Pulpí Geode — rock formation
Geoda Pulpí · CC BY-SA 4.0

Pulpí Geode

Geoda de Pulpí

  • 1 min read
  • 37.382° N 1.702° W

Interesting facts

  • It is considered the largest geode in the world whose walls are entirely lined with crystals, unlike Mexico's Naica cave, where crystals do not cover every surface.
  • It is the only geode of its kind open to the public, admitted from 5 August 2019, almost twenty years after its discovery.
  • Mining in the Sierra del Aguilón began around 1840 with silver, and iron extraction from 1870 made it a prosperous district until the Spanish Civil War.
  • A monitoring system devised by the University of Almería tracks temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide inside to protect the crystals.
  • The cavity lies within dolomite rock, and its crystals are thought to result from a combination of karst and hydrothermal processes.
  • In February 2022 the geode was declared a Natural Monument of Andalusia.
  • In January 2025 it was added to Spain's tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage status.
  • The geode received a Hispania Nostra award, a Spanish prize for heritage conservation, in 2023.

Why it is worth it

Fifty metres below ground in an old mine near the Mediterranean coast of Almería lies a hollow in the rock lined entirely with transparent crystals of selenite, a clear variety of gypsum. Some of the blades reach two metres in length, and the average crystal is around half a metre long. The cavity is about 8 metres long, 1.8 metres wide and 1.7 metres high on average, with an internal volume of some 10.7 cubic metres, which makes it one of the largest geodes documented anywhere in the world. Standing inside it is like stepping into the heart of a split stone.

The geode was found in December 1999 by members of the Grupo Mineralogista de Madrid, a group of mineral collectors led by Javier García-Guinea, who were exploring the abandoned workings of the Pilar de Jaravía mine, also known as Mina Rica. The mine had been dug for silver and lead in the Sierra del Aguilón, a low range about 3 km from the sea, within the municipality of Pulpí. The cavity is funnel-shaped, narrowing into an L-shaped section, and its crystals are remarkable for their size and clarity.

Research into the crystals' origin points to slow growth from fresh groundwater in a flooded cavity during the Upper Pleistocene, between roughly 164,000 and 60,000 years ago. The crystals grew undisturbed into the open space of the cavity, which stayed sealed in the rock until the collectors broke into it. The abandoned mine is now a site of geoheritage and geotourism, where the geode can be seen in the place where it formed, deep inside the hill.

Getting there

The geode lies in the Sierra del Aguilón near the village of Pulpí in the province of Almería, about 11 km from the town of Águilas across the regional border in Murcia. The nearest airport is Region of Murcia International Airport (RMU), about 69 km away.

On these lists

The Most Beautiful Places in Andalusia 27The Most Beautiful Places in Spain 150The Most Remarkable Rock Formations in Spain 5The Most Beautiful Natural Wonders in Andalusia 5The Most Beautiful Natural Wonders in Spain 23The Most Remarkable Rock Formations 107The Most Beautiful Natural Wonders 580

From the encyclopaedia

The Pulpí Geode is a giant geode found in Spain near the town of Pulpí in December 1999, by Javier Garcia-Guinea of the Grupo Mineralogista de Madrid. This geode is one of the largest documented geodes in the world to date. It occupies a space of 10.7 cubic metres (380 cu ft), measuring 8 by 1.8 metres with an average height of 1.7 metres, and is located at a depth of 50 metres (160 ft) in the Pilar de Jaravía mine, in the Sierra del Aguilón, in the municipality of Pulpí, 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from the coast.

Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

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