Spile Cave, Himare, southern Albania

There is a lot of limestone in Albania, particularly in the north, where there are a lot of mountains. I went on a tour of southern Albania and sadly didn't get to see any caves.

I stayed in Himare and noticed Shpella e Spilesë, the Spile Cave, by the side of the road. It is at the base of a small cliff by Spile beach.

Wikipedia says Spile's Cave is a monument of cultural heritage in Himara, Vlora district, in the Vlora region of Albania. It is listed as a "Cultural Monument of Albania" and is under protection, category VL091.

According to mythology in Homer's Odyssey,, Odysseus faced the Cyclops in the cave, on returning from the Trojan War.

On the Himara gov page,  using Google translate, it says :
"The cave extends to a depth of more than 30 m with an irregular entry 8 m wide and 7 m high, 3.6 m above sea level. The cave is formed as a result of karst processes. The limestone cliffs that formed the cave walls are tectonically deformed, and there is a large crack on the ceiling. Inside there are some well-developed stalactites. Cave research revealed stratified evidence of prehistoric activity dating from the middle of the Holocene, but cumulative deposits inside the cave may have been ransacked by rising sea levels at the height of the hot period. Archaeologists express their regret because the evidence of exploitation in the Upper Gulf Coast's Upper Lowlands in the Spile Cave may have been lost. A largely unbroken sedimentological and sedimentological examination in the interior documented prehistoric human activity from the Mesolithic Period, 8,000 p.e.s. The areas around the caves were also inhabited during this period, which is evidenced by the ceramics found and tombs. The use of the cave was continuous in all prehistoric and historical periods with more intense human activity from the Early Bronze Age. Shilla was inhabited even in the Iron Age during the Historical, Hellenistic, Roman, even until the Middle Ages. Findings from all of these periods are unique. The ones that differ are microlites and many tools of flint, chisels, blades, digging tools, etc. The Bronze Age hermit in Himara show an advantage of local fabrics as well as the impacts and the similarity with Dodonas pottery. A large number of high-quality Hellenistic pottery dates back to the 5th century BC, including amphora, skyfosa, lemys, and other corundum coral wings (Black paint). The smooth scene, described by Cardini, was no longer visible. The beach that contained only a small hotel and some houses had become a pre-city and the cave that held so much potential for Cardini was no longer visible from the water's edge. Examining the cliff face within the southern spur of the developed beach, we were able to find three of the five caves illustrated on Cardini's map, caves 1, 2 and 3 (Cave 1, the largest cave where Cardini has performed successful digging , was still intact but hidden behind the concrete foundations of a partially built hotel Himara's caves now require a thorough re-evaluation before valuable archeology Himara's cave with the name: The Spilja Cave was declared a cultural monument with decision of the Rectorate of the State University of Tirana "No.6, dated 15.1.1963-" On the Promulgation of Cultural Monuments 2. Spile Cave, in the village of Himara."

It seems there have been plans to build a hotel in front of the cave. However the site hasn't been looked after and when I saw it, it looks more like a rubbish dump. Even the plaque that declared it a "Cultural Monument, Natural Prehistoric" site has gone.

According to this page : " It is a considerable space, a cave that in this visible part reaches a height of up to 2-3 meters.

Within this cave there is also stalactite and stalactite, formed in centuries as a natural phenomenon typical for prehistoric caves. Water droplets, coming from above, meet this environment somewhat, to immediately create the sensation of the events that have developed within it. Once it gets full and oval, the cave comes narrowing and at the end of its visible and illuminated part creates a "pocket", a kind of barrier that prevents you from moving further. After that comes the rest and main of the cave, which according to Mr. Gaçe, goes up to a depth of 1500 meters.

Formerly in the late 1980s, a group of the Academy of Sciences explored the cave to the end, where lifetime evidence of a period more than 7 centuries before Christ was found.

In 1987, with the initiative of prof. Aleks Budës, the Academy of Sciences of Albania, gave this cave the status "Cultural Monument, Natural Prehistoric".

The above site tells more of the mythology. The cave was first excavated by archaeologists in 1920.

See more on the paper about Cardini, "A Preliminary Investigation of Two Prehistoric Cave Sites in Southern Albania".

This blog on Himara Village describes how the cave has been occupied from Neolithic times.

I just hope that steps are taken to preserve the site.

Meteora in Greece - photos & stamps

I collect cave stamps and some of the first in my collection were those of Meteora in Greece. The name Meteora relates to columns in the sky.

Meteora was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1988 : "In a region of almost inaccessible sandstone peaks, monks settled on these 'columns of the sky' from the 11th century onwards. Twenty-four of these monasteries were built, despite incredible difficulties, at the time of the great revival of the eremetic ideal in the 15th century. Their 16th-century frescoes mark a key stage in the development of post-Byzantine painting."

Meteora is located in the Region of Thessaly in mainland Greece. It has been on my to do list for year and I finally paid a visit in Sept 2018. It is certainly an amazing place, both geologically and culturally. A series of sandstone towers stand up from the plains and 24 monasteries were built on top of these towers. There are also various caves.

My first real view was from Kalambaka town -

Six of the monasteries are still inhabited and we visited two. The first was St Stephens, which is inhabited by nuns. No photos are allowed inside the churches, which are packed full of paintings and icons etc.

 Varlaam -

Another monastery -

This is Varlaam, note the staircase and cave -

There are many caves, some have been inhabited since 50,000 years ago. In more recent times, one high level cave was used as a prison for the monks, but I didn't manage to get any photos.

See more on Wikipedia.

Some stamps of Meteora :

1940

1942

1961

1981

Maxim cards from 2009 -

© Liz Price

Corfu water tunnels

Corfu water tunnels - not natural caves, but at least they are underground!

The Greek island of Corfu does have a few natural caves, but they were all to hard to get to via public transport. I stayed in the village of Benitses and immediately behind is a high range of hills that contain caves. I didn't attempt to get to any, instead I decided to go to the water tunnels and aqueduct.

It took me 2 attempts to find the Benitses springs and water tunnels. They aren't marked on any map that I had. The first day I started on the right trail, but decided it was wrong, so turned back and took another trail. This led quite steeply uphill. When it levelled out and went down slightly, I almost turned back, but carried on a bit and then found one spring. It is by Agia Paraskeuh church and the water comes out of a pipe. I filled up my water bottle, ate a peach and left.

The next day I got a sketch map that showed Benitses water springs and set off. This time I continued on the initial trail I had taken yesterday. It is Route 1, marked by white and red markers. There were also a couple of signs saying water springs. The path led gently uphill, more or less alongside a stream, so I guessed it was right. I was really pleased when I came to the water tunnels.

These were constructed when Sir Frederick Adams was Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian islands, 1824 - 1832. After the Napoleonic Wars, in 1814 Corfu was placed under the protection of the British. This meant the British were responsible for the building of the roads and the creation of the island's water supply.

The first tunnel I saw is the biggest. It is dated 1909. There was also an old laminated sign "Lord High Commissioner during the British Protectorate, Sir Frederick Adam.

As it was the end of summer, the water level was low, and didn't cover the pipe leading into the tunnel, so I was able to walk along that. This led to the "control room" with 3 "controls". There was very little stal in the tunnel.

The 2nd tunnel, dated 1906, was much smaller size and was wet, so I didn't go in.

The 3rd one I took at was very small and water was coming out of a pipe right inside the entrance, there didn't seem to be a tunnel.

Slightly higher was another entrance above a dry stream. This was a through tunnel.

Another very small entrance, it was dry inside and there seemed to be more calcite. This was right by the steps leading up to Agios Nikolas church.

The stream above the church was completely dry, but presumably there would be a waterfall here in the wet season.

I had a look around, but still didn't find the aqueduct. One report, Belvedere Trails, says it is at the top of the hill, which seems strange as the springs are lower down. The aqueduct was marked once, in the village, then there were no more signs. However I am not even sure how much of it still exists. It was built in 1830.

Aqueducts on Corfu :
The Romans created the first aqueduct network in Corfu between the 1st and 2nd century AD to transport water from the source of St. Gourgis, source Lartourou in Vryoni area and the source of Chrisiida.

During the period of British occupation in Corfu, there were problems with water supply to the villages. The British High Commissioner Sir Frederick Adam decided on a solution to the problem by transporting fresh drinking water from the source of Carteri and St. Nicholas in the area of Benitses down to the village.

On October 18, 1830 in the Senate he proposed the construction of an aqueduct 6.5 miles from Benitses at an altitude of 55 m. The budget was £19,386. The Senate unanimously accepted the proposal and the water supply to the city from the new aqueduct began with a ceremony in the main square just 10 months later on August 7, 1831. Info from Corfu aqueduct. There are also old photos on that page.

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Ruins of Roman baths
There are the ruined remains of an old Roman villa with baths in Benitses village.

There is a lot of info on the villa and baths on this site, atcorfu. On that page are photos with a yellow info sign, that sign no longer exists. It is a pity there is no info at all now, so tourists have no idea what they are looking at!

© Liz Price

Bath Freestone Workings, book

In 1984, I published a book I had written, "Bath Freestone Workings".

Reviews appeared in local papers,

Salt Mine at Berchtesgaden, Germany

I was in Salzburg in Austria and we had a chance to go to a salt mine. I thought we were going to the Hallein mine in Austria, but instead we went to the one in Berchtesgaden in Germany.

Salt has been mined in Berchtesgaden since the 12th century. The current salt mine has been operating for 500 years (1517). The Salt Mine employs approx. 100 employees. Half of these work underground.

It was a really fun and interesting tour, although sadly no photography is allowed. First everyone is given overalls to wear and bags and coats must be placed in a locker. Then there is a 650 m train ride into the mine. The non German speakers are given a recording to listen to in each relevant section. From the train we walked into the Salt Cathedral and did the first slide down to the lower level. This was great fun, up to 4 people at one time going down the steep 34 m slide. We went through some tunnels and saw a grotto in honour of King Ludwig II.

We moved into a room and were shown a film on salt mining with a display on a 3D model. I hadn't realised the salt is extracted as brine, it is not cut in blocks. The salt does not occur in a pure form, but is encased in “Haselgebirge”, a composite rock contains an average of 50% salt.

Salt deposits are proven to be up to 300 m below the valley floor in the area of the Salt Mine.  It is released from the mountain with the aid of freshwater using a “wet mining” method. Hollow spaces are created, then water is pumped into these voids, this water removes the salt from the composite rock on the floor, walls and ceiling. The salty water is denser so sinks to the bottom. It has a 26.5% salt content. The hollow space is constantly enlarged as more fresh water is fed in. This process is repeated until a 3,500 to 5,000 cubic metre hollow space is formed.

At five mining levels, 20 state of the art so called mud-flush drilling plants are in operation. Approx. 900,000 m³ of brine are extracted per annum. 2.000 m³ of freshwater are required for this each day.

The brine is pumped up to the surface and to the refinery where the water is extracted leaving pure salt. The Berchtesgaden brine is pumped to the Salt Works Bad Reichenhall further processed into industrial salts there.

Down to 400 m depth below the mining route level, samples are taken by drilling in order to ascertain the minimum salt content in the rock.

We went through more tunnels and saw the airlift drilling equipment. Next stop was the Magic Salt Room. In the centre of the room is a container of large salt crystals and different colours are played onto the salt, then a series of stories relating to the mining are screened on to the walls. It was very effective.

We then took another slide down to a lower level, this slide is 40 m. We came to a large chamber and initially I thought it was empty until I realised there was actually a lake. The ceiling is perfectly reflected in the water. We crossed the Mirror Lake on a large wooden barge, with the accompaniment of music and lights displays of salt chemical structure played on the walls. We saw a pump that is used to lift the brine to the surface, it is made of bronze. One of the old pumps used to lift the brine up 356 m. The brine was then sent in wooden pipes from Berchtesgaden to Ramsau.

Next we took an elevator back up 2 levels and took the train journey back out of the mine.

The slide (internet photo)

For photos and more information, see The Salt Mine Berchtesgaden.