A cave or cavern is a hollow place in the ground, especially a natural underground space large enough for a human to enter. Caves form naturally by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word cave can also refer to much smaller openings such as sea caves, rock shelters, and grottos.
Caves
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6Almaden Quicksilver Mine
The geology of the area is characterised by volcanism. Almaden is home to the world's greatest reserves of cinnabar, a mineral associated with recent volcanic activity, from which mercury is extracted.
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3Bochnia Salt Mine (Hotel Sutoris)
The Bochnia Salt Mine in Bochnia, Poland is one of the oldest salt mines in the world and the oldest one in Poland. The mine was established between the 12th and 13th centuries after salt was first discovered in Bochnia and became part of the Royal mining company zupy krakowskie (Krakow salt works).
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10Cave of Altamira
The Cave of Altamira is a cave in Cantabria, Spain, famous for its cave paintings featuring drawings and polychrome rock paintings of wild mammals and human hands, created between 18,500 and 14,000 years ago, during the Upper Paleolithic by early human beings.
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6Cave of the Apocalypse, Patmos
The Cave of the Apocalypse is situated about halfway up the mountain on the Aegean island of Patmos, along the road between the villages of Chora and Skala.
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10Cave of the Castle (Cave of El Castillo)
The Cueva de El Castillo, or the Cave of the Castle, is an archaeological site within the complex of the Caves of Monte Castillo, and is located in Puente Viesgo, in the province of Cantabria, Spain. It contains the oldest known cave art in the world.
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8Cave Pindal
Cave Pindal is situated by the San Emeterio Headland, near the village of Pimiango, in the eastern limits of the Principality of Asturias.
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10Cueva de las Manos
Cueva de las Manos is a cave or a series of caves located in the province of Santa Cruz, Argentina, 163 km south of the town of Perito Moreno.
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10Derinkuyu Underground City
The Derinkuyu underground city is an ancient multi-level underground city in the Derinkuyu district in Nevsehir Province, Turkey. Extending to a depth of approximately 60 m (200 feet), it is large enough to have sheltered as many as 20,000 people together with their livestock and food stores.
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10Elephanta Caves
The Elephanta Caves are a network of sculpted caves located on Elephanta Island, or Gharapuri in Mumbai Harbour, 10 kilometres to the east of the city of Mumbai in the Indian state of Maharashtra
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10Ellora Caves
Ellora is an archaeological site 29 km north-west of the city of Aurangabad in the Indian state of Maharashtra, built by the Rashtrakuta dynasty and Yadav. Well known for its monumental caves, Ellora is one of major tourist attraction in Marathwada region of Maharashtra Ellora represents the epitome of Indian rock-cut architecture.
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8Geomunoreum Lava Tube System
The Geomunoreum Lava Tube System is located between Seonheul-ri, Jocheon-eup and Weoljeong-ri, Gujwa-eup, Jeju City, Jeju-do. This lava tube system refers to a series of lava tube caves formed while basaltic lava flow which had erupted several times from the Geomunoreum volcano.
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3Glanzenberg, Town Monument Reserve, Old Town, Banska Stiavnica
The protective zone of the Town Monument Reserve - Glanzenberg - the Old Town: The fortified premises with the central tower building (from the 12th century) and protecting the mining district (the veins of Spitaler and Bieber), at the turn of the 13th century rebuilt into an extensive castle.
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1Jasovska Cave
Jasovska Cave is a stalactite cave in the Slovak Karst in Slovakia. It is located near the village of Jasov, around 25 km from Kosice.
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1Krasnohorska Cave
Krasnohorska Cave is a karst cave situated at the northern foot of the Silicka planina Plain, in the Slovak Karst, 6.5 km southeast of Roznava, in Slovakia.
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9Longmen Grottoes
The Longmen Grottoes or Longmen Caves are one of the finest examples of Chinese Buddhist art. Housing tens of thousands of statues of Buddha and his disciples, they are located 12 kilometres south of present-day Luoyang in Henan province, China
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10Mammoth Cave National Park
Mammoth Cave National Park is a U.S. national park in central Kentucky, encompassing portions of Mammoth Cave, the longest cave system known in the world.
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10Melissani Cave, Kefalonia Island
Melissani Cave or Melissani Lake, also Melisani is a cave located on the island of Kefalonia, northwest of Sami, about 5 km SE of Agia Efthymia, NE of Argostoli and NW of Poros. The Ionian Sea lies to the east with the Strait of Ithaca.
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10Mines of Rammelsberg
The ore mines of the Rammelsberg are the only mines in the world which were in uninterrupted operation for over 1000 years. It and the medieval Old Town of Goslar with the Imperial Palace were placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1992.
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10Mogao Caves
The Mogao Caves, also known as the Thousand Buddha Grottoes, form a system of 492 temples 25 km southeast of the center of Dunhuang, an oasis strategically located at a religious and cultural crossroads on the Silk Road, in Gansu province, China.
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1Neolithic flint mines of Spiennes
The Neolithic flint mines of Spiennes are among the largest and earliest Neolithic flint mines of north-western Europe, located close to Walloon village of Spiennes, southeast of Mons, Belgium. The mines were active during the mid and late Neolithic (4300–2200 BC). The site and its surroundings were added to the UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in 2000.
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10Wieliczka Salt Mine
The Wieliczka Salt Mine, located in the town of Wieliczka in southern Poland, lies within the Krakow metropolitan area. Opened in the 13th century, the mine produced table salt continuously until 2007, as one of the world's oldest salt mines in operation. Throughout, the Royal mine was run by the Zupy krakowskie Salt Mines company.
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10Yungang Grottoes
The Yungang Grottoes are ancient Chinese Buddhist temple grottoes near the city of Datong in the province of Shanxi. They are excellent examples of rock-cut architecture and one of the three most famous ancient Buddhist sculptural sites of China. The others are Longmen and Mogao.
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8Zhoukoudian
Zhoukoudian or Choukoutien, is a cave system in Beijing, China. It has yielded many archaeological discoveries, including one of the first specimens of Homo erectus, dubbed Peking Man, and a fine assemblage of bones of the gigantic hyena Pachycrocuta brevirostris.
