Matienzo is the name of a village and a

karst Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...

depression some 25 km southeast of Santander in Ruesga municipality,

Cantabria Cantabria (, ; ) is an autonomous community and Provinces of Spain, province in northern Spain with Santander, Cantabria, Santander as its capital city. It is called a , a Nationalities and regions of Spain, historic community, in its current ...

, northern

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. The

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

around Matienzo is riddled with caves (up to 58.6 km in length) which have been extensively explored over the last 50 years by Spanish and British cavers. the total length of cave passage explored, was 377 km.

References

External links

Matienzo Caves site
Information about the area, more than 4000 caves, research details, cave surveys and thousands of photos], www.matienzocaves.org
Matienzo: 50 Years of Speleology
Cave exploration, cave diving, geology, archaeology, geomorphology and personal recollections, dual language overview of 50 years of speleology in and around Matienzo, www.rrcpc.org.uk
Estudios Espeleología
by Imágenes NO-DO, 1 January 1965 10 min documentary, featuring descent into Cueva de la Codisera, Matienzo Populated places in Cantabria Caves of Cantabria {{cantabria-geo-stub