Only venturing deep inside the bowels of Euskadi will you discover the very heart of this land. Exploring the Arditurri mines, the Ekain caves or the Arrikrutz caves alongside expert guides will you literally be able to travel deeper into the past. Centuries of mining tradition, prehistoric art and geological wonders await you.
We suggest you discover the origins of Euskadi through its most important caves, both natural as well as man-made used for the exploitation of their minerals.
The adventure begins in the Arditurri Mines, but we suggest you visit Oiasso Roman Museum in Irun beforehand, as exploiting the mines for silver or iron date back to Roman times. Entering these mines is an unusual experience.The engineer Juan Guillermo Thalacker wrote in 1803: "Four hundred men working for two hundred years would not have been enough to penetrate all these galleries." This sentence gives us an idea of the magnitude and uniqueness of the Arditurri mining reserve. The walk takes place in a magical atmosphere created by the play of light and sound that have been installed in the tunnels.
The next step in our underground experience is the Ekain cave, possessing the "most perfect set of horses in the whole of Quaternary art," according to the renowned ethnologist and archaeologist Andre Leroi-Gourham. This legacy is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and its extreme fragility has meant constructing a replica, which is the one that is visited. We suggest you book your visit in advance.
The next day prepare to learn about the best kept secrets in the Basque mountains in Arrikrutz cave that forms part of a complex karst system including 14 kilometres of underground galleries. Descend more than 50 metres and be amazed by the underground river, stalactites or paleontological discoveries, such as the skeletons of cave lions, panthers and bears.
If you're in the heart of Biscay you can visit the Santimamiñe cave and the extraordinary cave paintings that are up to 14,000 years old. Inside the cave you can ascertain the extent of research work that had been carried out for years to protect it from human impact and outside you will able to tour the entire cave in a 3D virtual replica.
Finally, in the far west of Biscay, the Pozalagua cave awaits you with a unique spectacle of peculiar stalactites. The visitor centre for the Armañón nature park is located in front of the entrance to the Pozalagua cave. The permanent exhibition at Parketxe Armañon focuses on the wonderful richness of this area, including a virtual overflight of its mountains.
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Spanish, Basque
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