Parques de Portugal

Cerro da Cabeça (Monte Figo sierra)

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Cerro da Cabeça reaches 249 meters above sea level, and at the top there is a viewpoint here you can see the surrounding area, reaching south to the coastal plains and the sea, only 8 km away. To the West, about 4 km away, is the lofty hill of St. Miguel and, to the North, extends the Barrocal, just to the rugged terrain of the southern slope of the Caldeirão sierra while to the East you can admire the meadows and the coast, cut by Ria Formosa islands and channels.
This hill is the most spectacular megalapiás in Algarve, where dominate the large backs of rounded surfaces, conical and stalked reliefs, towers and blocks, densely distributed  across the elevation.
The work of erosive runoff on carbonate rocks was not limited, however, to shape this peculiar ruiniform relief, because the profusion of caves reveal the importance of its hidden underworld. In fact, Cerro da Cabeça is the area where there is a greater number of caves in the Algarve, some of them of great zoo and archaeological interest, plus there are situated there the deepest caves of the region (Algar Maxila and Algar Medusa with 95 and 78 m deep, respectively).
The Ladroeira Grande cave is near the summit of Cerro da Cabeça and integrates the developed complex Cerro da Cabeça karst, that are part of numerous underground cavities, particularly Ladroeira Pequena, Abismo Velho, Abismo Novo, Coluna, Garrafão, Algar Medusa and Pechinha, among others. Through the archaeological findings collected in this cave, it is assumed that was used as a cave-shrine in the second and first millennia BC.

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  • Cerro da Cabeça reaches 249 meters above sea level, and at the top there is a viewpoint here you can see the surrounding area, reaching south to the coastal plains and the sea, only 8 km away. To the West, about 4 km away, is the lofty hill of St. Miguel and, to the North, extends the Barrocal, just to the rugged terrain of the southern slope of the Caldeirão sierra while to the East you can admire the meadows and the coast, cut by Ria Formosa islands and channels.
    This hill is the most spectacular megalapiás in Algarve, where dominate the large backs of rounded surfaces, conical and stalked reliefs, towers and blocks, densely distributed  across the elevation.
    The work of erosive runoff on carbonate rocks was not limited, however, to shape this peculiar ruiniform relief, because the profusion of caves reveal the importance of its hidden underworld. In fact, Cerro da Cabeça is the area where there is a greater number of caves in the Algarve, some of them of great zoo and archaeological interest, plus there are situated there the deepest caves of the region (Algar Maxila and Algar Medusa with 95 and 78 m deep, respectively).
    The Ladroeira Grande cave is near the summit of Cerro da Cabeça and integrates the developed complex Cerro da Cabeça karst, that are part of numerous underground cavities, particularly Ladroeira Pequena, Abismo Velho, Abismo Novo, Coluna, Garrafão, Algar Medusa and Pechinha, among others. Through the archaeological findings collected in this cave, it is assumed that was used as a cave-shrine in the second and first millennia BC.

  • Algarve

  • Olhão

  • Ria Formosa Nature Park

  • No

  • Natura Network

  • Natura Network - PTCON050 Cerro da Cabeça

  • Natural

  • -

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