Caves of Hercules

Om

Winding under Africa’s most northwestern point, the Caves of Hercules is steeped in legend. According to one myth, Hercules rested here during his 11th labor - stealing three golden apples from Garden of the Hesperides. Local lore also says that the cave complex is actually the mouth of a 15-mile-long tunnel connecting Morocco and Spain - which is how the rock of Gibraltar’s famed macaque monkeys got there from Africa. While the cave doesn’t show evidence for either, its local uses are equally fascinating - local Berbers cut their own entrance and used the site as a quarry up until the 1920s when it became a tourist attraction and occasional brothel.