The Underground World of the Stone Monastery: the Iris Grotto

It was said by that extraordinary Hindu poet, Rabindranath Tagore, that "it is not the hammer that leaves the pebbles perfect, but the water with its dance and its song".

Nothing more certain, especially if we apply such wise words to what we could well call, in all fairness, as the fascinating Underground World of the Stone Monastery.

In this authentic natural garden-located in a province, Zaragoza, on the one hand with desperation thirst in the Monegros and on the other, the floods of a river, the Ebro, which sometimes is indolently disrespectful when low dragging everything on its way, a few meters from the Basilica del Pilar- there are few caves that we can find during the walk through such a wonderful environment.

An environment, by the way, in which you can find innumerable caves: caves more or less large; more or less deep; more or less chiselled for centuries by water and by the wind, those two authentic craftsmen, to whom Tagore praised, who have as qualities, the gift of patience, the wisdom of the artist and the grace of perfection.

But it does not matter, deep down, what their characteristics are, because all of them, without any doubt, contain in themselves -including, apparently, more humble- the innate capacity to surprise by their extraordinary attractiveness and their singular beauty.

Some of them open, like the mouth of a giant yawning, in the middle of the dense vegetation; others, located in the vicinity of beautiful natural waterfalls - which some romantic of classical mythology baptized with the names of some of their main goddesses, such as the waterfall known as 'Diana's Bath' - resemble small shelters, where the spirit of Ancient nymphs observes the decay of a world that has long since forgotten them.

There are others, even, located at unreachable points, generously tearing their chests - as the symbolists say the pelican does to feed their young - and welcome the families of raptors, who evolve in a world whose colonialism is generally It puts siege to freedom.

Of course, none of them detracts, and yet, wonderful in its conception, great in its greatness and beautiful, nevertheless, in its solitude, it stands out -partially hidden by that authentic 'Berenice cavalier', which is the well-known waterfall with the name of 'Cola de Caballo'- the Grotto Iris.

The Grotto Iris, is a poem. It is, comparatively speaking, like the lair of the Cyclops Polyphemus or, curling the curl of infinite possibilities, like the wonderful cave that it contains, much more than that of Aladdin, the secret of a million nights.

A million nights, metaphorical and really speaking, where the sunlight barely becomes like that veil of Veronica that barely discovers the glimpses of a great mystery. As a mystery, the ability of Cistercians to detect special places can also be considered. In this sense, it is difficult to imagine the enormous surprise that the first white monks must have had, who discovered the place at the end of the 11th century and knew how to take advantage of such a great wonder.

This was where they had their fish farm and from here came many of the fascinating legends that the common people believed at face value.

Legends, that without becoming as fascinating as those of Europe, Asia and America that insisted on the existence of kingdoms and underground worlds -with or without a ghost, like the enchanted Moor of Montesinos cave, which our Quijote already knew- It is probable that they had something of reality.

Because just take a look inside and see, between the cracks of some stalagmites that look like dragon teeth, mysterious cavities that who knows what center of the earth may or may not reach and of course, what mysteries to hide.

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NOTICE: expanded and original version in Steemit, of the one published in my blog MEMORIES OF A PILGRIM. Both the text, as the photographs, and the video (except music, reproduced under a YouTube license), are my exclusive intellectual property. The original entry, where you can check the authorship of juancar347, can be found at the following address: https://jc347.blogspot.com/2009/02/el-mundo-subterraneo-del-monasterio-de.html

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