Cueva de Ardales, Palaeolithic paintings with a guide

A cave with Palaeolithic engravings and paintings, among the most important in Andalusia, on the Calinoria hill, on the outskirts of Ardales. It is visited in groups of at most 15 people, with a guide, on a visit of about two hours that starts at the Prehistory Interpretation Centre, at Avenida de Málaga, 1, in Ardales.

What you will see

The cave, also called the Doña Trinidad Grund cave, was sealed for about 3,500 years until an earthquake opened its entrance in 1821. From 1823 it received visitors, but its art was not valued until 1918, when the French prehistorian Henri Breuil studied it. He described about twenty animals; today 1,010 representations are known on 252 panels, including 98 animals, 10 human figures and 9 handprints.

It is a highly branched karst system, divided into five areas: the Sala del Saco, the Sala de las Estrellas, the Galerías de los Laberintos, the Calvario and the Galerías Altas. The full visit covers the art of the two great phases, that of the Neanderthals and that of the sapiens, the excavation areas and one of the Neolithic funerary deposits. Inside, flint and bone tools have also been found alongside the figures.

Before or after, you see the Interpretation Centre, a two-storey building at the entrance to the village, with parking, which displays the prehistory of Ardales and pieces from forty years of research. It is included in the ticket.

Hours and tickets

Visits are on Tuesday to Thursday and Sundays at 10:00, and on Fridays and Saturdays at 10:00 and 16:00. Mondays, closed. General admission costs €15 from age 12 and reduced €5, for ages 8 to 12. It is bought in advance on Giglón, where it is worth reading the visit rules. For questions, the Town Hall can be reached on 952 458 046 and 609 200 165, and at [email protected]. School groups book on 608 931 657.

Getting there and what to combine

The meeting point is in Ardales, a few minutes by car from the Caminito del Rey and from the dam and the Sillón del Rey. Combine it with the rock church of Bobastro, which is also seen in the morning: with them you have the area's prehistory and Middle Ages in one day.