Interesting Caves and Caverns of the World

Aggtelek

Aggtelek cavern is near a village of same name, northern Hungary. Large stalactitic cavern about 5 mi. long.

Altamira Cave

Near Santander, Spain. Contains Stone Age animal paintings on roof and walls.

Antiparos On island of same name in the Grecian Archipelago. Some stalactites are 20 ft. long. Brilliant colors and fantastic shapes.

Blue Grotto

On island of Capri, Italy. Sea cavern hollowed out in limestone by constant wave action. Now half filled with water because of sinking coast. Name derived from unusual blue light permeating the cave. Source of light is a submerged opening allowing light to pass through the water.

Carlsbad Caverns

Southeast New Mexico. Contains some of the largest and most impressive stalactities and stalagmites, particularly in the Lechuguilla Cave.

Fingal's Cave On island of Staffa off coast of western Scotland. Penetrates about 200 ft. inland. Contains basaltic columns almost 40 ft. high.

Jenolan Caves In Blue Mountain plateau, New South Wales, Australia. Beautiful stalactitic formations.

Kent's Cavern Near Torquay, England. Source of much information on Paleolithic humans.

Lascaux Cave

Southwestern France. Features prehistoric cave paintings estimated to be tens of thousands of years old. Closed to the public.

Lubang Nasib Bagus Sarawak, Malaysia. World's largest cave chamber: 2,300 ft. long, 1,480 ft. wide, and everywhere at least 230 ft. high.

Luray Caverns

Near Luray, Va. Has large stalactitic and stalagmitic columns of many colors.

Mogao Caves

Located along the old Silk Route in China, Mogao is composed of 492 cells and cave sanctuaries that are famous for their statues and wall paintings, spanning a thousand years of Buddhist art.

Mammoth Cave

This limestone cavern in central Kentucky is the longest cave system in the world. Cave area is about 10 mi. in diameter but has 345 mi. of irregular subterranean passageways at various levels, plus underground lakes and rivers.

Peak Cavern or Devil's Hole. Derbyshire, England. About 2,250 ft. into a mountain. Lowest part is about 600 ft. below the surface.

Postojna Grotto Postojna, Slovenia. Largest cavern in Europe; numerous beautiful stalactites. Famous example of a karst cave—grooved and irregularly eroded limestone formations carved out by underground streams. Pivka River flows through part of it.

Singing Cave Iceland. A lava cave; name derived from echoes of people singing in it.

Waitomo Cave North Island, New Zealand. Glowworms on cave ceiling look like thousands of stars in the night sky.

Wind Cave In Black Hills of South Dakota. Limestone caverns with stalactites and stalagmites almost entirely missing. Variety of crystal formations called “boxwork.”

Wyandotte Cave In Crawford County, southern Indiana. A limestone cavern with five levels of passages; one of the largest in North America. “Monumental Mountain,” approximately 135 ft. high, is believed to be one of the world's largest underground “mountains.”

Fact Monster/Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

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