OJO GÜAREÑA CAVE

This Natural Monument is located in the north of the Province of Burgos and currently protected as Natural Park of Castilla y León Autonomous Region. In a large depression, at the foot of the Cantabrian Mountains, the scenery is dominated by dense beech, oak and pine forests. Ojo Guareña is a karstic complex (with a lot of caves) about 110 km long; one of the longest in the Iberian Peninsula. It was formed by the Rivers Guareña and Trema, which flow through the cave.

The region is characterised by the occupation of caves in prehistoric times, with some evidence of megalithic monuments. Many important metal objects have been found dated at the end of the early Bonze Age. Two Iron Age hill-forts are known, one at La Mesa, between Cornejo and Villamartín de Sotoscueva, and the other at Poblado del Montecillo, in Peña Dulla, in the municipality of Quintanilla de Valdebodres. The Romans built roads documented in Sotoscueva Valley on the route from Flaviobriga to Pisoraca. In the late Empire, caves were again used as dwellings. Evidence has been found of the occupation of cave entrances in the Middle Ages, as in the San Bernabé group at Sotoscueva Cave.