Ver Volcanic Lagoons of Calatrava en un mapa más grande
The large volcanic rectangle of Calatrava covers an approximate area of 5.000 square kilometres, with vertices at the Valle de Alcudia, Montes de Toledo Mountains and the Cabaneros National Park. True heart of La Mancha, this pictoresque region, whose boundaries overlap with a much longer historical limits, has been associated with the old military power of the Order of Calatrava, whose influence extended over most of the province of Ciudad Real and large areas of the northern side of the province of Jaén.
Cervera Lagoon in Almagro
In this vast territory have been counted more than 500 volcanic manifestations and inklings originated in the Alpine Orogeny due the ascent to the surface of basaltic magmas. With a length of between 8 and 1 million years (Tertiary and Quaternary age), some of these manifestations have come to very recent geological times, as attested in the Topographic Relations of Philip II (1575 AD) which collects the following words regarding the survey in the village of Valenzuela de Calatrava: “… from this town is a hill called Cerro de la Sima, where, in some rocks, some hot and red flames appear as when a lime kiln is burned, with no smoke or flame, but it is showing the fire inside , which heat exits from these rocks, smelling “alcrivite” from time to time, as when people throws rockets …. “
Many volcanic eruptions are still today perceived around the Campo de Calatrava in the form of hot and ferruginous springs, many of whom served as old spas sixty years ago, but, today, the visitor can walk without fear in these beautiful and scenic fields and enjoy some unique scenery shaped by telluric forces, some of wich can still be found like huge volcanic cones, perfect basalt drops or like a “maar”, a volcanic depression originated by violents hydromagmatics explosions that formed beautiful and ephimeral seasonal lagoons, such as La Posadilla, La Alberquilla or the stunning Maar de Cervera in Almagro.
These places, the only volcanic lagoons in Western Europe, host an impressive number of quality species, such as Little Grebe, Black Stork, Night & Purple Heron, Golden Eagle, Whiskered Tern, Eagle-Owl, Skylark, Thekla Lark, Black Wheatear, Blue-Rock Thrush, Spanish Sparrow… Otters, Red Deers and Wild Boars the main big mammals that occurs in these chain of lagoons, using them for feeding, drinking or resting.
This Special Conservation Area can be visited in our “day tours“, just 10 minutes from Almagro.
Go Birdwatching in SCA Volcanic Lagoons of Calatrava with www.naturaindomita.com
Vicente Malagón. 2011. All rights reserved.
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