Billemotdonggul Lava Tube in Eoeum-ri, Jeju

Billemotdonggul lava tube in Eoeum-ri, Jeju, lies on a hillside in Eoeum-ri. There are two ponds near the cave, and its name combines "bille", the Jeju word for a flat rock outcrop, with "mot", meaning pond, to give "Billemot". The cave has a total length of 11,749m, the longest of its kind in the world, with a great many branching passages, and is estimated to have formed 70,000–80,000 years ago through volcanic activity. Inside the cave is a silica column (a pillar formed of compounds of silicon, oxygen and hydrogen) 28cm high, and a ball-shaped mass of hardened lava 7m long and 2.5m high. A lava stalagmite rising from the floor to a height of 68cm is the second-largest of its kind in the world. Traces also remain on the cave walls of lava that was pushed downward as it cooled. Billemotdonggul is a world-class lava tube that displays a wide variety of traces of how the cave was formed, and it has very high academic value, including the discovery of fossils of the golden bear, a species that lives on the continental mainland. Billemotdonggul is currently designated a restricted-access zone to protect the cave's formations; entry for management or research purposes requires the permission of the Administrator of the Korea Heritage Service.

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Where it is

Region

Jeju City, Jeju

Designation

Natural Monument · 천연기념물