The Toledano Labyrinth

The Toledano Labyrinth

The popular fantasy says that the fabulous subways of Toledo communicate with each other and will give, some to the river, and others, much further, to other caves or subways several kilometers from the city. At least one of these caves is real and authentic. It is in an estate called Higares (near Mocejón), some 11 kilometres from Toledo on the road to Aranjuez.

The Toledano Labyrinth Higares Cave, near Toledo.

As it is a private estate, it is very difficult to visit these caves, which are more and more blinded by landslides every day. The labyrinthine aspect of this enclosure raises doubts about its use. Is it a prehistoric burial, like the one in the Menga cave? Is it a true labyrinth of Mediterranean tradition? And the capital question: how is it that a monument of this calibre remains at the mercy of the owner of the estate, exposed to the latter, in order to avoid curious people, blinding the entrances and forgetting about the matter? Why is it not declared a monument, or of cultural interest and duly explored? (www.ToledoSpain.click)

The entrance has been reduced to a few holes due to the collapses-, from there one enters an enormous room with a large number of columns or pillars, of the cyclopean type. The pillars have approximately two meters of side. There are numerous collapses inside, but the length of the gallery can be calculated at about 100 meters. On the left side there is a small orifice that gives access to a gallery about 10 meters long, which leads to a small room. This in turn leads to a larger room, in the centre of which is a curious black cubic stone. This circular room, with a radius of about five metres, communicates again with another large labyrinthine room full of pilasters. From there, galleries depart in several directions, obstructed by landslides. Through one of them you can follow a few meters more, but immediately prevent the passage of landslides. The direction of this gallery is towards Toledo…

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A few years ago we visited is curious space. You can see more photos in this link. 

This text is many years old. Want to see an update, with a video? Click on this link: The Caves of Higares.