal lenght of 2.130 metres. There are at least three levels of galleries. In the lowest one we
can find some of the lakes.
Second and third level
The second level of galleries has an extraordinary abundance of formations from very diverse origins
such as the existence of impurities of copper and iron, wich gives a wide range of colours to the shapes.One of the main characteristic of this cave are the Stalactite
(a formation which starts on the ceiling and grows downwards) and Stalagmite ( which grows from the
ground upwards). In the third level there are a great number of variety of speleothems and some remarkable gours of different
sizes. At the end of this gallery, you can see the petrified remains of some plant roots.
Analysis of the economical impact of the cave
It was opened for the first time in 1914,so next year it will be its centenary.
Since its aperture it has been managed by the City Council. A significant number of employments
have been created taking advantage of the tourism developed because of the caves.
The incomings come from the sale of the tickets with an average of 150.000 visitors per year. Part
of these incomings goes to the advertising,maintenance and the development of
the area where the caves are located in.
Examples of businesses developed within the frame of the caves
There are four types of business that have grown around the caves, restaurants, hotels, pork on the
street shops and souvenir shops. These shops and restaurants offer typical
foodstuffs from this area.There are other shops that offer souvenirs from
the cave,such as postcards, t-shirts, magnets etcThere are more than four hotels in the area.
As the cave is open seven days a week, tourists are always welcome and weekends are specially
busy in the area of the cave, where sometimes we can also enjoy some flee markets.
In my humble opinion, I would like to remark that the cave it is not just a great economical source
for our town, it also provides a huge cultural impact. A good example of that is the open-air
museum, where visitors can enjoy a huge range of different sculpture expresions of contemporary
spanish artists.