Cueva de los Verdes

The Cueva de los Verdes is a lava tube on the belonging to Spain's Canary island of Lanzarote.

Naming

The name de los verdes goes back to either the name of the discoverer or former residents, one finds different information. So the name is the direct translation of the Spanish verde green only indirectly related.

Genesis

The lava tube was created during a volcanic eruption of Montaña Corona about 3000-4500 years ago. A large stream of lava flowed from the volcano while Corona east toward the Atlantic and was its so-called malpais de la corona, the poor country. The rapid cooling of lava at the surface provided for the tube formation. Long lava continued to flow under the frozen surface, leaving a about seven kilometers long cave when they ran dry. At about twenty places broke up today the cave ceiling and formed at the breaks the so-called after the ancient Guanche Jameos, up to twenty meters deep shafts.

The Cueva de los Verdes is only one part of the seven- kilometer-long cave system that forms one of the longest lava tubes of the earth. It starts at Montaña Corona and ends at the shore below the water surface in about 50 meters depth. Large areas remain unexplored to date, less than 50 percent are accessible. In earlier centuries here investigated the Lanzaroteños protection against pirates.

Scientific laboratory

1987 began in the lava tube, a laboratory for the continuous measurement set up, for example, seismic waves, activities in the earth's gravitational field and the composition of the ascending gases, which is operated by the Geodynamic Laboratory Lanzarote with the participation of scientists from different countries. It belongs to the Instituto de Astronomía y Geodesia (IAG ), which in turn is a joint facility of the Spanish Supreme Science Council CSIC and the University Complutense of Madrid. The laboratory is located in a tunnel in the Cueva de los Verdes, off the beaten track, about two kilometers from the coast and five kilometers from the volcano Corona removed at exactly 37 meters above the sea level. Since the beginning of the measurements to date, no significant changes were shown, which could indicate future volcanic activity.

Tourist purposes

1964 Cueva was opened to the public. It basically consists of two superimposed long tubes and can be committed to a length of about one kilometer. The subtle indirect lighting Cueva, was installed by Jesús Soto, a friend of the artist and architect César Manrique. During the tour Gregorian chant is played.

In the approximately 40 -minute walk to get into a pristine large hall, in which an artificial stage is. Although the acoustics are very good at this 300- person space offered concert hall, but a concert is here only rare, as an infrastructure with, for example, bar, restaurant and toilets missing. Already in the 16th century has been described that the halls of the cave give the impression to be a cathedral of nature.

Another piece of the cave, about 300 meters off the coast, was built by the artist and architect César Manrique tourist attraction Jameos del Agua.