Cretaceous quarries in Belarus how to get there. Cretaceous quarries near Volkovysk

Nature has not endowed Belarus with impressive natural landscapes. There is no sea here, nor any high mountains. Relic forest, lowland lakes - that's all the wealth. But industry came to the rescue. With painstaking development natural resources numerous quarries, mines and waste heaps were formed. Nowhere have they acquired such picturesqueness as in the village of Krasnoselsky in the Grodno region. This amazing complex of quarry ponds is nicknamed "Belarusian Maldives" for the incredible turquoise color of the local water, in which chalk particles are dissolved.

1. It all started in 1914, when the Volyn joint-stock company built the ROSS cement plant near the village of Krasnoye Selo. He gave rise to the village. Raw materials from the quarry were delivered by aerial cableway, which lasted until 1959. Since 1948, they began to use road transport.

2. In 1945 the plant was named Pobeda. In 1972-1974, several new industries were opened here at once: asbestos-cement, slate, lime, pipe. By the end of the 1980s, the plant was morally and physically obsolete. His abandoned buildings still stand almost in the center of the village.

4. Now OAO Krasnoselskstroymaterialy is one of the largest cement plants in Belarus. In addition to cement, dry building mixes, lime, finely granulated chalk, cellular concrete blocks, asbestos-cement sheets, chrysotile-cement pipes, ceramics and paving slabs are produced here.

5. Raw materials are delivered to the plant from the quarries by a public road marked with warning signs.

6. The first dump truck appears around the corner. He doesn't care about right-hand traffic, he drives right in the middle of the road.

7. The asphalt is narrow, two BelAZs cannot pass, so a wide roadside has been rolled.

8. Mercedes overtakes BMW.

9. On the way, trucks pass the village of Karpovtsy, where all the bushes, fences and houses near the road are white from lime dust.

11. At the main entrance to the quarry is a semi-dismantled caterpillar excavator EKG-5A.

12. Mechanical excavators have been working in the Krasnoselsky quarries since 1928. At first they were steam.

13. Here is the first quarry. It is already quite overgrown with mud and looks completely unattractive.

14. But magnificent bouquets of daisies grow on the banks.

15. And the ubiquitous poppies.

16. On the edge of the road broken by trucks lie unnecessary poles. Previously, all careers were electrified.

17. In a deep recess lies the road to the next quarry.

18. A water surface looms in the distance.

19. The entrances to the quarries have been dug up in many places, and frightening signs have been installed near the shore. The popularity of "Maldives" is so high that even when you first visit the plant's website, a message pops up with the following content:
“Dear guests of the town of Krasnoselsky!
The management of OAO Krasnoselskstroymaterialy, in order to prevent accidents, appeals to you with an urgent request to refuse to visit the chalk quarries and swim in them. Quarries are a technological zone and are classified as especially dangerous production facilities, the presence of unauthorized persons on the territory of which is strictly prohibited.
Remember, being on the territory of chalk quarries, you expose your health and life to great risk and danger. Think of yourself and your loved ones.
Volkovysk zonal center Hygiene and Epidemiology On July 01, 2013, he tested the water of the chalk quarries of JSC Krasnoselskstroymaterialy. According to the test protocol, the water does not meet the requirements of the Sanitary Rules and Norms in terms of microbiological indicators (OKB and TKB - common coliform bacteria and thermotolerant coliform bacteria). The number of the above bacteria exceeds the norm from sixty to one hundred times.

20. But warnings don't stop anyone. It's too beautiful here. Many people come overnight.

21. This is one of the smallest ponds. Usually there are a lot of people here, but I came here on a cloudy morning, it was drizzling. I met only two or three companies that got out of the tents to get drunk.

22. An old NKMZ walking excavator is visible on the mountain. Although it looks rusted, it is still in service.

24. It is characterized by overgrown shores and numerous islets.

25. On one of the islands, tourists paved a path of stones.

26. General view of the quarry.

27. The depth of the depression is significant - about ten meters.

28. A few tourists get here, take a couple of shots and go back.

29. I went down the steps carved into the slope to the very water.

30. Water with chalk dissolved in it and great depth together give this beautiful shade.

31. Where it is smaller, you can appreciate the color of the water.

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33. On the way to the last, largest reservoir, "failed" reservoirs come across.

34. Here, among the trees, a vast expanse of water begins to appear.

35. This is the farthest and largest quarry.

36. Its length is almost 2 kilometers.

37. Maximum Width- 250 meters.

38. Depth - not less than 50 meters.

39. The quarry has high steep banks.

40. It is the shores that pose the greatest danger to travelers. Here is one of the trees that fell into the water after another collapse.

41. But the beauty of these places pays for any danger.

42. Where BelAZ trucks once drove, now the most comfortable descent to the water.

43. But swimming here is not very comfortable: the depth starts immediately from the shore, and the water is icy.

44. To see the full panorama - click on the image.

45. Fishermen sit in a quiet backwater.

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47. The vegetation on the banks is the most common for Belarus.

48. Birches, pines, heather, moss and field grasses.

49. But in combination with the landscape it looks unusual.

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53. From a high embankment, the entire quarry is in full view.

54. A long “sleeve” stretches from the wide part, which provides a two-kilometer career.

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56. When the wind blows, swarms of waves run across the vast expanse of water.

57. Panorama in the end. Click to open in full size.

The police will daily patrol the roads near the chalk quarries in Krasnoselsky. Cars will be evacuated, and tourists will be fined. "This is no Belarusian Maldives but dangerous technical careers,” the rescuers explain.

Chalkpit near Volkovysk is one of the most popular "wild" sights of the country, although a few years ago only locals knew about their existence. Experienced Tourists found a way, made spectacular photos. And tourists hurried to see a new miracle.

Someone comes here to swim, someone - for a photo session, but there are also those who stop for several days with tents on the high banks of the quarries. Children are also taken to picnics.

Tourists are not stopped, but even attracted by the unsettledness of the local beauties. There are no equipped beaches, no lifeguards on the shore. The rubbish that tourists leave behind has already turned some of the slopes into a dump.

And although a danger warning is posted at the entrance itself, this does not become an obstacle for adventure lovers. “To see such beauty, you can take a risk,” many travelers say.

The locals in the quarries never swam

In terms of area, the chalk quarries near Volkovysk occupy about 300 football fields. The local enterprise "Krasnoselskstroymaterily" receives land for use for the development of deposits. Over time, the used quarries are filled with water. Chalk remains at the bottom, so the water acquires a bright turquoise color, for which this area was called the Belarusian Maldives.

However, this beauty is deceiving. Firstly, the depth of the quarries reaches 50 meters, the height of the embankment is 40 meters. Here there is a subsidence of the coast. Swimming is not the best place. 10 people have already drowned.

Secondly, the water only looks clean. In fact, the number of bacteria coli 100 times higher than normal. In addition, chalk not only dries out the skin, it settles in the lungs, causing asthma.

Local residents know about the insidiousness of the local quarries, so they themselves do not bathe in them. A warning about the danger does not stop visiting tourists.

Tourist cars will be evacuated

But this year, Krasnoselskstroymaterialy decided to seriously take up safety in quarries. The start page of the company's website opens with a warning why you should not go to a career.

Deputy General Director Gennady Naydyuk notes that tourists not only put themselves at risk, but also interfere with the work of the enterprise.

“People park their cars along the roads where our mining equipment runs. Therefore, last year we bought a tow truck, and this year we will actively use it.”, - he said in a comment for “SB. Belarus today".

According to the senior security inspector public order Volkovysk District Department of Internal Affairs Alexandra Samoilo, during the swimming season, a daily patrol will operate in the area of ​​​​chalk quarries.

“Along the route where the quarry runs, stopping and parking is prohibited. This means that we will evacuate all cars.”

Everyone who leaves the car near the quarries will pay a fine for traffic violations, towing services and paid parking. Tourists for visiting the quarry also face a fine - from 3 to 10 base units.

“Before, no one knew about these careers. But then articles appeared on the Internet, and tourists were drawn,- Alexander Samoilo continues. - You need to understand that these are technical quarries where industrial work continues. This is not a place for entertainment. Two people drowned last year.”

Can the quarries near Volkovysk become an ennobled place for tourists?

In order for tourists to be able to legally come to the chalk quarries in Krasnoselsky, security issues need to be resolved.

First, the water must be safe for swimming. On the eve of each bathing season sanitary services check reservoirs.

Secondly, you need to lay the banks. This work is underway. In quarries that Krasnoselskstroymaterialy no longer uses, the banks are gradually lowered.

But will there be in their place new resort depends on the local authorities. After all, it is necessary to equip the beaches, make parking for cars, organize the work of rescuers, garbage collection, and mobile sales.

“There are only a few such facilities in Belarus. There are lime quarries near Soligorsk, for example,- says the chairman of the association of tour guides and guide-interpreters Nikolai Chirsky. -Can understand the management of the enterprise and local authorities who forbid swimming there - after all, this is a safety issue. But it would be interesting to organize excursions there.”

At the end of August, a group of Belarusian guides is going to visit Krasnoselsk, including the chalk quarries.

“We are negotiating with the local museum, so I hope there will be no obstacles” Chirsky said.

Two years ago, specialists from the Volkovysk Regional Center for Tourism and Local History for Children and Youth developed one that also affected blue quarries in Krasnoselsk. According to the director of the center Inna Fist, summer excursions were in great demand among schoolchildren.

“Now we have excluded blue quarries from the route, because people are not allowed there,- says the specialist. - But near the quarry mines, we show tourists the old quarries, Green Lenses, where the shores are safer.”

At the same time, it is strictly forbidden for participants of the excursion to go down to the water. “The walls of the coast are not fortified, collapses are possible, so we do not allow swimming”, the director of the center explained.

What should be the first impression of what they say to you: "Have you heard about the Belarusian Maldives?". Naturally the answer is: "Ha! What kind of nonsense?". Then you look at pictures on the Internet: "Yes, it can't be, it's photoshop!"
And as a true realist with the feelings of a visionary... You are going to see this miracle with your own eyes.
And we drove from, we just picked up a friend along the way. She promised to become a free guide and show the Maldives. We are moving to the Volkovysk region.

There you are! And not autumn depression!

Chalk was once mined here. It is still mined in this area. Only, some careers are flooded, it happens. The bucket clings to groundwater, and it murmured! They say that in one of the quarries it murmured so strongly that the driver of the excavator, when he ran away (and then swam away), did not have time to take it with him, and left it ... At the bottom ...

The locals call these quarries, and there are like 6 of them, "Green lenses", well, each lens has a serial number. Where we were, no idea.

Belazs are constantly driven back and forth. Their size makes it intimidating to leave the car at the edge of the curb, because the feeling that it simply will not be noticed is fully present. Plus, the dust is terrible!

From green water we came to turquoise. Only, in fact, everything is the other way around: first, in the quarry, the water is turquoise, and then it turns green. Let the chemists explain what it is connected with.

Authorities and authorities forbid coming here. They say that it is dangerous here: people sniff chalk and drown, there is nowhere to park, bulldozers without caterpillars then remain ... But fines are not a hindrance to a real tourist: in the middle of summer there are cities of tents and a bunch of people with guitars and badminton.

The water is beautiful and clear. The main thing is not to splash water with your feet!

And yes, lenses.

On far shore a man catches his dinner, and frogs grow in "paddling pools". A lot of them. So many!

3rd lens in a row and the last one for us. In our opinion, the most beautiful

I want to speed up and...
But, let's be realistic: the coast is steep, but not enough. We haven't smelled chalk yet.

The height is decent. We didn't go down. We can see perfectly from above!

Directly the surface of Mars reminds voooot this coast! - so we spoke in turn.

I imagined myself an eagle, although the photo turned out to be a seagull.

Green vegetation slowly develops the steep banks. So, after a couple of decades there will be an ordinary swamp.

And the signs were poked into glory! And in the summer the traffic police come here. And then they whistle the whistle if someone violates traffic rules. Only I can't understand. A bunch of onlookers rush to look at the man-made beauty. And ours, instead of helping tourism, are ruining it with bans. Phew, comrades.

The distance from Minsk to the destination is about 260 kilometers. There are two options for how to get there - along the Brest-Moscow highway (the so-called "Olympiyka"), and along the Minsk-Grodno highway. We dismissed the second option right away, because, firstly, there is a narrow road (two-lane) almost all the time, and secondly, we drove along it a million times, and therefore this route did not arouse much interest in us.

As for the Olimpiyka, this is a motorway, along the entire length of which oncoming flows are separated by metal fences. There are two lanes in each direction. The maximum speed limit for passenger cars is 120 km/h.

The road is in excellent condition, and driving along it is a pleasure. The only thing that is not found almost on the entire route settlements(but a motorway is a motorway, and it runs away from the settlements).

On this road we drove a little further Baranovichi (quite Big city by the standards of the Republic of Belarus - one of the first in size after the capital and regional centers). After Baranovichi, you need to turn right from the Olimpiyka - towards Slonim (there is a sign there). And having rounded this city, go towards the settlement. Zelva and Volkovysk. Before reaching a couple of kilometers to Volkovysk, we turned to the settlement. Krasnoselsk. This is where these careers are located.

The chalk quarries are owned by OJSC Krasnoselskstroymaterialy, which produces cement and other building materials. At the entrance to the city and the entrance to this plant, the following picture opened up before us: MAZs and BELAZs loaded with chalk tirelessly scurry along the road. At the same time, the road, roadsides and roadside buildings are covered with a thick layer of white dust. It feels like everything is covered with snow here - winter in the middle of summer.

At the entrance to the quarries themselves, we found a lot of cars placed along the road, across the field, in various trains, in general, anywhere. Moreover, judging by the numbers, people come here from all regions of Belarus. A lot of cars with Russian numbers.

It should be said right away that the quarries are the technological territory of OJSC Krasnoselskstroymaterialy. And some of them are still being worked on. Therefore, visiting these objects by outsiders is prohibited (as indicated by the signs placed there). But you just can’t cope with such a mass of people, so representatives are forced to turn a blind eye to tourists.

It is worth noting that everyone tends to drive a car directly to the shore of one of the quarries. The company's employees are actively fighting this by regularly burying the "goat paths" made by machines. But they show up again and again (thanks to off-road visitors). So we managed to find such a path and drive straight to one of the quarries (however, at the exit from the road, the car hung on the “belly”, but after a little gas, it raked out).

Near the quarries, to be honest, it is difficult to find a place to set up a camp. Firstly, there is just a huge number of cars, which, like me, manage to get right to the shore. Secondly, the coast is literally littered. There is simply an incredible amount of garbage left by tourists who, after a vacation, cannot just stupidly throw it into their trunk and take it out, but throw it anywhere. This moment is very annoying - it is difficult to find a place where there are no heaps of garbage.

Having delved into the forest, located between two large unused quarries, we nevertheless found a suitable place, set up a tent (as we were traveling with an overnight stay), and went to explore the nearby quarries.

Yes, indeed, what we saw in the pictures was not an optical illusion. Before us opened the expanse of bright turquoise water and a lot of people sunbathing on the shore and swimming in the quarries. It is worth noting that the depth here is rather big. The coasts are steep. It is worth moving a couple of meters from the shore, and you won’t feel the bottom, even diving “with your hands”. By the way, they say that an excavator once sank in one of the quarries (but not an ordinary one, but a large one - a mining one, which is used in workings). And if you're lucky, then good weather you can see its outline from the shore somewhere in the depths.

After spending the night in a tent, in the morning we went on an “excursion” to all the quarries. We managed to get around 5. And each of them is unique in its own way. Somewhere the water is not turquoise, but green, somewhere the beaches are very comfortable for swimming, etc. In general, there is something to see there.

Returning back at the exit to the road, we found that our yesterday's "loophole" was bombarded with a bulldozer. But fortunately, not far from her, motorists broke a new one. A little shaking around the field, we left the same on the road.

Total: 260 km from Minsk, about 3 hours of travel, if you do not rush, and you find yourself in the local "paradise" - the "Belarusian Maldives".

Looking at the photographs presented in our article, it is difficult to believe that these beauties and blue water are in our country, in the Republic of Belarus. But it really is! The Republic of Belarus has its own Maldives, visiting which you do not need to pay for an expensive tour.

So, let's go on a journey and find out what is there and why, on these amazing fairy-tale beauties that were created by human hands. Yes, yes, the amazing Belarusian Maldives were created by human hands. The thing is that what you see in the photographs, this fabulous paradise is nothing more than ordinary chalk quarries filled with water.

There are chalk quarries where you can relax, and there are those that are prohibited, however, many brave tourists go there to have fun.

Chalk quarries prohibited for recreation

The prohibited chalk quarries, the Belarusian Maldives, include - "Pillars", "Grand Canyon" and "Blue" . Surprisingly, these quarries are considered the most visited, and all because many simply do not know about those where swimming is officially allowed.

These forbidden chalk quarries are located on the territory of the Krasnoselskstroy enterprise, 270 km from the capital, the city of Minsk. It is not difficult to find the way, as they are all strewn with chalk. There are chalk quarries prohibited for recreation immediately behind the cement plant.

If you still dare to go there to relax, then you should be aware that there is no infrastructure near the chalk quarries. Take everything with you.

Why is it dangerous to rest in forbidden chalk quarries?

First of all, it is worth noting that anyone who decides to visit the forbidden chalk quarries runs the risk of getting a fine of 3 to 10 basic units. But that is not all…

Coastline and the bottom of the forbidden quarries is littered with flint, which can seriously injure you. The depth of the forbidden quarries reaches 15 meters, which can be a big risk for inexperienced swimmers. Also, do not forget about the sudden collapse of the banks, which sometimes happen.

Beauty can require sacrifice, so don't forget about it!

Cretaceous quarries allowed for recreation, Belarusian Maldives

Permitted chalk quarries include "Blue" and "Mars" . These quarries are located right behind the motor depot, any resident of Krasnoselsky will be happy to show you the way to them.

Luxurious beaches you will not find it here, but you can admire the beauties to your heart's content. The descent to the water is very steep, and immediately from the shore it is very deep.

For avid fishermen real paradise, because in amazing blue waters old chalk quarries are found fish: pike, crucian carp and catfish.

Well, if you still want to swim without risk with pleasure and really relax. Visit the clay quarry, which is one minute away from the old chalk quarries. The water here has a traditional color, there is an excellent sand beach, and there is no dangerous silicon at the bottom.