Coptic Cave is a sea cave in the

British Overseas Territory The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remna ...

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

. The cave was intended to be used as a decoy to protect

Operation Tracer Operation Tracer was a secret Second World War military operation in Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory and military base. The impetus for the plan was the 1940 scheme by Germany to capture Gibraltar, code-named Operation Felix. Operation ...

. This was a plan to leave behind spies should the British lose control of the

Rock of Gibraltar The Rock of Gibraltar (from the Arabic name Jabel-al-Tariq) is a monolithic limestone promontory located in the British territory of Gibraltar, near the southwestern tip of Europe on the Iberian Peninsula, and near the entrance to the Mediterr ...

in World War II.Coptic Cave
, Underground-Gibraltar.com,

Gibraltar Museum The Gibraltar National Museum is a national museum of the history, culture and natural history of Gibraltar located within the city centre of the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. Founded in 1930 by the then Governor of Gibraltar, Genera ...

, accessed January 2013

History

The eight meter high cave was named after a lamp that was discovered in 1937 which was mistakenly thought to be of

Coptic Coptic may refer to: Afro-Asia * Copts, an ethnoreligious group mainly in the area of modern Egypt but also in Sudan and Libya * Coptic language, a Northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century * Coptic alphabet ...

origin. The lamp is now thought to be Roman and to have been brought to Gibraltar by Vandals or Byzantines. During World War II this cave and Beefsteak Cave were chosen to be part of ''Operation Monkey'' which created two decoy caves. These caves were intended to deflect any investigation by invaders of Gibraltar who were looking for spies left behind by the British. The real plan to leave behind spies in a cave was called

and the existence of this plan was no more than a rumour until the cave was discovered in 1997 by the

Gibraltar Caving Group The Gibraltar Caving Group is an organisation based in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It forms the Caves and Cliffs Section of the Gibraltar Ornithological and Natural History Society. The group of skilled cavers Caving – al ...

. The back of Coptic Cave is nearly 15 metres from the entrance. A shaft was created at the back of the cave which was intended as an escape route and for the delivery of materials via a wooden ladder. The cave had a brick wall constructed which is still extant that closed off the entrance and a man made roof was constructed of corrugated sheets on a timber frame but this has now collapsed.

Geography

Gibraltar is sometimes referred to as the "Hill of Caves" and the geological formation of all the caves is limestone.

References

{{Caves of Gibraltar Caves of Gibraltar