Grotta di Santa Barbara, Cave in Iglesias, Italy.
Grotta di Santa Barbara is a natural cave located within the abandoned San Giovanni mine, formed at the intersection of carbonate rocks from the lower Paleozoic era. The chamber sits deep below ground where visitors can view the geological layers and mineral formations that developed over millions of years.
A miner discovered this chamber in 1952 while creating an air shaft during excavation work near the Pozzo Carolina pit. This unexpected find revealed a geological formation that had remained hidden beneath the ground for millions of years.
The cave is named after Saint Barbara, the patron saint of miners, reflecting how faith shaped the identity of mining communities in this region. Visitors sense this spiritual connection through the reverent way the site is treated.
Access is provided through guided tours where visitors ride a motorized train deeper into the mine, then use an elevator and descend a spiral staircase. Plan for a full experience that involves multiple methods of transportation and walking through underground passages.
The cave walls display brown tabular crystals of baryte and blue aragonite that formed during the Ordovician period more than 450 million years ago. These mineral formations developed under specific geological conditions rarely seen in other locations.
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