Shell Grotto, United Kingdom

The wonderful Shell Grotto has placed in Margate, Great Britain. There is no accurate date of the building and the original purpose of the Grotto. It was found accidentally by local, James Newlove, in 1835. He wanted to make an artificial pond at this place. During the irrigation projects, he found an unusual tunnel decorated with artificial mosaic from sea shells. It was subsequently learned that the tunnels were leading up to the huge underground 20-meter corridor.

The walls and the ceiling are decorated with the mosaic form various shells of the unbelievable beauty. The researchers are sure that this Grotto was man-made. Although, who and for what built this underground asylum with the outstanding decoration, we can’t even suppose. The specialists counted that about 4 million shells were used for the decoration of the walls and the ceiling.

At first, the researchers suppose that this Grotto was built in the ancient times and devoted to the ancient gods. Later, there was a theory about the Medieval times. They thought that this place was an asylum for secret cult meetings. The mosaics on the walls can mean a lot and even can uncover some mysterious of this Grotto. Since the time when Shell Grotto was discovered, it was privately owned by Newlove’s family. At a moderate charge everyone can visit this place. With an excursion you can see not only all Grotto’s nooks but also listen to some interesting stories about its discover and researching works. To the beginning - Baalbek