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 Alonso Hernández del Portillo, the first historian of Gibraltar, its name is derived from a similar grotto in Monte Gargano near the Sanctuary of Monte Sant'Angelo in Apulia, Italy, where the archangel Michael is said to have appeared.
It is the most visited of the more than 150 caves found inside the Rock of Gibraltar, receiving almost 1,000,000 visitors a year.
History
Creation
The cave was created by rainwater slowly seeping through the limestone rock, turning into a weak carbonic acid which gradually dissolved the rock. Through this process, tiny cracks in The Rock's geological fault grew into long passages and large caverns over thousands of years. The numerous stalactites and stalagmites in the cave are formed by an accumulation of traces of dissolved rock deposited by water dripping from the ground above.
Prehistory
In 1974, a Neolithic bowl was discovered in the cave, one of many examples which prove that the cave was known to prehistoric humans. Another would be the recently discovered cave art depicting an ibex drawn in charcoal on one of the cave walls. It has been dated to the solutrean period (15,000 to 20,000 years ago) based on the style used. However, since two Neanderthal skulls have been discovered in Gibraltar, it is possible that they were among the first to set foot in the cave around 40,000 BC.
Ancient world
The first factual description of the cave was written in 45 AD by Pomponius Mela, an Algeciras-born geographer. He described Gibraltar as: A mountain with wonderful concavities, which has its western side almost opened by a large cave which may be penetrated far into the interior. However, the writings of Homer as well as artifacts discovered in the cave show that it was already well known to the ancient Greeks, Romans and Phoenicians.
Spanish period
The name Cueva de San Miguel (the current English name is a direct translation of the Spanish toponym) is recorded by Gibraltar's first historian, Alonso Hernández del Portillo, in his Historia de la Muy Noble y Más Leal Ciudad de Gibraltar (). In his work, Hernández del Portillo also suggests the cave's name is taken from the similar grotto in Apulia, Italy.
18th century
During the first century of the British period, there are some records of the attempt by the new owners of the Rock to change the name of the cave using the name of the English patron Saint, Saint George. However, the new name, St. George's Cave, was not widely adopted and, although still used in the 19th century, has not remained in use, being replaced by the cave's original name.
19th century
During the Victorian era the cave was used as a venue for picnics, parties, concerts, weddings and even duels. The caves would be decorated for many of these events and even illuminated for distinguished visitors by soldiers who would perch on stalagmites with torches.
The first official archaeological excavation of the cave was carried out by the Governor of the military prison, Captain Frederick Brome, commencing in April 1863 and continuing until December 1867. He discovered numerous prehistoric artifacts such as stone axes and arrow heads, shell jewelry, and bone needles as well as a large collection of pottery. Despite his archeological efforts, Brome's unauthorised use of prisoners' labour eventually cost him his job.
Officers looking for adventure during quiet periods of their service, would pass their time exploring the many passages within the cave system. Sometime before 1840, a Colonel Mitchell and a second officer got lost in the caves and were never seen again. Their disappearance led to extensive explorations of the cave system in 1840, 1857 and 1865, but no evidence of the officers' whereabouts was found. Further exploration was carried out between 1936 and 1938, when a scientific expedition was mounted and every known part of the cave system was explored, but again no human remains were found.
Military use
It is believed that St. Michael's Cave has had a military use since the Berber general Tariq ibn Ziyad led the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 AD. This is assumed due to the defensive wall of Moorish origin which protected the cave's entrance until recently.