Cueva de Tesoro
by Rebekah Thompson
Located 15km outside Malaga´s capital, in the town of Rincón de la Victoria,La Cueva De Higuerón, popularly known as La Cueva Del Tesoro (The Cave of the Treasure) is one of the most spectacular geographical and historical landmarks not only in Andalucia but also in Spain.
It is one of only three marine formed caves that have been discovered in the world and the only one of its kind in Europe. Its geographical location and mineralogy show that it was formed in the Jurassic period, making it both a historical and geographical marvel. Its popular name of Cueva del Tesoro comes from the many legends that suggest that the cave holds long lost treasure.
The cave is said to host a royal hoard of the five rulers of the Almoravíd Dynasty, rumoured to have been hidden there by Emperor Tesufín ibn Ali, the last of the five rulers, before he was killed in 1145 in the town of Orán in Algeria. Over the years the treasure was forgotten, and it was not mentioned again until the 17th century, when Fray Agustin de Mila y Suazo, a citizen of Orán, unveiled in his manuscript Historia Eclesiástica y Secular de Málaga y su Obispado that the official burial place of the lost royal treasure, was the Cueva de Higuerón. Explorers and archaeologists alike have been searching for it there ever since, bringing to mind Indiana Jones.
In the 19th century the first success was reported: Mañuel Laza Palacio, an investigator from Malaga, spent 38 years searching for the treasure. He found six gold dinars (early Islamic coins made of 4.25g of solid gold) and a selection of ceramics, as well as utensils said to date from the Neolithic period. In monetary terms, the gold is the equivalent of €900; in historic, cultural and archaeological terms, the artifacts are priceless.
However, the Cueva de Higuerón is, in itself a treasure to behold. Within its cavities there are a series of rooms: La Sala de pinturas rupestres(The Room of Cave Paintings) filled with Neolithic cave paintings; La Sala de Noctiluca (The Room of Noctiluca) houses the remains of a temple of the moon goddess Noctiluca, found with ash and animal remains at her feet giving evidence of animal sacrifice; La Sala del Águila (The Eagle Room) which takes its name from a rock formation in the room in the shape of an Eagle;La Sala del Volcán(The Vocano Room) is so named because it is the deepest of the rooms in the cave and therefore has a slightly greater temperature. Finally La Sala de los Lagos (The Room of The Lakes) is the most extensive and the most humid of all the caverns and therefore plays host to multiple stalagmites, stalactites and vast underground lakes.
The cave is found at Urbanización El Cantal, just off the N-340 between La Cala and Rincón de la Victoria.
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Opening hours
Summer
15
/ 6 - 15 / 8: 10.00 - 14.00, 16.00 - 20.00
Rest of the year
10.00
- 14.00, 15.00 - 18.00
Entrance
Adults:
3.50 euro
Children over five: 2.10 euro
Tel: 952 406162
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