Monte Paraiso - Attractions


	ATTRACTIONS
	The Archaeological Wealth Of The Nerja Cave

The Nerja Cave was discovered by chance on January 12th 1959 by a group of boys who had gone hunting for bats. A year later, after the historical importance of the site was realised it was opened to the public. In 1961 it was declared an Artistic Historical Monument.

A tour around the chambers opened to tourists, allows visitors to enjoy not only the natural beauty of the cave, with its incredible forms produced by calcium carbonate (stalactites, stalagmites, columns, etc.) but also the rich archaeological heritage made up of the objects and human remains found inside the cave.

The Sala del Vestíbulo (Entrance Hall) houses, in glass cases, Neolithic pottery, stone tools and polished tools, together with flooring from the early Neolithic period. This gives just a small idea of the early inhabitants of the cave. In the Sala del Belén another glass case houses a Palaeolithic skeleton.

To these findings it is necessary to add the wide range of stalagmites and stalactites that hang from the rocky ceiling above or spring up from the ground below, immersing visitors into a dreamy world full of whimsical shapes, produced by the effects of erosion, water and the passing of time. One of the most outstanding rocky formations is the "Cyrano de Bergerac", with its similarity to the fictitious poet and lover.

It is worth mentioning that there are other parts of the cave that are not open to the public, where there are more archaeological remains. Some of these have been moved to glass cases in the Sala del Vestíbulo and the Sala de la Mina, where the Upper Palaeolithic remains are displayed including Aurignacian files and chisels, laurels and Solutrean human burials as well as Magdalenian bone harpoons. Neolithic and Chalcolithic remains have also been found in the cave.

The Nerja Cave hides further treasure, the cave paintings which have been found mainly in two areas: a Solutrean sanctuary situated in the Tourist Chambers and the Upper Galleries where there are numerous pictures of horses, deer and goats, as well as marks in red and black. A Magdalenian chapel in the Upper Galleries houses a small group of red fish-shaped drawings. Paintings and etchings from the Post-Palaeolithic period have also been found.