Cavalum (cave)
Original title: Cavalum (Furna do)
Description, after Hartung, of the Furna do Cavalum, a lava cave about 92 metres long near Quinta Sant'Ana in Machico.
Hartung gives the following description of this cave: ‘It is 2 metres wide, 1.2 m high and some 30 metres long, narrowing at the far end. From there on the floor descends, and only at the beginning must one pass stooping. The air is damp and stifling, and the darkness so intense that only the light of many torches relieves it. A corridor follows, then a vast, high and wide chamber, then another corridor, and at the end an opening and a profundidade (deep, roughly circular mountain basin). Along this route one covers some 92 metres between rough, uneven walls and beneath projections that break out from the vault, which is coated with a shiny black crust.’
The Furna do Cavalum lies near the Quinta de Sant’Ana, in Machico.
In this article
Place
Places mentioned · 03- Furna do Cavalum · Subject
Machico
Furna do Cavalum is a lava cave or channel, about 92 metres long, near Quinta Santana in Machico. It is the subject of a legend and is described after Hartung.
- Machico
Location of the cave.
The parish of Machico was the landing place of the discoverers Zargo and Tristão Vaz and the seat of the captaincy of Machico; the parish was founded c. 1450. The Elucidário covers its clergy and stipends, chapels, historical events, mineral springs, localities, population and notable natives.
- Quinta de Santana
Funchal. Estate near which the cave lies.
The Quinta de Sant'Ana is an estate in Monte parish, Funchal, granted to Dr João Francisco de Oliveira in 1803. The Furna do Cavalum lies nearby.
People
People mentioned · 01-
Geologist whose description of the Furna do Cavalum is quoted in this entry.