Karst cave.
| Location: | Qoori Qaleh Village. 86km from Kermanshah, on the road to Paveh. |
| Open: | |
| Fee: | |
| Classification: |
Karst cave.
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| Light: | electric. |
| Dimension: | L=3,140m |
| Guided tours: | |
| Bibliography: | |
| Address: | |
| Last update: | $Date: 2008/04/01 06:46:13 $ |
| 1957 | cavers discover an 55m deep shaft. | |
| 1957 to 1984 | American, British, and French speleologists explore 550m of cave. | |
| 1989 | young Iranian adventurers excavate and explore further 1,340m. |
Quri Qaleh Cave is noted for its wealth of speleothems. It is also said to be the longest cave of the middle east, but that's a fame which changes frequently at the moment. The caves of this area were only sparsely explored until now, but during the last decade research increased and new superlatives are discovered almost every year.
The cave contains a colony of mouse ear bats, which are rather rare. It seems so far no archaeological excavations has been made in the cave, but near the entrance numerous artifacts were found accidentially. A human skull and various clayworks from Prehistoric times and remains from the Sassanid Period tell that the area was inhabited over thousands of years. 15 coins were found, showing Yazd Gerd III, the last Sassanid monarch.
The cave was long known, but only the shallow entrance portal was accessible. In a first exploration era starting in the 1950s the first 550m leading to a 55m deeep shaft were discovered. The continuation at the bottom was blocked and opened many years later in 1989 by an Iranian adventurer club. They discovered the main parts of the cave.
The cave tour shows both levels of the cave. First the 550m long upper passage with two chabers. Notable are a stalagmite formation resembling a camel's profile and hump and a second one called Mother Mary. About 1,000m of the lower lever are also developed, starting with the 12m long Talare Namaz (prayer hall), then Talare Bolour (crystal hall), and finally Talare Aroos (bride hall). Talare Bolour has former cave lakes with calcite crystals and some stalactites which knocked by the guide to create sounds. Talare Aroos is said to be the most magnificent part of the cave. It has bright, glittering crystals and four waterfalls each 10 to 12m high. There are stalagmites all over the chamber which are up to eight meters high.
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