Gruta do Carvão

Under the western side of Ponta Delgada, the Gruta do Carvão opens a world below the city: a great gallery of volcanic origin, one of the longest lava tubes of the Azores, where the fire that built São Miguel left its marks on the stone. Visited with a guide, the cave shows how the islands were made — the rivers of lava, the roofs that cooled above them and the underground world that few places in the archipelago keep so close to their streets.

The cave

The gallery of the Gruta do Carvão was formed by an ancient flow of lava that crossed the area of Ponta Delgada and cooled from the outside in, leaving an open channel of stone below the surface. In the guided visit — with the care and the equipment of the organisers — the path follows the tube between the marks of the flow, the dark ceilings and the formations of lava, and the guides explain the geology of the island and the story of the cave, found and studied in the city underground.

What to see

• The great lava tube below the city of Ponta Delgada.
• The formations and marks of the ancient volcanic flow.
• The guided visits through the galleries of the cave.
• The volcanic world of São Miguel, at the gates of the capital.

Visiting

The cave lies in the western side of Ponta Delgada, on the island of São Miguel, reached on foot and by road from the centre of the city; the visit is made with a guide, in small groups and with conditions of security, so the times, tickets and bookings should be confirmed with the official information of the municipality and of the cave.

Nearby

The city of Ponta Delgada e il Jardim José do Canto are the natural companions of a visit to the cave.

Information: cm-pontadelgada.pt.

Image credit: Gruta do Carvão, Ponta Delgada, by Sino Yu, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.