Gruta Rei do Mato Cave

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Amazing & Intresting

Monday, 02 November 2009 00:00

The beautiful Gruta Rei do Mato cave is located near the town of Sete Lagoas in the state of Minas Gerais. This cave has a total length of nearly a kilometre and is accessible over a distance of 220 metres. The Gruta Rei do Mato contains a large number of unique stalactites and stalagmites.This cave is named after a peculiar inhabitant of Sete Lagoas who was nicknamed Rei do Mato which means "Forest King". According to some travel guides, he was a refugee who lived in the cave in the 1930-ties. The authors of this website spoke to some elderly inhabitants of Sete Lagoas and came to the conclusion that this is probably not right. The Rei do Mato owned a house in Sete Lagoas and in the area near the cave he grew his crops. He was a striking person and he had an authentic personality but he did not have an evil nature. Partly because he wanted to prevent that people stole his crops, and partly because of his hermitic character, he slept in a hut near his cropland. The nickname Forest King is related to the forest near the cave and his cropland. As the Rei do Mato was often in the area near the Gruta Rei do Mato, is almost sure that he has visited a small cave near the Gruta Rei do Mato that is known as the Grutinha. The Gruta Rei do Mato itself was hardly accessible and was discovered much later by Jose Eloy de Deus.The Gruta Rei do Mato consists of a number of chambers. The first chamber is the Salão da Couve-Flor or the Cauliflower Chamber. The name refers to the form of the stones in this chamber: after a tropical rain shower, the rocks become saturated with water and start to “sweat” this water. When this happens, the minerals that are dissolved in the water precipitate and the rocks slowly grow in the shape of a cauliflower. The Salão o Principal (Main Chamber) is the largest chamber of the grotto. This chamber has a large number of different stalactites and stalagmites of different shapes. One of the stalagmites resembles a large ice cream and is called the Sorvetão. The Cenourão is an orange stalactite. Its colour is caused by iron oxide.

Gruta Rei do Mato Cave