The Caves of Drach (modern Catalan spelling: ; es, Cuevas del Drach; ) are four great caves that are located in the island of

Majorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands ( es, Islas Baleares ; or ca, Illes Balears ) are an archipelago in the Balearic Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago is an autonomous community and a province of Spain; its capital is ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, extending to a depth of 25 m and reaching approximately 4 km in length. They are in the municipality of

Manacor Manacor () is a town and municipality on the island of Mallorca, part of the Spanish autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. It is the second largest town in Mallorca, after the capital of Palma. The municipality has tourist areas such a ...

, near the locality of

Porto Cristo Porto Cristo is a small town on the eastern coast of Mallorca. It is from the town of Manacor and is within the Manacor municipality. Geography The village is located in a major tourist area between Costa de los Pinos and Cala Murada. Its small ...

. They were first mentioned in a letter dated 1338. The four caves, called Black Cave, White Cave, Cave of Luis Salvador, and Cave of the French, are connected to each other. The caves have formed by water being forced through the entrance from the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

, and some researchers think the formation may date back to the

Miocene Epoch The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recent" ...

. There is an underground lake situated in the caves called Martel Lake, which is about 115 m in length and 30 m in width, and its depth varies between four and twelve meters. It is named after the French explorer and scientist

Édouard-Alfred Martel Édouard-Alfred Martel (1 July 1859, Pontoise, Val-d'Oise – 3 June 1938, Montbrison), the 'father of modern speleology', was a world pioneer of cave exploration, study, and documentation. Martel explored thousands of caves in his native Franc ...

, considered the founding father of

speleology Speleology is the scientific study of caves and other karst features, as well as their make-up, structure, physical properties, history, life forms, and the processes by which they form (speleogenesis) and change over time (speleomorphology). ...

, who was invited to explore the cave 1896. While German cave explorer, M.F. Will, had mapped the White and Black cave in 1880, Martel found two more caves, as well as the underground lake. The caves are open to the public for a fee, and are one of the main tourist attractions on Mallorca. The visit typically ends with a classical music concert, performed by a small orchestra of musicians on a fleet of small row boats. The caves are such an integral part of the tourism industry, that its closure, even if temporary, is seen by the locals as a bad sign for the economy.

References

Show caves in Spain Landforms of Mallorca Tourist attractions in Mallorca Landforms of the Balearic Islands Bien de Interés Cultural landmarks in the Balearic Islands Caves of Spain {{balearics-geo-stub