Excursion to The Caves of Hercules🇲🇦

The Caves of Hercules is an archaeological cave complex located in Cape Spartel, Morocco, and situated 14 kilometres west of Tangier, the popular tourist attraction is is adjacent to the summer palace of the King of Morocco. The cave has two openings, one to the sea and one to land. The sea opening is known as the ‘’Map of Africa.’’ It is believed that the Phoenicians created the sea opening, which is in the shape of Africa when looked at from the sea. There are also some markings on the wall in the shape of eyes, that are said to have been made by the Phoenicians, which make up a map of the local area. The cave itself is part natural and part man-made. The man-made part was used by Berber people to cut stone wheels from the walls, to make millstones, thus expanding the cave considerably. The cave was long thought to be bottomless and it was believed that the cave is one end of a subterranean tunnel over 24 kilometres (15miles)long which passes under the Strait of Gibraltar and emerges in St Michael’s Cave in Gibraltar. Legend has it that the Barbary macaques came to the Rock of Gibraltar from Morocco this way. Mythological tradition also holds that the Greek god Hercules stayed and slept in this cave before doing his 11th labour, (one of the twelve labours which King Eurystheus of Tiryns had given to him) which was to get golden apples from the Hesperides Garden, which some ancient Greek writers said was located nearby at Lixus (one of the cities of Larache) A Bit More History- In 6000 BC, the Caves of Hercules were inhabited by Neolithic people. In 1920, the caves were officially opened to the public and were declared a National Heritage site in 1952. In 1982, electric lights were installed in the caves. On October 23, 1995 British rock group Def Leppard played a concert in the cave , and on December 20 2023, the caves were closed to the public due to rockfall caused by nearby construction work ,to ensure public safety repairs were made and the caves were reopened in January 2004. Admission price is 80 Dirhams (£6.50) ($8.60) Open from 11am-6.00pm