Cuevas Del Drach...Cavern of the Dragon

It was like a mass exodus around the South of Mallorca yesterday to get out of the way of the pending Gale Force Winds expected with the thunderstorms. We pulled into Porto Cristo and enjoyed a walk around town for the afternoon. John got a haircut, we found a phone store to put more money into our cell phone account, did some grocery shopping, etc.

Today we went to "Cavern of the Dragon". I am putting up photos to be seen but in reality it is something you should experience yourself (actually no photos are allowed in the cave so we purchased some postcards in the gift shop). I have been to a few caverns in my lifetime but this one wins the prize by leaps and bounds. You just stand there in "awe" looking at the formations, the stalagmites, the stalagtites, the "ribbon", and the reflections in the water. This cave has the largest underground lake in the world. They take you through the cavern and the last moments you are seated in a theater setting as the lights dim to blackout. Then comes the music...where is that coming from? Then come the three row boats trimmed with tiny lights around them (see bottom of photo #5). The first boat goes by and you notice an organist in the front playing the eery yet intense music (Study in E major by Chopin) and joining her are three violinists as accompanists. It reminds me of scenes from "Phantom of the Opera" for sure. When the music is finished they line you up and load you into the row boats for a ride across Lake Martel to the exit. What an experience!!! This "concert" was first performed on February 9, 1931 and has remained UNCHANGED even up to today...amazing.

The caves were excavated in the 1950's and they found ceramics that proved the use of these caverns approximately three thousand years ago. In 1878 they found a small Arab vase from the 11th century and a roman chandelier with the motif of Caesar's eagle.

Engineer, Carlos Buigas designed and produced the artificial lighting seen around the caverns. It took him 15 months to finish it, in 1935. He would not accept payment for it as he said "this work is priceless and he so enjoyed it". He had to use submarine cable across the lake and uses 100,000 watts.

This is truly a pure spectacle of nature. You are transferred into another world if only for a brief time. "If after passing along the countless paths of the world you need to rediscover yourself through beauty and peace, come to Mallorca where you will encounter God in that same peace and beauty which have a name: The Drach's Caves". by Rafael Ferrer Massanet, 1983