What a relief to be descending into the picturesque beach/port town of Ribadesella, after being plagued by a persistent, troubling, mind-numbing injury (Achilles strain), now thankfully receding to a mere annoyance.
Our pre-booked albergue (pension Arbidel) was situated on the town’s cliff-side so we scrambled up to our cute little, relatively luxurious room with a view – an amazing view over the town to the coast and the estuary of the Rio Sella.
It just so happened that two weeks previously on our daily perusal of upcoming terrain and towns we checked rather forlornly for any available tickets for the Cuevas de Tito Bustillo Palaeolithic caves, which normally have a three month waiting list. And there, unbelievably, (just two weeks and only 140 Kms away) they were – what a break and an encouraging boost to our sometimes flagging resolve, while constraining us to a slower regimen, hopefully to complete recovery. A level of fitness (no walking sticks) was prerequisite for the pristine but precarious caves so I had to get and keep my act together. [Clare]
We booked the two precious unsold tickets at https://centrotitobustillo.sacatuentrada.es/es
The Tito Bustillo Cave is one of a very few caves in Europe where the general public can enter a real cave and view original palaeolithic artwork (rather than the replica cave interiors and artwork reproductions often found adjacent to the more famous cave sites).
In order to minimise damage to the artwork visitors have to pass through several sets of security gates and airlocks and comply with a list of dates, times and entry restrictions which may seem a little daunting:
- Open from 1 March to 31 October 2024 (eight months of the year)
- Closed Mondays and Tuesdays
- Ten tours per day from 10:15 to 17:00
- Visits are limited to 15 visitors per slot (maximum 150 visitors per day).
- It’s necessary to purchase tickets online well in advance during peak periods.
- The guided tours are only in Spanish.
- You must check in at the Museum (Cave Rock Art Centre) located 300 metres passed the Cave entrance. Check in must be at least 30 minutes before the scheduled ticket time.
- The minimum age to access the Cave is 7 years.
- People with reduced mobility or vision are strongly discouraged
- Warm clothes and suitable footwear are required
- It’s forbidden to film or take photographs inside the Cave
- Smoking is prohibited.
- Visitors should not bring backpacks or sticks (note: there are no lockers)
- After checking in at the Museum you’ll have to walk back to the Cave and wait patiently outside the entry gate – admission into the cave is strictly limited to 5 minutes before each tour start time after which the gates will close again.
The good news is that the entry fees to the Cave are ridiculously cheap
General: €4.14
Concession: €2.12
Free admission on Wednesdays (ticket still required)
The tour guides only speak Spanish – so we’d strongly recommend that you arrive at the Cave Rock Art Centre at least 2 hours prior to the Cave tour and fully explore the centre to get a good understanding of the history and what you’ll expect see in the cave. It’s a very modern museum with lots of audiovisual and interactive displays and with information in both Spanish and English.
The Centre entry fees are also very reasonable:
General: €5.45
Concession: €3.29
Free admission on Wednesdays
The map below shows the town of Ribadesella with locations of our accommodation (Pension Arbidel), the Tito Bustillo Caves and the Cave Rock Art Centre (Tito Bustillo Museum).
Studies have indicated that The Tito Bustillo Cave was inhabited for more than 26 thousand years by Neanderthals and subsequently Cro-Magnon hunter- gatherers until the original cave entrance became blocked by a landslide 9,500 years ago, ending occupation of the site and making it possible for the preservation of objects, tools and wall paintings.
In spring 1968 a group of young cavers accessed a fissure into a cave known as Pozu’l Ramu. On their way into the cave, they stopped at a subterranean spring and one of them wandered farther from the group and soon started shouting “Paintings!” (or the Spanish equivalent). At first the group thought he was joking but soon the light from their lamps caught an animal leg painted on the wall. Despite not being archaeologists, they could tell this find was significant and alerted the authorities the next day.
Sadly, shortly after the discovery, one of the cavers, Celestino “Tito” Fernández Bustillo, was killed in an accident, and so it was decided to name the cave after him.
Our tour of the Tito Bustillo Caves entered the Palaeolithic cave through a modern entrance tunnel. The guided tour took about 50 minutes with the group of fifteen intrepid explorers carefully picking our way through very dimly lit narrow passageways linking magnificently wide chambers and soaring rocky vaults filled with staggering arrays of stalagmites and stalactites.
After the best part of a kilometre walk, checking every footfall on the uneven cave floor surfaces, we eventually arrived at the Main Panel Chamber.
Most of the chambers in the Tito Bustillo Cave are off-limits to the public in order to protect the ancient art. The Main Panel chamber, however, remains open to visitors, who can view the menagerie of ancient animals from a safe distance.
The majority of the animals on the panel can be difficult to make out from the mass of superimposed images swarming around them. But the black lines of the bigger horses, and the violet and black hues of the reindeer, still stand out with astonishing clarity after many thousands of years.
Our guide was careful to only shine his torch for short spells on small sections of the Main Panel at any one time – again to protect the artwork. Interestingly this had the effect of focusing our attention and enhanced the sense of the great antiquity of the chamber.
We were also encouraged to crouch down low to view the panel from a low angle – The Main Panel is a three dimensional surface with protrusions and overhangs so viewing from a squatting position revealed even more paintings.
Archaeologists have recovered a wealth of artefacts from the site reflecting the patterns of daily life of the hunter-gatherers who lived there. Arrowheads, harpoons, spears, needles, and other tools were crafted from shells, stones, bones, and antlers.
Some of the most important artifacts from the Cave are displayed at The Prehistory and Archaeology Museum of Cantabria in Santander (another very worthwhile place to visit)
Our two day stay at Ribadesella and the visit to the Tito Bustillo Caves concluded our two week “slower regimen” and did much to facilitate Clare’s recovery.
The tour of The Tito Bustillo Cave was, without doubt, the highlight of our Camino – we feel very privileged to have experienced such a unique place.
A “Must See” if you’re walking the Camino Del Norte.
[Steve]
Note: all images of the cave interior have been downloaded from the internet.
CAVE ROCK ART CENTRE
Tito Bustillo (Asturias) (lugaresconhistoria.com) lugaresconhistoria.com for “Cave Rock Art Centre”
CAVE ART
The Peak is Underground: Cave Paintings of Tito Bustillo – Year Long Honeymoon “The main panel art works”
Cueva de Tito Bustillo, Asturias (patrimoniosdelahumanidad.com) partrimoniosdelahumanidad.com for “The panels were lit up …”
Cueva de Tito Bustillo Ribadesella | Cuevas, Arte rupestre, Arte prehistorico (pinterest.es) “The Magdalenian style ….”
Tito Bustillo Cave – Ribadesella, Spain – Atlas Obscura Atlas Osbscua web site for “The main panel paintings representing horses …”
CAVE INTERIORS
f-ca043-01_web.jpg (1024×768) (igme.es)
El Principado no tiene informes de daños en las pinturas de Tito Bustillo | El Comercio: Diario de Asturias
, below. Speleothemes in Cueva de Tito Bustillo (Asturias). | Download Scientific Diagram (researchgate.net)
Leave a Reply