Marble Arch Caves
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The Marble Arch Caves are a series of natural, limestone caves located near the village of Florencecourt in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. They run under the Cuilcagh mountains. The caves were first explored by Édouard-Alfred Martel in 1895.[1]
The Marble Arch Caves are a popular tourist attraction due to their accessibility and grandeur. Tourists can partake in a seventy minute long tour of the showcaves during which they travel through the first part of the caves in a specially designed boat floating on the subterranaen Cladagh River, before walking through the rest of the chambers. The caves and the surrounding area of the Cuilcagh Mountains have recently become a part of the UNESCO Geoparks scheme, due in part to the caves and also the rare blanket bog which covers a vast area of the mountains.
The cutting of turf has led to damage in the area, in particular flooding of the caves is becoming more regular, which impedes tourist activity. As a protective measure, people have been employed to protect the land around the caves to ensure no further damage insues.
Another problem is human interference can cause the limestone to be damaged and erode away. In a particular case, a group of vandals managed to get into the caves at one point and threw rocks at one of the largest stalactites in the cave, breaking it in two. It's tip was replaced and it remains as a memory of this once grand limestone formation and pleasant specatacle on exit of the caves.
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