Cova des Coloms, known as 'the Cathedral', is a natural cave in Menorca located in the gully of Binigaus. It can be accessed from the village of Es Migjorn Gran via a signposted path. The entrance is 15 meters wide, leading to a 110-meter deep cave, with a ceiling standing 24 meters above the floor. Declared a Bien de Interés Cultural, Cova des Coloms was a burial site during the Talayotic period (550–123 BC).
French prehistorian Émile Cartailhac found ceramic and human bones here in the 1890s, followed by more finds in the 1914-1915 excavation led by Antoni Vives i Escudero. Large mounds of soil on either side of the entrance may be the remains of clandestine excavations or remnants of prehistoric walls that might have served to enclose the cave from the outside.
Protected as a Bien de Interés Cultural since 1966, Cova des Coloms remains a fascinating archaeological site. Despite the damage from illegal looting, it continues to attract interest from historians and archaeologists for its role in Menorca's prehistory.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Nik Frost
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