Arnsberg District
Märkischer KreisBalveBalver Cave
Arnsberg District
Märkischer KreisBalveBalver Cave
Mountain Biking Highlight
Recommended by 206 out of 216 mountain bikers
This Highlight is in a protected area
Please check local regulations for: Naturpark Sauerland-Rothaargebirge
Location: Balve, Märkischer Kreis, Arnsberg District, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
The Balver Cave is the largest open cultural cave in Europe with an entrance portal that is 11 meters high and 18 meters wide.
In the huge hall, which is almost 90 meters deep and splits into two arms after 54 meters, around 2,000 people can celebrate or experience the unique acoustics and atmosphere at concerts. Caves only exist in limestone. This grew from dead corals in a warm sea around 360 million years ago. The enormous forces of the earth's interior fold, raise and lower the originally crack-free mass limestone. Penetrating water dissolves the lime, widens the cracks into crevices and cavities - this is how our cave was formed over tens of millions of years. During the ice ages 100,000 to 20,000 years ago, mud was deposited in the Balver Cave. The cave clay filled the cave almost to the ceiling. The farmers recognized the high fertilizer value of the phosphate-containing clay and brought it to their fields.
This is how the impressive cave space was uncovered - a rock dome.
During later excavations, skeletons of local animals, such as mammoths and cave bears, and around 40,000 artifacts were found.
July 3, 2022
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