Quri Qala Cave
Quri Qale Cave is located northwest of Ravansar, Iran, and is one the main tourist attractions of the region. Quri Qale is one of the longest caves in western Asia and is well known for its wealth of speleothems and its archaeological finds. The cave was explored for the first time in the 1950s which during that survey, the first 550 m documented and led to a 55-metre-deep (180 ft) shaft. Later, an Iranian team opened its blocked bottom in 1989. The cave has three main chambers which called Namaz, Bolour and Aroos. Talare Bolour has calcite crystals and some stalactites. Talare Aroos is the most magnificent part of the cave and has a glittering crystals and four waterfalls. The cave also is famous for its colony of mouse ear bats that are very rare in that part of Zagros. Archaeologists have found a number of silver plates in this cave that are embellished with animal or monster figures and one presents even a Pahlavi inscription. These plates dates back to late Sassanian period.
Visitors have made graffiti in some places on stalagmites and the cave wall. They have also broken a number of stalagmites.
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References
- [1] Caves of Iran, Quri Qale Cave
- Akbarzadeh, D., T. Daryaee, and J. A. Lerner, 2001, Two Recently Discovered Inscribed Sasanian Silver Bowls, Bulletin of the Asia Institute, vol. 15, pp. 71-76
- Rahimi, F., 2004 Technical Examination and Provenance Studies on Sasanian Silver Vessels from Quri Qaleh, In T. Stollner, R. Slotta, and A. Vatandoust (eds), Persian Antiques Splendor, mining crafts and archeology in ancient Iran, vol. I, Pp. 456-460, Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum, Bochum.