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La Grotta di Su Marmuri (Sardinia, Italy)
Visited some marvellous cave systems in Sardinia. Wow! Truly underground wonderlands! One of these cave systems was “La Grotta di Su Marmuri” (the Marble Cave) near the town of Ulassai, in Ogliastra on the eastern side of Sardinia. Su Marmuri is a mammoth cave complex festooned with curiously shaped and marble-like cave phenomenons. The cave’s name refers this particular marble-like colouration and aspect of the calcareous rock. The cavity of the cave is carved into the “Tacco di Ulassai” (the Heel of Ulassai), the limestone massif that dominates the island and overlooks the village. Su Marmuri is an alive cave, which means that concretions still continue to take shape. The cave system is considered among the most impressive in Europe thanks to its length and average height of 35 meters.
The cave’s entrance opens at 880 meter above sea level onto a steep scree slope, traversable thanks to a flight of 200 steps. The part of the cave system that can be visited stretches for some 850 metres. After descending, the cave tour takes you along an easy, though sometimes slippery, walkway that passes along small underground ponds fed by the incessant dripping, spectacular small basins, groups of stalactites, enormous stalagmites and columns, beautiful draperies hanging from the wall, and other spectacular concretions. The cave system consists of several impressive chambers with high ceilings. Among these chambers is the rectangular shaped ‘Great Hall’ (72x30 meters, the largest chamber), the ‘Organ Chamber’, whose concretions look like the pipes of the musical instrument, the ‘Cactus Chamber’ with two tall stalagmites similar to cactus plants, the ‘Bats’ Chamber’, the ‘Tunnel of the Small Basins’ (drip trays) and the ‘Terminal Chamber’. The temperature within the cave is constantly around 10°C.
La Grotta di Su Marmuri (Sardinia, Italy)
Visited some marvellous cave systems in Sardinia. Wow! Truly underground wonderlands! One of these cave systems was “La Grotta di Su Marmuri” (the Marble Cave) near the town of Ulassai, in Ogliastra on the eastern side of Sardinia. Su Marmuri is a mammoth cave complex festooned with curiously shaped and marble-like cave phenomenons. The cave’s name refers this particular marble-like colouration and aspect of the calcareous rock. The cavity of the cave is carved into the “Tacco di Ulassai” (the Heel of Ulassai), the limestone massif that dominates the island and overlooks the village. Su Marmuri is an alive cave, which means that concretions still continue to take shape. The cave system is considered among the most impressive in Europe thanks to its length and average height of 35 meters.
The cave’s entrance opens at 880 meter above sea level onto a steep scree slope, traversable thanks to a flight of 200 steps. The part of the cave system that can be visited stretches for some 850 metres. After descending, the cave tour takes you along an easy, though sometimes slippery, walkway that passes along small underground ponds fed by the incessant dripping, spectacular small basins, groups of stalactites, enormous stalagmites and columns, beautiful draperies hanging from the wall, and other spectacular concretions. The cave system consists of several impressive chambers with high ceilings. Among these chambers is the rectangular shaped ‘Great Hall’ (72x30 meters, the largest chamber), the ‘Organ Chamber’, whose concretions look like the pipes of the musical instrument, the ‘Cactus Chamber’ with two tall stalagmites similar to cactus plants, the ‘Bats’ Chamber’, the ‘Tunnel of the Small Basins’ (drip trays) and the ‘Terminal Chamber’. The temperature within the cave is constantly around 10°C.