Grutas de Mira de Aire (Moinhos Velhos)

At around 300 metres above sea level, on the northeastern slope of the Mira-Minde polje, the origins of a great speleological discovery came to light and they continue to grow. When in 1947 the inhabitants of Mira de Aire descended into the deep karst, they could hardly see the size of that space, let alone imagine the echo of their discovery. Speleologists and other curious people, ready and packed, went to investigate. A year later, in 1948, the Portuguese Speleological Society (SPE) was founded in Lisbon. The lights went on for the public on 11 August 1974. Today, the visitable part of the cave is approximately 600 metres long and has a gradient of just over 100 metres. In 2010 it was voted one of the 7 Natural Wonders of Portugal by the New 7 Wonders Foundation. In its interior, remarkable for its array of speleothems, we can see the colours of the rocks mixed with the colours of the lighting. Amidst flags, columns, stalactites and stalagmites, we find nooks filled with crystallisations, stone waterfalls and, with any luck, the presence of speleologists pursuing their investigations. Beyond the touristic boundaries, the Moinhos Velhos Caves, or Mira de Aire Caves, as they are known, extend for more than 11 kilometres in a network of galleries that integrates the Moinhos Velhos-Pena-Contenda System. They were classified as a Property of Public Interest (1955) for their palaeontological remains and as a Ramsar site (2005) together with the Mira-Minde polje and associated springs.