Location
State: Latvia
Region: Kurzeme
County: Talsi
Parish: Ģibuļi
Other references to the location
In the middle part of the slope of the Abava’s right main bank, about 300 m upwards the Māra’s Chambers.
Coordinates
lat=57.081246, lon=22.369840
57° 4′ 52″ N, 22° 22′ 11″ E
Description
The cave is much less-known than the nearby Māra’s Chambers, but in terms of its size it is twice larger than the largest Māra’s Chamber. Just like all chambers, this cave in the yellow sandstone rock has also been formed by springs when the water from the underground gradually eroded the sand grains and formed hollows. The length of the cave is 11 meters, height of the ceilings in the cave more than 2 meters. The cave is quite safe, it can be a nature tourism object for small groups of people.
Narrative
The Plunderers’ Cave is also called the Māra’s Spring Cave, and the spring flowing from it, probably, is an ancient holy spring. The Plunderers’ Cave was mentioned in the book “Album Baltikum” published in 1907. In this book there is one more Holy Spring mentioned located about one and a half verst from the Māra’s Chambers, in the forest of the Kalica manor house, by which in ancient times people used to make offerings. Actually there is a group of springs consisting of at least eight springs, located in the woods, in the winding of the Abava’s right side main bank. Maybe the status of being holy was attributed to some of these places in newer times, but it can be as well that, for example, when the Catholic Church prohibited people to hold ancient rituals at the Māra’s Chambers, they started to use the hardy accessible Māra’s Spring Cave as a pagan holy site (later also called the Plunderers’ Cave) and the Holy Spring in the woods by the Mazstepes. According to other tales, in reality the Māra’s Spring Cave is a Plunderers’ Cave, because plunderers who attacked merchant boats in the Abava used to hide their capture in the cave.
Attraction
Excellent
Availability
Quite easily accessible. There are indication signs. A road leads into the woods from the Sabile–Kuldīga road till a parking lot. Further one has to walk along a path. Do not take it for the Māra’s Chambers!
Infrastructure, management, facilities
The surroundings of the object are only partially facilitated. At the Sabile–Kuldīga highway there is the brown indication sign to the Chambers. A parking lot on site. On the side of the ravine there is a stand, at the beginning of the paths – indica
Local info
There is no information stand on site
Capacity
0 – 9
Publicity
Known
Legal Status
Legal entity
