OCT to MAR Mon-Thu, Sat, Sun 8-16, Fri 8:30-15.
Last tour 1 hour before closing time.
[2010]
Groups (30+): Adults NIS 19, Children NIS 12.
[2010]
Karst cave.
| Location: | In the Avshalom Shoham Nature Reserve, 7km from Nes Harim, 8km from Beit Shemesh. Between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem near the Highway 1. 20km southwest of Jerusalem. (31°45'19.85"N, 35° 1'20.71"E) |
| Open: |
APR to SEP Mon-Thu, Sat, Sun 8-17, Fri 8:30-16. OCT to MAR Mon-Thu, Sat, Sun 8-16, Fri 8:30-15. Last tour 1 hour before closing time. [2010] |
| Fee: |
Adults NIS 25, Children NIS 13, Israeli Seniors NIS 13. Groups (30+): Adults NIS 19, Children NIS 12. [2010] |
| Classification: |
Karst cave.
|
| Light: | electric. |
| Dimension: | L=90m, W=60m, A=5,000m², T=22°C, H=90%. |
| Guided tours: | D=45min. |
| Bibliography: | |
| Address: |
Soreq Cave, 78 Yirmiyahu St., Jerusalem 94467, Tel: +972-2-5006261, Fax: +972-2-999-0215.
E-mail: |
| Last update: | $Date: 2010/05/19 23:24:19 $ |
| MAY-1968 | discovered by chance. | |
| 1977 | opened to the public. |
Sorek Cave is the only showcave in Israel. It was dicovered during quarry works. Around the cave numerous limestone quarries produce limestone for cement and for the typical natural stone faces of the Jerusalem houses. Several years ago the popular major of Jerusalem made a law, that all new buildings in Jerusalem must have a natural stone facade. Since then, the limestone industry in Israel booms. However, the quarry around Sorek Cave is now a nature preserve and mining is stopped.
Sorek Cave is famous for its beautiful formations. Stalactites and stalagmites, but also many other forms of speleothems, especially calcite crystals, helictites and cave coral, make it well worth a visit.
The dripstone walls are very impressing. A dripstone wall is not a type of speleothem, but a specialty of Sorek Cave, how stalagmites formed here. Cracks in the ceiling were leads to the calcite rich water. Along those cracks, the water emerged at many points and formed stalagmites and stalactites. They grew together forming pillars, all lined up in one row, following the crack. Today those rows of pilars form massive flowstone walls, ten or fifteen meters high, 30 or 40 meters long and only half a metre thick. They cut the large hall into smaller chambers.
The uniqueness of the cave made a very carefull development necessary. So it took nine years, until it was finally opened to the public. The light system of the cave and the wooden walkways are designed to save the beauty of the cave. The entrance and the exit have double doors to prevent warm air from outside to get into the cave. Because of the formations' delicacy, photography is only permitted one morning a week (Fridays).
The light system is computer controlled, the brightness is very low, just a sort of emergency lighting. But when the tour reaches a point, the guide starts a program and the light highlights the most impressing formations. This system, designed to reduce the needed light and the amount of heat it produces, is extraordinary.
However, the temperature of the cave, which was 19°C when the cave was discovered, is now at 24°C. Without all those precautions it would be much higher, but still the temperature is much too high and the natural processes in the cave are disturbed.
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