The Caves of Hercules · Seeing Africa Through a Cave

There is a cave in the cliffs by the sea at Tangier whose seaward opening is shaped like a map: from a certain angle it looks very much like the outline of the African continent. The opening was cut by the water, not by people.

The legend says Hercules rested here before the last of his labours, on his way to fetch the golden apples; he split the two mountains of Europe and Africa apart, and the strait appeared.

Light comes into the cave only through the opening to the sea. At low tide you can walk down into it; at high tide the water fills the bottom.

Folklore / Tangier · Morocco / Time immemorial