The Caves of Hercules — the bottomless cave to Gibraltar

OVERVIEW

The Caves of Hercules at Cape Spartel, 14 km west of Tangier, are part natural, part man-made: Berbers quarried millstones from the walls, enlarging them greatly. The sea opening, 'the Map of Africa', is said to have been shaped by the Phoenicians, and eye-shaped wall markings are said to be a Phoenician map of the area.

HISTORY

Neolithic people lived here around 6000 BC. The caves opened to the public in 1920, became national heritage in 1952 and were lit electrically in 1982. Brion Gysin's ashes were scattered here in 1986, and Def Leppard played a concert in the cave in 1995. A rockfall closed them in 2003; they reopened in 2004 and again after renovation in 2015.

REPORTED ACTIVITY

The cave was long thought to be bottomless, and believed to be one end of a 'ley tunnel' over 24 km long under the Strait of Gibraltar, emerging at St Michael's Cave — the way, legend says, the Barbary macaques reached the Rock from Morocco. Greek tradition has Heracles sleeping here before fetching the golden apples of the Hesperides from Lixus; Roman sources have him smashing through Mount Atlas to make the Strait and the Pillars of Hercules. Recorded as legend.

VISITING

Open to visitors; a popular attraction beside the King's summer palace at Cape Spartel.