A map is an essential exploration tool and another topic for collectors and exhibitors.  Cave maps, as one small segment of maps on stamps, is discussed in this article.

The Caves of Drach, also known as Dragon Caves, are the most famous tourist attraction on the island of Mallorca. There are three chambers inside the caves: Cueva Negra (Black Cave), Cueva Blanca (White Cave) and Cueva Luis Salvator (Luis Salvator Cave), the latter named after Archduke Ludwig Salvator of Austria who invited Édouard-Alfred Martel to explore the caves in 1896.  The caves are also home to Lago Martel (Lake Martel), one of the largest subterranean lakes in the world.

The former French lawyer and famous speleologist, Édouard-Alfred Martel (1859-1938), who discovered the Gouffre de Padirac (Padirac Cave) in the Lot region in France, entered the Caves of Drach for the first time in 1896. Here he discovered a natural niche in the rock, later known as La Ventana (the window), which allowed him a spectacular view of Lago Martel, and the new part of the cave beyond, Cueva de los Franceses (Cave of the French).
 

Plan View Map of Drach Caves
with explorer E. Martel

Martel has been depicted
in many French cancellations

Today, visitors can take a boat ride on the cave lake and see the beautiful limestone formations, including stalagmites protruding from the rock face and stalactites hanging down from the cave roof. As part of their hour-long underground journey, visitors are accompanied by the sound of musicians performing classical music, including compositions by Chopin.

Muzzle Cave, in the Netherlands Antilles, is a limestone cave with numerous stalagmites, stalactites and dripstone pools. This overwhelming growth of speleothems is a result of the high temperature of Curacao, which increases the solution and deposition processes of limestone.  Colonies of different bats lives in the cave, including the rare Lessor long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris nivalis curasoae), Funnel-eared bat (Natalus tumidirostris), Antillean Ghost-faced bat (Mormoops blainvillii), and Long-tongued nectar bat (Glossophaga elongata).  The locations where they roost inside the cave are indicated on the map imprinted on the 85-cent stamp.
 

The Web River, in the Bale Region of Ethiopia, cascades down from the rocky highland moor through deep gorges and forested hillsides until slowing to wind more quietly across the Dinchu plateau valley.  One hundred miles later it reaches the limestone hills of the Wabe and Mendayo provinces (east of Goba, the regional capital), where it makes its subterranean way through the Sof Omar Cave. At more than 10 miles, it is the longest cave of Ethiopia and has over 42 separate entrances.

The main entrance to the cave lies in a small, pleasant green valley not far from the village now called Sof Omar, named after a Moslem holy man who dwelt there for many years.  The actual entrance is called Ayiew Maco after the daughter of Omar. The clear emerald stream disappears deep into the cave under a vast, natural rock arch hidden in the foliage. About a mile later the river re-emerges at a place called “Holuca”, which simply means “it appears”.
 

Very basic linear map of the Grotto of Deveze

Discovered in 1886 during the building of a railroad, and opened to the public in 1993, the Cave of Devèze is called the "Palate of the rope-making machine of glass" for the remarkable smoothness of its formations. As well as stalagmites of all sizes, there are draperies of varied shapes and colors.  Along the walls are the "flowers of aragonite", small, very white formations resembling bouquets, and another large drapery which precipitates to the lower network of the cave.
 

Three different Hungarian Cave cancellations,
the lower one shows a waterfall with a cave behind it

Domica Cave, Slovenia, rates among the most beautiful and important caverns in Slovak splendor.  It is situated about 6 miles from Plesivec along the Hungarian border.  Discovered on October 3, 1926 and mapped to over 18 miles in length, it has many stalagmites and stalactites, and an underground lake fed by the underground river Styx. In 1995, it was named part of the World Natural Heritage.

Ochtina Cave was discovered by miners in 1954 and its 900 linear feet are decorated with snow-white crystalline aragonite mixed with iron, as well as many different intricate formations.  Like Domina Cave, became part of the World Natural Heritage in 1995.
 

Cave Maps on Slovenian cancellations
 from 1997 and 2003

Vilenica Cave, near the village of Lokev, is the oldest tourist cave in Europe. The entrance to the 1-mile long cave is a sinkhole, from which a large corridor leads to a hall.  In 1633 the cave’s owner, Count Petazzi, conferred the cave upon the local parish, which, it is said, later began to charge entrance fees for guided tours.  The first know written document about cave tourist visits dates circa 1709.  The cave triggered the imagination of visitors and is believed by locals to be the home of good fairies, which is how Vilenica got its name (“vile” is the Slovene word for fairies.)

If you follow maps on stamps and cancellations, you learn about the different types of maps and how to read them.  When you add cave maps to the mix, your collection or exhibit can only gain breath, interest and importance.