Coptic Cave is a

sea cave A sea cave, is also known as a littoral cave, a type of cave formed primarily by the wave action of the sea. The primary process involved is erosion. Sea caves are found throughout the world, actively forming along present coastlines and as re ...

in the

British Overseas Territory The British Overseas Territories (BOTs) or alternatively referred to as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs) are the fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom that, ...

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

. The cave was intended to be used as a decoy to protect

Operation Tracer Operation Tracer was a secret Second World War Royal Navy military operation in Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory and military base. The impetus for the stay-behind plan was the 1940 scheme by Germany to capture Gibraltar, code-named Oper ...

. This was a plan to leave behind spies should the British lose control of the

Rock of Gibraltar The Rock of Gibraltar (from the Arabic name Jabal Ṭāriq , meaning "Mountain of Tariq ibn Ziyad, Tariq") is a monolithic limestone mountain high dominating the western entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. It is situated near the end of a nar ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

.Coptic Cave
, Underground-Gibraltar.com,

Gibraltar Museum The Gibraltar National Museum is a national museum of the history, culture and natural history of Gibraltar located within the city centre of the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. Founded in 1930 by the then Governor of Gibraltar, General ...

, accessed January 2013

History

The eight meter high cave was named after a lamp that was discovered in 1937 which was mistakenly thought to be of Coptic origin. The lamp is now thought to be Roman and to have been brought to Gibraltar by

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who were first reported in the written records as inhabitants of what is now Poland, during the period of the Roman Empire. Much later, in the fifth century, a group of Vandals led by kings established Vand ...

or Byzantines. During

this cave and Beefsteak Cave were chosen to be part of ''Operation Monkey'' which created two decoy caves. These caves were intended to deflect any investigation by invaders of Gibraltar who were looking for spies left behind by the British. The real plan to leave behind spies in a cave was called

and the existence of this plan was no more than a rumour until the cave was discovered in 1997 by the

Gibraltar Caving Group The Gibraltar Caving Group is an organisation based in the British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It forms the Caves and Cliffs Section of the Gibraltar Ornithological and Natural History Society. The group of skill ...

. The back of Coptic Cave is nearly 15 metres from the entrance. A shaft was created at the back of the cave which was intended as an escape route and for the delivery of materials via a wooden ladder. The cave had a brick wall constructed which is still extant that closed off the entrance and a man made roof was constructed of corrugated sheets on a timber frame but this has now collapsed.

Geography

Gibraltar is sometimes referred to as the "Hill of Caves" and the geological formation of all the caves is limestone.

References

{{Caves of Gibraltar Caves of Gibraltar