The Hölloch ( en, Hellhole)
is a long cave in the municipality
Muotathal
, neighboring_municipalities= Bürglen (UR), Glarus (GL), Glarus Süd (GL), Illgau, Innerthal, Morschach, Oberiberg, Riemenstalden, Spiringen (UR), Schwyz, Unteriberg, Unterschächen (UR)
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Muotathal is a village and a municipal ...
in
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
. In addition to being the
second longest cave in Europe, it is also notable for having a depth of .
The Hölloch is an example of a
karst
Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...
cave system.
Exploration
The cave was first scientifically explored in 1875 by a group led by
Alois Ulrich
Alois (Latinized ''Aloysius'') is an Old Occitan form of the name Louis. Modern variants include ''Aloïs'' ( French), ''Aloys'' (German), ''Alois'' (Czech), ''Alojz'' ( Slovak, Slovenian), '' Alojzy'' (Polish), '' Aloísio'' (Portuguese, Spanish ...
.
Later expeditions in the 1950s by
Alfred Bögli
Alfred may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
*'' Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series
* ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne
* ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák
*"Alfred (Interl ...
, one of the pioneers 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). ...
, managed to explore a large part of the cave.
The explored length of the cave increased from in 1952 to by 1968. It was the first cave in the world where the explored length reached 100 km, and until the linkage of the Flint Ridge Cave System to the
Mammoth Cave System in 1972, it was believed to be the largest cave system in the world.
Despite this, exploration of the Hölloch continued, and in 1976 it had been mapped to approximately long.
Tourism
A portion of the cave near the entrance is open to visitors, but the remainder is restricted to qualified cavers owing to its enormous size.
See also
*
List of longest caves
This list of longest caves includes caves in which the combined length of documented passageways exceeds . In some of these caves, passageways are still being discovered.
Geographical distribution
Caves are found around the world. The largest ...
References
*
External links
Hoelloch Cave Research Association
Caves of Switzerland
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