Creation The cave was created by rainwater slowly seeping through the
limestone rock, turning into a weak
carbonic acid which gradually dissolved the rock. Through this process, tiny cracks in the Rock's
geological fault grew into long passages and large caverns over thousands of years. The numerous
stalactites and
stalagmites in the cave are formed by an accumulation of traces of dissolved rock deposited by water dripping from the ground above.
Prehistory In 1974, a
Neolithic bowl was discovered in the cave, one of many examples which prove that the cave was known to
prehistoric humans. Another would be the recently discovered
cave art depicting an
ibex drawn in charcoal on one of the cave walls. It has been dated to the
solutrean period (15,000 to 20,000 years ago) based on the style used. However, since two
Neanderthal skulls have been discovered in Gibraltar, it is possible that they were among the first to set foot in the cave around 40,000 BC.
Ancient world The first factual description of the cave was written in 45 AD by
Pomponius Mela, an
Algeciras-born geographer. He described Gibraltar as: A mountain with wonderful concavities, which has its western side almost opened by a large cave which may be penetrated far into the interior. However, the writings of
Homer as well as artefacts discovered in the cave show that it was already well known to the ancient
Greeks,
Romans and
Phoenicians.
Spanish period The name
Cueva de San Miguel (the current English name is a direct translation of the Spanish
toponym) is recorded by Gibraltar's first historian,
Alonso Hernández del Portillo, in his
Historia de la Muy Noble y Más Leal Ciudad de Gibraltar (). In his work, Hernández del Portillo also suggests the cave's name is taken from the similar
grotto in Apulia, Italy. He discovered numerous prehistoric artefacts such as
stone axes and arrow heads,
shell jewellery, and
bone needles as well as a large collection of pottery. Despite his archaeological efforts, Brome's unauthorised use of prisoners' labour eventually cost him his job. Officers seeking adventure during quiet periods of their service would pass their time exploring the many passages within the cave system. Some time before 1840, a Colonel Mitchell and a second officer got lost in the caves and were never seen again. Their disappearance led to extensive explorations of the cave system in 1840, 1857 and 1865, but no evidence of the officers' whereabouts was found. Further exploration was carried out between 1936 and 1938, when a scientific
expedition was mounted and every known part of the cave system was explored, but again no
human remains were found.
Military use It is believed that St. Michael's Cave has had a military use since the
Berber general
Tariq ibn Ziyad led the
Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 AD. This is assumed due to the defensive wall of
Moorish origin which protected the cave's entrance until recently. Just after
Gibraltar's capture by Anglo-Dutch forces in 1704, 500
Spanish troops concealed themselves within the cave overnight after having ascended through a path led by
goatherd Simón Susarte, before an unsuccessful attempt to surprise the garrison.
World War II During
World War II the entire cave was prepared for use as an emergency military hospital. It was never used as such. ==New St. Michael's Cave==