Caves of the Alt Empordà
Alt Empordà contains 95 cavities: 59 caves and 36 pits, with a total passage length of 3335 metres and a maximum depth of 73 metres. Cau del Lliri, in Roses, is the longest and deepest cavity.
The Alt Empordà region has 95 catalogued caves, including 36 potholes and 59 caves. The longest is Cau del Lliri (460m). Most caves are found in limestone.
Length adds each cave once (a system counts once), and depth is that of the deepest cave, canyons excluded.
Read more
Alt Empordà contains 95 recorded cavities: 59 caves and 36 pits, with a total passage length of 3335 metres and a maximum depth of 73 metres. The dominant lithology is limestone, present in 77 cavities, followed by schist in 9, travertine in 3, granite and sandstone in 2 each, and slate and sand in 1 each.
Cau del Lliri, in Roses, is the longest and deepest cavity, with 460 metres of passage and 73 metres of vertical drop, divided into five levels connected by a system of shafts and ramps. Forat del Ginebret, at the Tossa d'Espinau (Albanyà), reaches 55 metres of depth and 296 metres of passage; located in 1983, it was explored in 1988 and surveyed in 1997. Avenc de la Calma, in Llers, reaches 52 metres of depth and includes the Sala Gran, measuring 15x6 metres, with two routes, the CEE and the GEIS.
Other notable cavities are Cova de la Xinxa, an underwater tunnel with several branches at l'Escala, and the Forats de la Tossa d'espinau Nº1-3, a pit 22 metres deep in Albanyà explored by the GEB on 17 April 1993.
Map
Municipalities
The figures of these places do not add up to the total: a cave can be in more than one place, or in none when its location has no lower level.
The 20 longest
- 1Cau del LliriRoses, Girona460 m
- 2Forat del GinebretAlbanyà, Girona296 m
- 3Avenc de la CalmaLlers, Girona175 m
- 4Cova de la XinxaL'Escala, Girona105 m
- 5Forats de la Tossa d'espinau Nº1-3Albanyà, Girona100 m
- 6Cova de TrencabraçosL'Escala, Girona90 m
- 7Forat del Pla de MontosaAlbanyà, Girona90 m
- 8Avenc de Can VilàTerrades, Girona62 m
- 9Cova TassanaCadaqués, Girona61 m
- 10Tuta de la PólvoraAlbanyà, Girona58 m
- 11Cova del TraireRoses, Girona54 m
- 12Pou del FauMaçanet de Cabrenys, Girona54 m
- 13Cova del Bau de TrencabraçosL'Escala, Girona53 m
- 14Cau del CiriSant Llorenç de la Muga, Girona52 m
- 15Forat del RoquissarAlbanyà, Girona51 m
- 16Tuta de les CorominesAlbanyà, Girona51 m
- 17Cova del Mirador del RomaníL'Escala, Girona50 m
- 18Cova de S'InfernCadaqués, Girona50 m
- 19Avenc del BallóMaçanet de Cabrenys, Girona45 m
- 20Bora MajorTerrades, Girona45 m
The 20 deepest
- 1Cau del LliriRoses, Girona73 m
- 2Forat del GinebretAlbanyà, Girona55 m
- 3Avenc de la CalmaLlers, Girona52 m
- 4Pou del FauMaçanet de Cabrenys, Girona30 m
- 5Forat d'en MetAlbanyà, Girona27 m
- 6Avenc de Can VilàTerrades, Girona26 m
- 7Forat de la Tossa d'espinau Nº6Albanyà, Girona26 m
- 8Avenc del Boquerol d'en VidalVilanant, Girona25 m
- 9Forat del Pla de MontosaAlbanyà, Girona25 m
- 10Avenc del BallóMaçanet de Cabrenys, Girona23 m
- 11Cova del TraireRoses, Girona23 m
- 12Forats de la Tossa d'espinau Nº1-3Albanyà, Girona22 m
- 13Forat del RoquissarAlbanyà, Girona21 m
- 14Forat de la Baga del Ginebret 9Albanyà, Girona19 m
- 15Bauma de TaleixàTerrades, Girona18 m
- 16Bora MajorTerrades, Girona18 m
- 17Forat del Còrrec Nº1Albanyà, Girona13 m
- 18Tuta de l'ErmedàAlbanyà, Girona13 m
- 19Avenc de Can Pau CalóTerrades, Girona12 m
- 20Cau del CiriSant Llorenç de la Muga, Girona12 m
50 of 95
Source: Espeleoindex (espeleoindex.com), modified. CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/