Caves of Drac in Porto Cristo, Mallorca

Image it is 1339 and on the order of the Governor ofMartel, first studied and mapped the whole 1,420
Mallorca, and you are sent down into the blacknessyard [1300 metre] cave system thoroughly with the
of the Caves of Drac "The Dragon Caves" in Portofinancial assistance from Archdule Salvator.  Martel
Cristo on the island of Mallorca.  On the way down,found a huge, crystal-clear lake deep in the interior of
the walls glow eerily in the light of the torches youthe cave at a constant temperature of 68 degrees
have taken with you.  On the way down, you makefarenheit [20 degrees centigrade].  No hi ha
sketches of your route and the shape of the caveesperanca, there is no hope any more, wrote the
because your secret mission is to look for thelost Catalans at this place on the cave wall in 1878. 
treasure of the Knights Templar which wasNamed Llac Martel after its cartographer, the lake is
presumed to have been concealed in the cave.177 m long, 40m wide and 9m deep.  Overhanging
Unfortunately it has never been recorded in theit is a natural dome 17m high hollowed out by nature
document of 1339 which recorded your expedition,over millions of years as rain and oxygen removed
whether you found anything while on your missionthe limestone.  The whole cave is full of dripstones
and this document is now in the archives of Mallorca.in the most bizarre shapes.  These formations arise
The people of Mallorca have known about the caves,from the opposite process to hollowing out a cave,
located about half a mile from Porto Cristo, foras the chalk removed by the water re-solidifies. 
around 3000 years. Pre-historic finds in the immediateIn the case of the Caves of Drac, a Mallorcan - Joan
vicinity revealed not only half the equipment of aServera - realised soon after Martel's investigations
Talayor settlement, but also the entrance to thethat something could be done with the caves.  In
cave.  Even the name bears witness to the story1922, he paid a lot of money for the relatively
that pirates and Templars entrusted their treasuresunattractive site near Porto Cristo that included the
to the guardianship of a dragon.natural entrance.  According to the law of the time,
However, neither the original inhabitants of Mallorca,as the co-founder of the tourist office well knew,
nor the pirates ventured further in than about 200the cave belonged to the person on whose land the
yards - just as long as the exit remained in sight. entrance lay, however far it went underground.
The Dragon Caves hit the headlines in 1878 when aServera installed paths, stairs and seats and opened a
group of Catalans disappeared inside for 3 days andnew entrance in the Cala Murta.  After a few
were given up for lost.   The explorers re-emergedprivate shows involving music and ballet in the caves,
still alive, to tell wonderous tales of the interior,in 1935 he had the caves illuminated in colour as it is
though without being able to determine how far theywere a fairy world.  Lit-up orchestral boats have
had gone.floated over the lake since 1931, followed by 2
In 1880, a German cave explorer went in, drawing aboatloads of visitors.  Little has changed in the form
map [though once again on the front parts].  Evenof the presentation since then.  Light effects and
that was considered a daring act because nobodysoft music turn the subterranean cathedral into a
knew how far the needle of a compass deflectedtourist spectacle.  Its natural silence only returns at
from north when underground.night.
It was in 1896 that the Frenchman, Edouard-Alfred