Quri Qala Cave

Quri Qale Cave or QuraQala (Kurdish: Şkefta QureQela, ئەشکەوتی قوڕەقەڵا Persian: غار قوری قلعه) is a cave located northwest of Ravansar, Iran, and is one of the longest caves in western Asia. First explored in the 1950s, in 1989 it was further opened by an Iranian team. It contains three main chambers, with calcite crystals, stalactites and waterfalls. It is known for its colony of mouse ear bats, and for a number of archaeological finds, including silver plates dating the late Sassanian period.

References

• Caves of Iran, Quri Qale Cave
• Akbarzadeh, D., T. Daryaee, and J. A. Lerner, 2001, Two Recently Discovered Inscribed Sasanian Silver Bowls, Bulletin of the Asia Institute, vol. 15, pp. 71–76
• Rahimi, F., 2004 Technical Examination and Provenance Studies on Sasanian Silver Vessels from Quri Qaleh, In T. Stollner, R. Slotta, and A. Vatandoust (eds), Persian Antiques Splendor, mining crafts and archeology in ancient Iran, vol. I, pp. 456–460, Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum, Bochum.