Poca Roca Cave is a 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 ...
of
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 ...
.
Location
It is below
Middle Hill[ on the Upper Rock, at the site of an ]Isolation Hospital
A fever hospital or isolation hospital is a hospital for infectious diseases such as scarlet fever and smallpox. Their purpose is to treat affected people while isolating them from the general population. Early examples included the Liverpool ...
by Governor's Lookout.["The Gibraltar Tunnels" by Tito Vallejo]
Geography
Gibraltar is sometimes referred to as the "Hill of Caves" and the geological formation of all the caves is limestone. The Poca Roca Cave fissure runs through 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 a general west–east direction all the way from Bell Lane in the old town area to Catalan Bay on the coast.
History
During the three-and-a-half-year-long Great Siege of Gibraltar
The Great Siege of Gibraltar was an unsuccessful attempt by Spain and France to capture Gibraltar from the British during the War of the American Revolution. It was the largest battle in the war by number of combatants. The American war had end ...
the population of the Rock made use of the caves to shelter from the bombardment. Beefsteak Cave
Beefsteak Cave is a cave in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It is located in the south of the Rock, between Europa Point and Windmill Hill.
History
During the three-and-a-half-year-long Great Siege of Gibraltar the population of t ...
was used by Gibraltarians whilst Poca Roca cave was prepared in August 1779 for use as apartments by General George Augustus Elliot (afterwards Lord Heathfield of Gibraltar[ This cave was later used as a storage area for gunpowder (to serve the artillery batteries on the heights]Green's Lodge Battery
Green's Lodge Battery is an artillery battery in the British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It is located on the North Face of the Rock of Gibraltar at the northern end of the Upper Rock Nature Reserve, above Farrin ...
and Middle Hill Battery
Middle Hill Battery is an artillery battery in the British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It is located on Middle Hill, Gibraltar, Middle Hill, at the northeastern end of the Upper Rock Nature Reserve, just south o ...
.
In the 1860s, Captain Fred Brome, the governor of Gibraltar's prison, sought permission from the Governor of Gibraltar to explore Martin's Cave
Martin's Cave is a cave in the British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It opens on the eastern cliffs of the Rock of Gibraltar, below its summit at O'Hara's Battery. It is an ancient sea cave, though it is now locat ...
, as well as St. Michael's Cave
St. Michael's Cave or Old St. Michael's Cave is the name given to a network of limestone caves located within the Upper Rock Nature Reserve in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar, at a height of over above sea level. According to Alo ...
, Fig Tree Cave and this cave, with the objective of finding archaeological evidence of the past use of the caves. The Governor agreed and a ten-member team of prisoners began the explorations. Martin's Cave was the first to be explored.
References
Caves of Gibraltar
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