Our fascination with caves is as old as the hills. We used to live in them. We buried our dead in them, and they loom large in our psyche as dark and remote portals to an otherworld where magic and wonder hold sway.

A cave is also one of the few areas left on this spinning rock we call home which remains untouched, untainted and unshackled by civilization.

As Yoda once said to Luke Skywalker, nothing exists inside caves, but “only what you take with you.”

Here in Wales, we’re lucky to boast perhaps the most majestic and awe-inspiring showcase complex in Britain - Dan-yr-Ogof.

Translated as “below the cave.” Dan-yr-Ogof is situated on the western flank of the upper Swansea valley, and has been casting a spell on enchanted visitors for many a moon.

Dan-yr-Ogof cave was discovered in 1912 by the Morgan brothers, Tommy and Jeff from nearby Abercrave.

Armed with little more than a couple of candles, some sturdy rope and a coracle to cross any lakes they stumbled across, the Morgan brothers audacious adventurism took them into hidden realms where they discovered the famous “Rasher of Bacon”, the heavenly “Angel” and the “Alabaster Pillar.”

Visitors to the National Showcaves Centre for Wales can now walk in the footsteps of the Morgan brothers, but the good news is, you don’t need a candle, rope or a coracle to explore this strange wold of blue-black rock.

Because this hitherto realm of permanent darkness is now artfully lit up and free of any obstacles. Thus visitors can now go caving without the risk or hardship, just the joy of exploring a natural wilderness.

And the good news is, once you’ve explored the airy loftiness and captivating natural architecture of Dan-yr-Ogof cave, there’s another even more magical cave complex a stone’s throw away - Cathedral Cave.

If any cave looked like a palace where the elves in Lord of the Rings wold set up home, Cathedral Cave is it. Its design and formation appears just too intricate to have been created by accident, but then caves are mother nature’s way of showing off.

Caves are created by using three main ingredients. Soluble rock, a constant flow of water, and old father time.

When water seeps into limestone, it begins its magical alchemy of destruction and construction. Of course all this is the work of centuries and remains invisible to the naked eye, but what is apparent to even the most casual gaze around the caves of Dan-yr-Ogof is the exquisite beauty of the cave and the formations within. You want pure white straw stalactites, stalagmites, and delicate, almost transparent helictites, you’ve got it!

It’s almost as if nature is speaking through the caves and saying, “Just look what clever old mamma can do kids.”

As you wander through Cathedral Cave and admire its streams and pools, the showpiece has to be the memorizing cavern known as “The Dome of St. Paul’s.” Its cascading waterfall and awe-inspiring ambience will live long in your imagination.

In fact, some people fall in love with the Cathedral Cave so much they choose to get married there.

If all that splendour and majesty of Dan-yr-Ogof and Cathedral Cave leaves you reeling, a quick visit along a low tunnel to Bone Cave will bring you down to earth with a bump.

More of what you’d call traditional cave, Bone Cave gets its name because 43 human skeletons dating back to the Bronze Age were discovered in its chamber, alongside silver rings and fragments of Roman pottery.

In Bone Cave you’ll get a real taste of what life would have been like living in a cave, and how ultimately man made the right decision to leave them.

And once you’ve left the cave and stumble like a neanderthal into the fierce sunlight, you may find yourself face to face with a massive and ferocious reptile that can swallow 230kg of meat in a single bite. Or as it’s more commonly known, the Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Did we mention dinosaurs? Well Dan-yr-Ogof has got loads of them. 220 in fact. And although they’re plastic, they’re extremely life-sized, life-like and intricately detailed. Some even move! And positioned as they are all around the wild, rugged, and timeless scenery of Dan-yr-Ogof, it really is like stepping back into a land that time forgot.

There’s also a shire horse centre and farm and playgrounds nearby, so there’s plenty for the kids to do, but it’s the caves people really go to Dan-yr-Ogof for.

Exploring caves is akin to walking on the moon - it’s both physical and metaphysical. As well as providing a sanctuary of sorts for thousands of years, caves help us connect to something buried deep within our subconscious. Something which was forged in the fire and flame of a far more primitive and simple era.

In a modern world defined by permanent noise, constant movement, and the company of crowds, caves are the very essence of silence, the grace of stillness, and the tranquility of solitude. They are in fact, a naturally formed cathedral for the soul.

Now get back in your caves people!

Photography by GeoPictures.net