Gruta das Torres

Gruta das Torres
Entrance to Gruta das Torres
Location	Criação Velha, Pico Island, Azores
Coordinates	38°29′39.48″N 28°30′8.64″W / 38.4943000°N 28.5024000°W / 38.4943000; -28.5024000
Discovery	1990
Geology	Lava tube
Entrances	Two
Difficulty	Easy
Access	Public

Gruta das Torres (Portuguese: Grotto of Towers), is a lava cave, a geological formation of volcanic origin formed from the flow and cooling of subterranean magma rivers. This formation is located outside the parish of Criação Velha, in the municipality of Madalena, on the western flanks of the island of Pico. The cave system formed from a series of pāhoehoe lava flows which originating from the Cabeço Bravo parasitic cone about 500 to 1500 years ago. The caves are a group of interconnected lava tubes between 0.5–22 metres (2–72 ft) width, created from both pāhoehoe and ʻaʻā types of lavas generated during different geological periods. It has a height between 1.1 and 15 metres (3.6–49 ft) and is located at an elevation of 300 metres (980 ft). With an estimated length of over 5.2 km (3.2 mi) it is the longest lava cave in the Azores.^[1] Access to the cave was managed by the Mountaineering Association (“Os Montanheiros” – Núcleo da Ilha do Pico). Starting in 2011, AZORINA, SA took over the management and organization of the cave.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

The cave's uniqueness lies in its impressive drainage pattern, which can be shown by the presence of more than seven layers on the walls, with lateral benches and three cornices.^[2] Gruta das Torres is one of the 17 caves (out of 28 found here) in Pico Island of the 30 caves chosen for Azores as a whole (from an overall list of for inscription under the UNESCO List of World Heritage Sites proposed by the Government of Azores).^[7][8]