Leonora's Caves facts for kids

Leonora's Caves is a fascinating limestone cave system. You can find it in Gibraltar, which is a British Overseas Territory. These caves are actually located inside another well-known cave called St. Michael's Cave.

Exploring Leonora's Caves

You can get into Leonora's Caves from the main auditorium of St. Michael's Cave. To reach the entrance, explorers need to go down a scree slope. A sign carved into the rock marks the way, saying "To Leonora's Caves 1867". We don't know exactly when these caves were first found. It's quite tricky to get inside, which means much of the cave remains untouched and beautiful.

Myths and Legends of the Caves

Leonora's Caves are part of the famous show cave of St. Michael's Cave. Some people even think they are just a deeper part of it. For a long time, people believed Leonora's Caves were a "bottomless pit." This led to a popular myth about an underwater passage. It was said that Gibraltar's Barbary macaques used this secret passage. They supposedly traveled from Morocco to the Rock through it! However, Leonora's is not bottomless, but it is very deep.

Early Explorers and Discoveries

We know people explored these caves a long time ago. There's Graffiti on the cave's stalagmites and columns from as far back as 1801. Some old reports from the 1700s mention "passages leading off St. Michaels Cave." This suggests British soldiers might have explored the area first.

However, it was Captain Frederick Brome who really explored the system in 1864. He was amazed by its beauty. In 1867, he named the cave after his wife, Leonora. He called it a place "of unimaginable beauty."

In 1914, a famous French scientist named Abbe Breuil visited the cave. He was the first to report seeing different creatures there. These included spiders, isopods, acaris, and various insects like diptera. People also used to see many Bats in these caves, but they are not found there now.

Mapping the Underground World

In November 1959, George Palao, a Gibraltarian cave enthusiast, mapped the cave system. He was the head of the Gibraltar Cave Research Group. His maps were very good, but they missed a part called Lower Leonora's Cave. This section was discovered much later in 2012 by the Gibraltar Museum Caving Unit.

Leonora's as a Show Cave

Just like St. Michael's Cave, Leonora's Caves were once used as a show cave in the 1800s. Lt. Col. G.J. Gilbard wrote about how easy it was for ladies to visit:

"Ladies however need not be afraid of proceeding to the explorations of Leonora's Cave, from where, candles only having been used to light up the stalactites, pillar are undimmed by smoke, and the descent, although a little difficult is not too arduous an undertaking".

These trips for ladies likely only went to the Main Chamber. Trying to go through the Crawl or down into the Bell Chamber in a long skirt would have been quite risky!

Modern Exploration and Findings

There are old stories about military personnel exploring the caves in their free time. They were trying to find the "passage to Africa" and some were "never seen again." Some people think they might have just been trying to escape their duties. Getting lost in a cave would be a good excuse!

In 2012, the Gibraltar Museum Caving Unit started a detailed exploration. It took several visits to understand the cave system fully. They found two new ways to access chambers that had never been mapped or described before. This part of the cave is much harder to explore. It involves using ropes to go down vertical drops and navigating steep, narrow passages. The team has discovered over 500 metres (1,600 ft) of new passages, going even deeper underground.

Leonora's Cave has not been fully studied by archaeologists yet. However, some interesting remains have been found. For example, an ox bone was discovered in 1958. Many chambers also contain a type of rock called breccia that has bones mixed into it.