Hercules Caves ( Arab. مغارة هرقل ) is a cave in the Tangier-Tetouan region , Morocco .
| Hercules caves | |
|---|---|
| Arab. مغارة هرقل | |
 Photos of 2015 | |
| Specifications | |
| Year of discovery | 1878 |
| Type of | karst |
| Host rocks | limestone |
| Number of inputs | 2 |
| Visit | |
| Lighting | electric |
| Location | |
| A country |
|
| Region | Tangier-Tetouan |
Content
Description
The limestone karst caves of Hercules are located 14 kilometers west of the large city of Tangier on Cape Spartel [1] near the summer palace of the King of Morocco ; are a famous tourist attraction of the country, visiting the caves is worth five dirhams [1] . There is a hotel built near the cave, a good road leads to it, a beach is equipped, there are several cafes [1] . The Hercules caves have two exits: from land and from the sea, there is a hypothesis that the latter was created by Phoenicians . Interestingly, the sea exit resembles the shape of the African continent [2] , so the cave is also called the “Cave of Africa” [1] . The Hercules caves, originally natural, were greatly expanded by Berbers , who chipped stone “wheels” [3] from its walls to create millstones , in order to put pressure on the oil in abundance of olives growing in these places [4] .
- Short story
- 6th – 7th millennium BC — people of the Neolithic era live in a cave
- 1878 cave "reopened"
- 1900s - the cave was used as a brothel [2]
- 1920 - the cave is
- 1952 cave listed as National Heritage
- 1982 cave lit by electricity
- October 23, 1995 - British rock band Def Leppard played a concert in the cave [5] . On the same day, she gave a concert in London and Vancouver - so Def Leppard became the first rock band in the world to play three concerts on three continents in one day, which was recorded in the Guinness Book of Records .
- December 20, 2003 - January 2004 - the cave is closed due to rockfall caused by a construction site nearby [1]
- September 2013 - September 2015 - the cave is closed due to reconstruction
Legends
For a long time, the cave was considered "bottomless." There was a legend that through this cave you can pass under the Straits of Gibraltar [3] and go to St. Michael's Cave on the Rock of Gibraltar , having traveled more than 24 kilometers. According to legend, this is exactly how magnets got from Africa to Gibraltar .
Another legend says that the Hercules caves got their name in honor of the fact that Hercules stayed on vacation [3] before making his eleventh feat - to steal golden apples from the Hesperides garden, which was located, possibly, in Lixus .
See also
- Morocco Geography: Caves
Notes
- 2 1 2 3 4 5 Grottes d'Hercules - The Caves of Hercules - Cave of Africa (not available link) . The date of circulation is May 14, 2016. Archived March 4, 2016. (eng.) on showcaves.com
- ↑ 1 2 The Caves of Hercules (eng.) On roughguides.com
- ↑ 1 2 3 Caves of Hercules (English) on fodors.com
- ↑ Morocco. Tangier (Inaccessible link) . The appeal date is May 14, 2016. Archived August 17, 2011. (rus.) on the site vokrugsveta.ru , March 4, 2001
- ↑ Visiting the Caves of Hercules in Tangier, Morocco (not available link) . The date of circulation is May 14, 2016. Archived May 30, 2016. (eng.) (fr.) (isp.) on bluedoorhotel.com , April 11, 2012