Cuevas del Drach

Caves in Portocristo well-known for their illumination and the Martel lake, one of the largest underground lakes in the world. Music concerts on the lake and the possibility of crossing it by boat.

The oldest written evidence of the cave is found in a message from Rover de Rovenach, the governor of the island, to the mayor of Manacor dating from 1338. In 1878 it burst onto the international scene when two travelers accompanied by a local guide got lost in the cave for 30 hours. Years later, in 1896, Archduke Louis Salvator hired the French speleologist E.A. Martel to explore the cave. He discovered the lake named after him.

The Cuevas del Drach were brilliantly illuminated by the Catalan engineer Carles Buigas, known in Spain as the "magician of light".

The 1,200 metre path is an explosion of stalactites and stalagmites that create scenes and figures that can often be identified with the outside world. You just have to take a look at their names: the Virgin of the cave, Saint Anthony of Padua, Venus of the Nile, Buddha, the Indian pagoda, the valley of Montserrat, etc.

It has beautiful lakes like the bath of Diana, a fragile location, and lake Martel with 117 meters length, 30 meters width and up to 14 meters depth. This makes it one of largest underground lakes in the world. A classical music concert takes place in the lake chamber. The audience sits in a kind of Roman theatre. The musicians appear from the darkness in three illuminated boats. After the concert and "sunrise over the lake" visitors can enjoy the wonderful experience of taking a boat across the lake.