Cave Of Ispinigoli And Bue Marino 0 Comments

Cave Of Ispinigoli And Bue Marino

Supramonte is Sardinia’s heart, hard as granite and soft like the air you breathe here. The Barbagian heart of Sardinia is one of the island's oldest treasures, with mountains, valleys, springs and deep caves.

Visiting Ispinigoli, in the Supramonte, 120km and 1hour 30 minutes drive from Gabbiano Azzurro Hotel & Suites, and 8,5 km from Dorgali, is an emotion worth giving to oneself for its beauty and its historical value. Hidden inside the Ispinigoli Cave, there is a 38 m stalagmite, one of the highest in Europe. It is one of the underground wonders of the island, in the Nuorese area, in the center of Sardinia. An assisted path and a constant coolness of 16-17 degrees will escort us in the descent of 280 steps in a performance of colours and chiaroscuro. There are three communicating caves, for a total length of 15 km, with three entrances opening at different heights. The diversity of the altitudes creates a pressure difference that generates a continuous flow of air, with the temperature remaining at 16-17 °C in all seasons.  

Continuing in the main hall, in a succession of bright shapes and colours with a mysterious past, inside the bowels of the earth it is possible to see a 60-meter sinkhole called "Abisso delle Vergini" (the abyss of the virgins). The findings of small human remains, rings, jewels and solar symbols thet refer to the Nuragic age (XVII-VI century BC), the Punic age (VI-III century BC) and the Roman and late Roman age (II century BC - VI century) suggest that it was a worship and burial place. Or, giving credit to the legend, a sacrificial well of the Phoenicians and perhaps also of the Carthaginians, basing the hypothesis on the fact that human sacrifice was a custom current in all ancient cultures: Inca, Slav, Sumerian, Assyrian, Egyptian, Indian... In the Bible we are told episodes such as the one of Isaac or of the daughter of Jephthah, and therefore we can assume it could also be practiced by the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians.

To complete the "underground" tour, a 20 minute drive from the Ispinigoli Cave takes you to Cala Gonone and from there you can take a wonderful boat trip to the Grotte del Bue Marino (Sea Ox Cave), which extends for over 70 km inland; its name comes after the "Su Oe 'e Mare" name that the shepherds gave the monk seal, who used the cave to wean her cubs. More than 20 km long, after a common entrance, the cave divides into three sections: the north, the middle and the south branch. 

The north branch has a tourist route divided into three tunnels for a total of 650 meters of route.

The south branch of the cave is characterized by very large underground tunnels, rivers and lakes. A large gallery full of stalactites and stalagmites that are reflected in the clear waters of a brackish underground lake, forming chromatic effects with multiple shades. The cave still continues inside the karst plateau of Supramonte, with environments considered very beautiful by underwater speleologists.

The middle branch, formed by grandiose submerged pipes with 38 siphons, is about 5 km long, visitable by speleological divers.

“That drop of water has a perfect alibi. It cannot be blamed to have started the universal flood. It was forming a stalactite”. (Fabrizio Caramagna)

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Written by Daniela Toti

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