Caves of Artà

Tour

The tour of the caves lasts between 35 and 40 minutes, with a group entering the caves approximately every half hour. The tours are guided, and the explanations will be given in different languages: Spanish, English, French and German.

The temperature in the caves ranges between 17*c and 22*c, with a high humidity. These values remain fairly stable all year round.

The Caves of Artá feature a horizontal journey exceeding 700 metres and a surface area of approximately 6,000 m2.

The height of these caverns ranges from 15 metres to 45 metres.

ENTRANCE HALL

This imposing and spectacular room is beautifully decorated with the numerous stalagmites and columns that share this underground space. These elegant and slender stalagmites rise from the floor, vaguely resembling human forms, mysterious spectres, unmoving, rigid, indifferent to the look of the human eye and with that imposing superiority of the wonderful creations of nature. In turn, the wonderfully shaped stalactites and their extraordinary proportions hang from a raised dome in line with the fissures within the limestone rock.

HALL OF COLUMNS

Cross the Entrance Hall to take a path that leads to the Hall of Columns, where everything takes on a Gothic feel, scattered with slim columns, slender pointed arches, filigree canopies and a thousand admirable details. Walk through the mass of columns until you enter another adjacent hall and witness the most surprising and fantastic changes of light.

HALL OF THE QUEEN OF COLUMNS

The tour takes you among stalagmites and precipitated limestone until you reach a large oval area called the Hall of the Queen of Columns, where the Queen of Columns is situated. It is a slender stalagmite reaching 17 metres in height which, starting from the centre of the same room, rises and tapers into elegant scallops until it reaches the extremely high ceiling.

Not far from the Queen of Columns, you can see an enormous formation of a sloping circular surface of around 4 metres in diameter. It is a remarkable formation that has grown diagonally on the wall of the hall. This type of formation, known as discs, are plentiful throughout the concavity.

In this hall, it is also worth noting the wide stone curtains that flank the pathway towards the Hall of Hell. These forms are known as a ‘canopy’.

HALL OF HELL

A passage leads you to a type of balcony from which you can see a hall at the end which has been named Hell. This immense hall is one of the most vast and admirable caves within the complex, and is notable for its exuberant stalagmite décor and the abundance of columns and limestone formations that subdivide it into different spaces. At this point there is a light and sound show. The gloomy name of this hall is justified because of its bleak and enormous features but, in particular, because of its vertical descent stretching more than 10 metres that visitors have to tackle via a rope staircase which is lit by oil lamps and torches.
To the left of the room a wide stone curtain is highlighted, dropping from a great height with pleats that touch the floor. At the back, a large number of robust stalactites hang from the ceiling over the rocks and the stalagmites form a type of gigantic monument. There are rocks resembling monstrous animals and which have a hellish and magnificent look that makes the observer feel they have been transported to a place they've never dreamed of before.

PURGATORY

A short distance away you reach the entrance to the next hall known as Purgatory. Cross this hall by means of the bridge that crosses high above the ground of this chamber.

Among its splendid decoration, the unique formation known as the Baptistery stands out, which consists of a stalagmite that bulges at the top. This thickening is due to previous flood levels in this part of the cave.

THE THEATRE

You then access the area known as the Theatre. Curtains resembling a theatre drop hang from the ceiling and next to the rear wall. Inside, other curtains reach the floor and resemble wings. In this hall, as well as in many others, the striking and almost vertical discs are notable. Various bulb-like shapes can also be seen, similar to the ones in Purgatory, which explains the successive stabilisations of the underground water inside the cave.

THE CHAMBER OF FLAGS

A striking path between exuberant and remarkable limestone deposits (forming high canvases of dark rock), leads you to the Hall of the Flags. The name of this hall refers to the impressive limestone discs, with rocks that hang down from its walls and ceilings, looking like flags with elegant pleats and a straight pole. A wide group of giant columns rises from the back which look like an enormous organ, the top of which seems to lose itself in the clouds.

THE GLORY

A big climb gives you a spectacular viewing point within the area known as the Glory. This is where the cave reaches its highest point, and the ceiling in this hall is approximately 45 metres in height when measured from the bottom of the hall of Hell. From this viewing point you can see a set of formations with features that are similar to the limestone discs in the Hall of Flags and which resemble a giant elephant or mammoth.

The rest of this magnificent space is decorated with large and slender columns, stalagmites and limestone flowstone which completely cover the walls. The effect is overwhelming and continues along the downward path that leads back to the Queen of the Columns.

END OF THE TOUR

The exit for the tour is, once again, reached by passing through the Entrance Hall, past the Queen of Columns and the stone of diamonds. A large ascending staircase enables you to reach the natural entrance to the cave. From here you can enjoy a wonderful view of the Mediterranean sea, which marks the end of your underground tour.