Mysterious Ghar Hasan Cave

This photo blog is perfect for all cave explorers, adrenaline seekers and nature lovers. I don’t think I can count how many times I’ve visited this site and never seen what I’m about to show you. Are you excited? Well I am!

This cave is situated in the southern part of the island. It offers breath taking views of the Mediterranean Sea and cliffs. It’s easily accessible. Leave your car parked on the road (location marked at the end of the blog) or in the small parking area. You will notice a fence straight away. So you’re probably thinking where the hell I’m taking you. Don’t worry, there is a gap in the fence, where you can pass from. It’s easily noticeable from the road.

Proceed along the concrete path beyond the fence and come down couple of steps towards the edge of the cliffs. Then the path turns left. At this point you will get this stunning view!

Now go down the face of the cliff on rock steps. Please be careful of the corroded and unstable railing! It’s rather dangerous and definitely not safe to hold on to! Keep on going following the railing until you reach the mouth of the cave. At this point, you are approximately 75m above the sea level. Stunning views aren’t they?

Welcome to the Ghar Hasan Cave or Hasan’s Cave. I’m sure you’ve already heard that there is a legend surrounding it, which has at least five different ‘ending’ versions.

The first one says that an Arab named Hasan kidnapped a Maltese farm-girl and sought refuge in this cave, where he kept her imprisoned. Seeking to escape from Malta, Hasan managed to made contact with pirates. During this attempt to escape, while lowering the girl down the cliffs to the pirate ship waiting on the sea below, he was surprised by a group of Maltese who had come to rescue the girl. During the agitation he accidentally let go of the rope and the girl plunged to her death. Instead of taken captive Hasan jumped off the edge.

The second version says that Saracen Hasan, who was holding a local girl captive, made her promise eternal love to him so she would be freed. However she got desperate and jumped off the cliff. Followed by Hasan jumping after her.

The third version I read about was, that Hasan raised hell with the locals, by kidnapping a Maltese girl, so they attacked the cave to free her. In the act of panic, Hasan threw the girl off the cliffs and then jumped after her.

I’ve also came across a version where the kidnapped girl actually managed to kill her abductor Hasan and returned back to her village.

The last version that I came across was quite a mild one. Basically there was a man called Hasan, who simply fell of these cliffs. Either way, poor Hasan always ends up dead.

There is no written evidence to suggest that these stories are based on facts. Maybe it’s aimed to scare and keep people away from the cave. I remember few years ago, there was even a chair a picture frame of someone. It always gave me instant goose bumps when I visited. Don’t worry it’s not there any more! So shall we leave the legends behind and actually explore the cave a little bit?

I’m sure, the extraordinary internal shape, catches you attention straight away. It is a result of the erosion action of underground water that has dissolved limestone held between two layers of hard coralline limestone. I keep on repeating that nature is the best artist!

The entire cave is nearly 400 m in length! The entrance of the main cave is 5 m high and 6 m wide, with a dimension of 20 m.

Keep on going inside the cave towards the inner bars. We won’t be exploring behind the bars. They are there for a reason. For your safety and to protect a rare community of Mediterranean mouse-eared bats.

We’ll be going into this opening, which will appear on your right hand side maybe 3 m before the bars. There is ‘please’ sprayed on the rocks to mark the entrance.

Good torch or any sort of portable lighting is essential for this part. I brought from home a led rechargeable emergency light. Which is a massive LED tube. Turned out to be perfect for this kind of exploration. Comfortable shoes – sport / trekking shoes – are a must for these uneven surfaces.  Now, who is ready for some serious cave exploration?

Keep on going through this tunnel towards another two openings. Soon you will reach the first view point. This is more intimate one of the two.  Plus the rocks offer a great seating opportunities to enjoy the view.

Keep on going through the tunnel, pass by these fallen rocks and you will reach the second, much larger opening. On the photo below you can also spot a door that’s leading into a small room. Maybe this is where Hasan was hiding back then. Who knows.

This is where the ‘comfortable part’ ends and you can return the same way. However if you want to explore more daring areas, keep on scrolling!

Now it’s time to bend over and explore the much lower parts of the cave. Nothing for the claustrophobic explorers. Keep on going in, have your light on and mind your head!

As you can see, the tunnel is getting much smaller. But the adrenaline rush was great! We were a group of 8 ‘crazy’ explorers, so I felt much safer. As there would be no way I would come here by myself. Ever. I wouldn’t honestly recommend to anyone to come alone. You never know what can happen. There is no signal, so please, go in a small group or at least with a someone.

If you keep on going and following the light you will come out of this tunnel on the right. The tunnel on the left is where we came from. You will have to be on your knees at times. Just warning you before you decide to proceed. This crossroad is exactly where the first opening is.

I couldn’t resist to sit down one more time and enjoy the view of a rock column known as il-Mara (the woman) situated beneath Fort Benghisa. Can you see it? The furthest point.

If you’re like me and manage to take hundreds of photos during one trek (probably not, this is a blogger’s obsession), don’t miss out to take one last photo at the mouth of the cave. The last photo before you leave.

Here we are! A group of crazy explorers that gets bigger with every trek. I started alone, sometimes with a friend, then we were three, now eight and there will be more. I’m so excited about this!

Here is the exact location of Ghar Hasan Cave. I’m sure that many of you have visited this cave before, but let me know, how many of you actually made it to the other two view points.