Where are the caves in the Crimea. The endless cave network of Kizil-Koba. Cave city Bakla

Hello friends!

If you are attracted mysterious world speleotruism, but you are not so experienced and courageous as to tie yourself with a rope and step into the darkness, go to the Crimean caves that are open for visiting.

And so that you don’t have to listen to stories about “put on equipment, but I don’t have a helmet for this five-year-old peanut,” I’ll tell you where it’s best to dive into such dungeons so that your heart aches, your spirit is intercepted, and at the moment you lose balance from happiness , at hand was a handrail and an experienced guide.

Speleology in the Crimea began its active work in the 50s. During this time, more than 900 cave objects were explored and discovered, many of which still remain inaccessible to humans. ordinary tourists- too difficult, dangerous and unpredictable segments are found on such routes.

Therefore, only specialists or well-trained people involved in sports tourism, For example. Descending into such caves requires professional equipment and teamwork.

Karst caves, which we are going to, have long been prepared for tourists, and the routes run through well-equipped, safe and incredibly beautiful galleries. And since the activity of nature in the dungeons continues, specialists will always have to study, discover, record and tell us about their discoveries.

Most of the karst caves of interest are on the Chatyr-Dag plateau, Ai-Petri, mountain ranges Dolgorukovskaya Yayla and Karabi-yayly.

So, the top 5 Crimean caves for a safe, exciting and informative excursion in 2017!

Marble Kingdom and his retinue

According to statistics and visitor reviews, marble cave is the most visited and attractive.

On the route more than 1 km long, there are spacious galleries decorated with fantastic sinter formations, patterns, crystals, miraculous sculptures. The labyrinths of the dungeon beckon tourists deep into, where more and more new paintings are opened.

The Marble Cave is recognized as the most beautiful geological object, which is one of the five such attractions in the world.

Mammoths in Crimea? See for yourself!

Not far from Marble is the second most beautiful cave - Emine-Bair-Khosar or mammoth.

It is known for its underground lakes, both "dry" and full-flowing, with the purest water. The kingdom of ancient and very young stalactites and stalagmites once became the last refuge of wild animals (perhaps ice age, yes, yes!), otherwise how to explain the skeleton of a small mammoth found here and other animals that we have not seen for a long time.

From sacrifice to scuba diving

Here is such an interesting chronicle of events can be traced in the bowels red caves or Kizil-Koba - the largest and longest cave system in the Crimea.

Over millions of years of its existence, thanks to river flows inside and precipitation outside, various rooms were formed in this dungeon - halls, wells, mines, tunnels, galleries, corridors, manholes and canyons.

You will not be offered to see so much, only 500 meters, but the interior design and content will leave vivid pictures in your memory for a long time. And if you decide to extreme scuba diving in an underground river , with crossing the water tunnel to see hard-to-reach halls outside the usual tourist route, then you can consider yourself a caving guru!

Dive for details !

Man-made cave with a ghost and inscriptions from Karaite tourists

It is located on the territory of the cave city.

But keep in mind that excursions and descent into the well are carried out separately from visiting the cave city.

History and speculation

A problem with fresh water in the Crimea, as can be seen from history, it has always existed. Residents of cave cities and monasteries prudently created various pools and containers for collecting rainfall.

But in ancient writings, some secret hydraulic structure was mentioned. Our archaeologists were sleeping and saw a mysterious well, and now, after thinking carefully and studying all kinds of manuscripts, the location of Tik-Kuyu was discovered in 1998 !

The fact is that the well was littered with earth, and it took three whole years to open and clean it from the soil, and then another time to put the object in order.

The well was a tunnel that had a descent deep into the ground, and branches already began there and other rooms were found.

And now it has become not entirely clear whether the well performed only the hydraulic function of collecting and settling fresh water Or maybe there were other purposes.

For example, it could be an excellent shelter during the siege of the city, or there were sanctuaries here.

Why climb into a well?

At first you will have to go down stone and steep steps, then the tunnel turns into a narrow stepped gallery. Subdued light and limited space (2 by 2, 20 m) are impressive.

Along the way, you will find strange encrypted messages, tables or maps on the walls, and traditional, but uncharacteristic for that time, inscriptions in Karaim and Latin, such as "Vasya was here ...".

At the bottom there will be a gallery with hollowed-out containers - bathtubs for collecting and storing water.

Here the guide will tell you a few interesting facts about a valuable treasure found not so long ago (a whole pot of gold!), and will show where your procession is being watched from the ghost of the Tik-Kuyu well .

How to get there

You need to get to the cave city of Chufut-Kale. From the Bakhchisarai bus station, follow the shuttle bus before stops Staroselye . From there, following the signs, walk for about 15 minutes and you are there.

Excursion cost

Tickets are purchased directly from the facility. You may have to wait until the group is typed.

Ticket price for an adult - 300 rubles, for a child - 150 rubles.

Photo and video shooting for free. A big plus is that after the lectures, free time is provided for inspection and pictures.

Habitat of a forest cat and seven-meter knights

In 1904, an ordinary village teacher from the town of Skelya (Rodnikovoe) discovered a unique cave, which was later named Skelskaya or, as it was also called - Teacher's.

Speleologists approached it only in 1960, and opened it for excursions even later, in 2003.

The Skelskaya cave is unusual in its internal location. While other dungeons involve diving deeper, the route of this cave is directed upwards. How can this be? Come and see for yourself!

Once upon a time, the remains of ancient animals were found in this dungeon - a forest cat, a saiga antelope. And yet, deep-sea lakes were found somewhere in the lower tiers.

The walk, during which you will visit the five halls, will take about 50 minutes. The decoration here is really rich - stalactite and stalagmite sculptures, all kinds of "icicles", petrified fringe and cascades, arches, sinter formations frozen in incredible forms.

Where is it and how to visit

Skelskaya cave is located between two settlements V Baydarskaya valley – Razdolnoe And spring .

How to get there, how much it costs and when it is better to visit this object can be found on the official website:

speleotur.com

The fact is that although the cave is open all year round for tourists, it cannot receive guests during floods.

Where else can you climb in the Crimea

You can explore other caves, not so majestic, equipped or artificially decorated, but attractive with their legends and secrets.

Chatyr-Dag and scary stories

Thousand-headed or Binbash-Koba - a large ancient burial place of human remains was discovered here. A very atmospheric place, around which there are many legends.

Ai-Petri and eternal ice

Trezglazka or Emine-Bair-Koba - you can get here by ordering an excursion to the caving center "Onyx Tour" only in the warm season. Because in this dungeon the ice does not melt even in summer, and in addition to ordinary stalactites, you will also see ice ones.

Echki-Dag and extreme

The Ear of the Earth is a completely inconspicuous cave, which is a crack in the rock, but upon closer inspection, the "crack" is the entrance to a narrow well. Here it is better to have the experience of a climber or enlist the help of a reliable friend - the cave has vertical and deep manholes, into which it is better not to go down alone.

Good to know

If you went to "conquer" the mountain or cave Crimea, try to leave your coordinates to close people – there are a lot of cases when tourists got lost, climbed the wrong place or got injured this year.

Better yet, don't give in to curiosity. don't visit alone unknown, and most importantly, not equipped cave objects. When planning to visit a particular area, find out in advance what is interesting nearby, where you can look without fear.

so or subscribe to my blog join in in social networks– read the necessary information and do not hesitate to ask questions!

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The Crimean mountains hide many secrets and mysteries, among which are numerous caves and grottoes. He is unique natural museums formed over millions of years. Uncharted world dungeons are in no hurry to discover their riches. But thanks to the work of professional speleologists, you can still admire some of the amazing treasures by taking an excursion to the underworld. So, let's look at the most beautiful caves of Crimea, open to the public today.

8. Yalta - a beautiful cave near Yalta

• Coordinates: 44°27′22″N (44.456111), 34°3′23″E (34.056389).

Three karst cavities are located on the famous. Discovered in 1997 quite by accident, a decade later, thanks to the enthusiasm of three speleologists who laid out an excursion route and lighting, the Yalta Cave opened up for tourists. Leading down to the only so far equipped hall (the length of the entire complex is 180 m), stone steps are limited by railings for safety. Here you can admire stalactites, stalagmites and sintered rock formations resembling fancy stone flowers. For the convenience of visitors, benches, information boards, road signs and garbage cans have been installed.

7. Three-Eyed Cave - an ice palace on the top of Ai-Petri

• Coordinates: 44°27′24″N (44.456646), 34°3′18″E (34.054911).

- This is a large cavity with the remains of an ancient glacier. Through three failures (hence the name), the entrance equipped in 1989 leads down. The snow falling on its bottom gradually compacts and turns into ice, which at one time was mined here for the needs, as evidenced by its other two names - Ice and Vorontsovskaya. A six-meter snowdrift formed on this ice field hides the coins thrown there by tourists "for good luck". In general, in the list of "the most beautiful caves of Crimea" - a worthy 7th place.

6. Geophysical - an open cave with the largest stalactite

• Coordinates: 44°27′21″N (44.455943), 34°3′12″E (34.053232).

In the area, in the 70s. of the last century, a gallery of several halls, decorated with magnificent sinter formations, was discovered. Consisting of several wells with a depth of 28 to 60 m and one 100-meter horizontal shaft, it has been accessible to the public since 2009. spiral staircase, which is equipped with a vertical shaft, you can go down to the Pearl Hall and see columns of stalagmites or a six-meter - considered the longest in the Crimea - stalactite.

5. Skelskaya - a cave, which is better to visit with a map

• Coordinates: 44°27′39″N (44.460825), 33°52′8″E (33.868972).

Standing apart is located in the Sevastopol region, far from crowded tourist routes, a landmark of the southwestern part of the peninsula. It is located between two villages - Rodnikovskoye and Razdolnoye. And although she was discovered back in 1904, it was only in 2003 that her wonderful world. It is divided by sinter formations into several sites, which received such original names as "Fireplace Hall", "Knight's", "Dolphin", "Ghost Hall". Thanks to successful illumination, calcite formations turned into stone figures of animals and people: a gopher, a monkey, a dolphin, a monk and a knight with a spear - the main local attraction, formed by a huge stalagmite, about 7 m high. It has its own church, reminiscent of, and a castle, where without labor can learn the famous. The mysterious Phoenix bird and the fabulous Dragon look at the enthusiastic visitors.

4. Kizil-Koba (Red) - the largest cave in Crimea

• Coordinates: 44°52′12″N (44.870058), 34°20′36″E (34.343426).

On the map, the Crimean caves that are open to the public are marked a little lower. And we continue our rating. Before climbing into the mountains of the road "Simferopol - Alushta", 3 km from, on western slope, there is the largest Crimean cave -. The six-storey labyrinth, stretching for a total of 17 km of the explored part only, includes many lakes, cavities filled with water (siphons), magnificent waterfalls, and a river flowing below. In each hall there are stalagmite formations and outgrowths, reminiscent of a stern bearded old man, nicknamed "The Master", or the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa.

3. Emine-Bair-Koba - the most unusual cave of Chatyr-Dag

• Coordinates: 44°48′3″N (44.80071), 34°17′44″E (34.295536).

You can see with your own eyes the three most beautiful caves of Crimea. In the third position -. Equipped back in the Soviet era, then it turned out to be abandoned, which led to the destruction of the priceless natural monument. Gradually, the cavity is restored and even what remains is worth seeing. Two routes are laid in the cave, 150 m deep and about a kilometer long: speleological and excursion. The second is designed for 20 minutes and leads to a large high hall with hanging stalactites, which can be reached by going down the steps carved into the rock. Interestingly, some sinter formations resemble coral reefs in their appearance.

2. Emine-Bair-Khosar - Mammoth Cave

• Coordinates: 44°48′6″N (44.801757), 34°17′22″E (34.289477).

It features a variety of calcite, painted in different colors, formations that amaze with splendor and beauty. There are 12 halls in total, but not all of them can be visited: some of them are a protected area. In one of the most beautiful, "Kecskemet", there is a sinter formation in the form of a volcano. And in the "Hall of idols" you can see stalagmites, sometimes reaching 10 m.

1. Marble - the most beautiful cave, discovered in 1984

• Coordinates: 44°47′50″N (44.797276), 34°16′46″E (34.279566).

At the 17th kilometer of the highway from Simferopol to the South Coast, the road departs to the right to the famous. Due to the richness of natural decoration, it is not the most beautiful in the Crimea, but it is also one of the five famous cave cavities in the world. Perfectly landscaped, it attracts a lot of tourists, being the most visited on the peninsula. The length of the equipped routes here is more than 1 km. In the five galleries, you can admire countless amazing stalactites and stalagmites, bizarre sinter formations resembling stone flowers. It is advisable to take full route, which begins in the gallery of Tales, the difference in price is small, but the most interesting grotto - Tiger - is at the end.

Open caves on the map of Crimea

The photos partially convey the magnificence of all this unusual, truly “unearthly” beauty, but are not able to convey the mixed feeling of amazement, admiration and awe that embraces people in the caves. To create this fantasy world nature needed only water and time. A lot of time! Millions of years! To all these organized bus tours quite reasonable prices, and for children in some places it is provided free entry. But they are easy to visit and traveling by car. Have a nice trip!

Attractions

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In Crimea, a unique relief, nature has created on the territory of this peninsula many forms and objects, both aboveground and underground. Crimean caves attract not only extreme sports enthusiasts, but also ordinary tourists, there are even accessible ones for beginners and non-specialists. Often, the size of the cave does not depend on how impressive it will be inside, for example, the small Yalta is no less impressive than the largest Red. When visiting the caves, you need to remember the safety rules and understand that we are visiting nature, take care of everything around.

This cave is located near cable car, leading to Ai-Petri, so it is quite popular to visit, it is easy to find it by the signs, leaving the cable car to the observation deck. The second name of this cave is Ice, because the temperature here is like in a refrigerator - 10 degrees all year round. In the center of the cave is a meter-long snowdrift, tourists often throw coins into it, making a wish, and under it is a floor of compressed ice. It was also called Vorontsovskaya, they say that it was from here that ice was mined for the table of Count Vorontsov, whose estate is located at the foot of Ai-Petri in Alupka. The name of the cave comes from the entrance: it was formed in the form of a failure with three entrances, which were compared with eyes. A staircase descends into the cave, along which, observing safety precautions, it is necessary to descend backwards. In winter, the entrance to the cave is locked.

This cave is also located on the Ai-Petri plateau, it was accidentally discovered in 1997 by a Yalta caver and his son under a mountain of leaves, and equipped for visiting by enthusiasts in 2007. This small cave but very spectacular. Only the first hall is open to the public, but it is very impressive; colored lamps are held here, creating real stone flowers, jellyfish or other bizarre images from karst influxes. This cave is recognized as a natural monument.

This cave was discovered in 1902 by a teacher from the village of Skelya, and it was named after this. It was formed as a result of a tectonic fault. Equipped for visiting this cave in 2003. Since then, excursions have been regularly conducted there, and on a route 270 meters long, which takes about an hour, tourists are shown 5 halls richly cleaned with natural influxes: the Fireplace Hall, the Dolphin Hall, the Knights' Hall, the Organ Hall and the Hall of Ghosts. Inside the cave, you can see the stalagmites of the "Phoenix Bird", the seven-meter "Knight" and others. fairy tale characters, the names of which everyone will come up with for themselves.

The system of these caves in Tatar is called Kyzyl-Koba. They are located near Simferopol and are the most large cave in Crimea. The caves can only be visited with a guide - there are 6 floors going into the depths and many lakes, siphons, reservoirs. There is a large stalactite - 8 meters, over 8000 years old. An underground river flows through this cave, which forms the Su-uchkhan waterfall. The excursion route here lasts 500 meters, which is a little compared to its total length of more than 13 kilometers, but it is dangerous to go further without special preparation. Folk festivals often take place in the valley near the cave, for example, Ivan Kupala Day is celebrated here, birthdays and other holidays are held.

This cave, discovered by the speleological section of Simferopol in 1987, is located on the lower plateau of Mount Chatyr-Dag. The entrance to it is located at 920 meters above sea level. The exploitation of the cave by tourists began in 1987, since then thousands of interested people have visited the cave. underworld. For convenience, concrete paths were laid inside, handrails were installed, and artificial lighting was provided. Several routes have been developed, some are accessible even to a child. The length of the routes is up to one and a half kilometers. On the way, you will meet a gallery of fairy tales, in which the walls are decorated with sintered draperies, a tiger passage, named after the skeleton that archaeologists found there, an landslide hall and a stalactite forest. According to speleologists, this is one of the most visited equipped caves in Europe, it is also one of the five most beautiful caves peace.

The beautiful Crimean land is famous for its numerous caves, of which there are about one and a half thousand. And this is not surprising, because most The peninsulas are occupied by mountains: Chatyrdag, Ai-Petri, Dolgorukovskaya yaila and Karabi yaila. A great many secrets are hidden in the mountains of Crimea, interesting legends are composed about them, ufologists and psychics come here every year in search of the unknown. Local caves and grottoes, with many floors and halls, attract thousands of tourists vacationing on their completely unearthly fabulous underground world: beautiful stalactites, stalagmites, underground rivers, waterfalls and lakes. We invite you to take a trip with us to the most interesting caves of the Crimea. To begin with, it is worth saying that a large number of caves have already been studied by professional speleologists, and therefore they are open for tourists to visit, many have even been equipped with stairs and lighting. And yet, on the peninsula there are still a lot of hidden underground grottoes, the most popular among caving lovers. Largely Crimean caves not very long and occupy no more than half a kilometer in length, of course, there are exceptions to the rule. The most interesting and frequently visited caves of the Crimea are: Marble and Emine-Bair-Koba, aka Mamontova, on Mount Chatyr-Dag; Red or Kizil-Koba; Kiik-Koba in the grotto near Zui; Skelskaya; Thousand-headed on Bin-Bash-Koba; Three-eyes and Geophysical on Ai-Petri; MAN; Emine-Bair-Khosar; bottomless well; Soldier and so on. Today we will get acquainted with some of the listed Crimean caves in more detail.

Marble cave on Mount Chatyr-Dag- The Marble Cave is located on the lower plateau of Mount Chatyr-Dag, near the village of Marble, which belongs to the territory of the Simferopol region of Crimea. This cave is a branched labyrinth of horizontal dungeons that were pierced millions of years ago by the waters of the ancient Tethys Ocean. A lot of time has passed, and now the local underground rivers have become shallow, and the Crimean climate has become dry, so water drops inside the Marble Cave flow very slowly, without any hurry. This two-kilometer cave, sixty meters deep, is recognized as one of the most beautiful in the territory. Crimean peninsula and is open to tourists. She is about eight million years old. As the guides say, the discoverer of this underground miracle was an ordinary shepherd who lost one of the sheep of his flock. This happened in 1987, and Marble has been equipped and open to the public since 1988.

There are well developed excursion routes, but you can’t visit it on your own, because despite the fact that professional scientists are trying to preserve the microclimate of the cave, harmful green algae have begun to appear on the walls of the natural formation, which destroy stalactites and stalagmites. Therefore, the cave is tightly closed with a heavy door in order to somehow preserve and thus conserve this unearthly beauty. Once inside, you realize that you are in a completely unreal world, and everything around is amazing with its incredible charm.

The tour of the Marble Cave starts from the "Fairytale Gallery", where you can admire absolutely amazing figures of mythical creatures, the images of which your fantasy tells you. These miracle inhabitants of the cave were formed by growths in the form of stalactites, stalagmites, stalagnates. For ease of perception, some particularly impressive natural formations have received names: the Master of the Cave, the Minaret. Then the tourists are escorted along the long Tiger Pass, it was so named in a hurry, after the discovery of the remains of some large predatory animal, originally taken for a saber-toothed tiger, the name was immediately fixed, but after an examination in 2002, it was found that it was a cave lion, who fell into the whirlpool of stormy underground river and could not get out, and they did not begin to rename the corridor. Further, tourists freeze in admiration, entering the largest hall of the dungeon - the Perestroika Hall, which was formed during an earthquake that collapsed the ceiling that separated the second and third floors. The hall, with a length of two hundred and fifty meters and a height of twenty-eight meters, is considered the largest both in the Crimea and throughout Europe. Throughout your journey, the surrounding beauty amazes with its sophistication, among this luxurious chaos generated by sinter formations, you can count hundreds of beautiful stalagnates that appear when stalactites and stalagmites are joined together. The guides are sure to show tourists the most famous stalagnate of the Marble Cave - "The Kiss", these are almost merged growths, between which only ten millimeters are left until they are completely merged. This stalagnate has a sign that if two lovers kiss next to him, then soon they will be married. The Nadezhda Hall is also very interesting, where growths hanging from the ceiling formed graceful carved arches, and the lower ones formed altars shimmering with gold. The Rose Hall is also wonderful, it is named so due to the color of the growths decorating it - soft pink. A place that definitely needs to be photographed is the two-level Balcony Hall, moreover, its upper and lower parts are united by a twelve-meter-high staircase. The next Luster Hall attracts visitors with calm soft lighting, making the surface of the walls as if covered with velvet, passing into the depths of the hall through massive stone outgrowths, you suddenly meet a completely sudden stream of bright light, which is absolutely amazing in this kingdom of darkness and twilight. In the Marble Cave there are also halls that are not yet equipped, they are also magnificent with their original charm: Helictite, Obvalny, Ruslovy, Chocolate. It is worth saying that scientists are intensively equipping and examining all new halls and passages, so completely new routes will gradually appear, where absolutely unfamiliar wonderful underground formations and figures still lurk.

When going on an excursion to the Marble Cave, keep in mind that it is cold there, the temperature does not rise above nine plus degrees, so put something warm on your feet and take care of jackets. But, if you didn’t have outerwear with you, then this will not be a big problem, because at the checkout there is also a rental of jackets for tourists.

The Marble Cave is open all year round from 9 am to 7 pm. Ticket prices are different, they depend on the route you choose and the duration of the tour. approximate price for an hour and a half excursion - seven hundred rubles.

Getting to the Marble Cave on your own is a little difficult, but possible: get on trolleybuses 1, 51 or 52 to the village of Zarechnoye, it is located seventeen kilometers from the city of Simferopol, then buy a ticket and take a bus to the village of Marble, then you have to walk along career eight kilometers, while high-voltage wires will serve as a guide. It is best to purchase an excursion in specialized travel agencies, which are many in neighboring Crimean resorts.

Emine-Bair-Khosar Cave or Mammoth Cave on Mount Chatyr-Dag - This stunning Crimean cave is located eighteen kilometers from the city of Simferopol. It is worth noting that each cave in the Crimea is individual and attractive in its own way, Emine-Bair-Khosar also has a peculiarity - the unique composition and colors of sinter formations, and also, it has as many as five levels, as if it were a multi-storey building built by mother herself - nature. The lower halls lie at a depth of one hundred and eighty meters, and the upper ones at a depth of thirty meters. The length of the cave is about one and a half kilometers. The cave was found in 1908, but an equipped expedition visited it only two decades later, having studied only one hundred and fifty meters of dungeons. Then, in 1970, a more active study of the cave began, when corridors, halls, huge galleries, several levels, as well as a failed well - “Khosar's Window”, were discovered, its depth reaches sixteen meters, with a diameter of eight meters. This gap is called a window, because through it you can get out. Bones of ancient animals were found in this pit, including an almost complete skeleton of a mammoth, which was missing only the skull and shoulder blades. Scientists have suggested that this animal accidentally fell into the well and could not get out on its own until it was discovered by ancient people who finished off the mammoth, cut off its head and took away the meat that they could separate. This version fully explains the absence of part of the animal's skeleton. The found remains gave rise to the second name for the cave - "Mammoth". Gradually, the water washed the mammoth bones into an internal well, where they were sealed with layers of mud and silt, until cavers found them. For tourists natural underground complex opened since 1994.

All twelve chic halls of the cave are striking on the spot with their luxurious beauty, however, tourists are not allowed into all the halls, some of them are completely reserved. At the moment, visitors can walk a kilometer along the halls and corridors equipped with lights and stairs, and even here they can choose from three options for the proposed tours: - half an hour through the North Gallery; - one hour and twenty minutes for the North Gallery, the Hall of Idols and Kecskemét; - the entire kilometer route is an hour and a half.

During the tour, you have to go down to the very bottom of the cave, because the journey starts from the lower North Gallery. You will see the beautiful Main Hall, as well as the delightful Lake Hall, where there is a natural reservoir, the depth of emerald water in it reaches six meters. The hall of idols, as if assembled from three parts, the height of one of them, fifty meters, is like a modern sixteen-story building, we are talking about the most beautiful part of “Kecskemet”, it attracts with an amazing outgrowth “White Speleologist”, in the form of a volcano formed by stalagmites over many millennia. And also a white wall, with growths of calcite, very similar to a giant organ. Being here, you involuntarily imagine yourself on another planet: without the sun, grass, trees, but with a completely unique own, moreover, self-sufficient world. The Dublyansky Hall is an amazing place where the water of an underground lake splashed on two levels, now it has dried up, and the natural pit remains. The hall with the stalagmite “Cap of Monomakh” attracts with its mysteriousness no less.

When visiting the Mammoth Cave, you need to know that the air there is never warmer than five degrees, so you need to dress warmer, although jackets are available for rent. The caves of Emine-Bair-Khosar are open all year round from 9 am to 7 pm.

It is difficult to get to the Mammoth Cave: first, take the shuttle bus 142 from railway station Simferopol to get to ST Marble, there walk about nine kilometers to the cave itself. Easiest to take organized tour to the cave with transfer.

Emine-Bair-Koba Cave on Mount Chatyr-Dag- This cave is a cavity with three different entrances, which is located on Mount Chatyr-Dag, more precisely on its lower plateau, two and a half kilometers from the village of Marble. The cave is about ten million years old, and it was formed as a result of erosion of limestone stone bowels with water during mountain building processes. Over time, a large cave was formed here with numerous halls and corridors. The peculiarity of this Crimean cave is that throughout the year the temperature here stays at zero degrees Celsius, so the ice in Emine-Bair-Koba never melts. Even ancient people realized that if you store meat inside this cave, then it will not deteriorate, despite the heat outside. Speleologists learned about this when they stumbled upon the remains of such supplies. In the nineteenth century, Count Vorotsov, who built a beautiful one in the Crimea, established mining in this ice cave in order to cool his wines and other products in pantries. The fact that there is such a cave nearby, inside which the ice never melts, he was told by local shepherds, who had noticed it for a long time, grazing their flocks. But scientists began to study this cave only in 1927, until now they have explored only about a kilometer of dungeons.

Tourists can see only two hundred and forty meters of the cave, and then, for unprepared visitors, it is possible to get acquainted with only seven dozen meters of passages and halls, where there is lighting and stairs with railings, and the next one hundred and fifty meters of the dungeon is a place where training for speleologists is held, to get there to a person without experience and equipment is unrealistic.

The entrance to the cave is double, it consists of two funnel-shaped cavities, but there is another arch-shaped cavity nearby. Next, tourists descend the stairs to a depth of thirty-eight meters to the gallery leading to the main hall. There will be ice underfoot, mixed with pebbles and rubble. There is a very nice underground lake below, its depth does not exceed three meters. A little higher there is a small trough-shaped depression, also filled with water.

An excursion to the cave is carried out strictly with a speleologist guide, because it is dangerous to explore this little-known cave on your own. Despite the fact that ordinary visitors have the opportunity to see only seventy meters of the cave, it is worth it, it is very beautiful. The walls are decorated with natural influxes of calcite, hardened in the form of fantasy patterns. This is where you get great photos.

To get to the cave to get into the cave, the easiest way is to use trolleybus route connecting Crimean capital from Alushta, then transfer to the bus going to the village of Marble, and then walk. You can go from Simferopol by bus to the village of Krasnolesye, but then you also need to walk. It’s easier to buy a tour with a transfer, there will already be a paid guide.

Three-Eyed Cave on Mount Ai-Petri- This karst cave, which is three and a half million years old, is located on the Ai-Petri Yaila. The Three-Eyed Cave was named for its three shaft-shaped entrances, similar to the eye sockets of a skull. A huge plus of such entrances is the presence of natural light in the dungeon, but there is also a minus - in winter snow gets through them and at temperatures around zero it almost never melts completely, and with the onset of winter the floor of the cave turns into a real one. ice rink. This thirty-meter cave is closed for tourists during the cold months of the year, even in summer some of its passages are closed, because there are so many and you can break something by accidentally slipping. After passing through the entrance and passing the tunnel, tourists enter the main hall with a cone-shaped ice stalagmite in the middle.

The uniqueness of the cave is that in its bowels there are both ice and stone sinter formations. About the features of the fact that the cave is icy from the inside locals knew for a long time, they even say that when Empress Catherine II traveled around the Crimea, it was in Yalta cave Three-Eyes got ice to cool her drinks.

The cave was opened for tourists only in 1989. It is small - the area is about six hundred with a small square meters. This dungeon has its own belief: if a tourist throws a copper coin into a non-melting cone in the central part of the Three-Eyed Cave, then he will pay off all troubles and gain good luck.

Entry price: for adults - one hundred and fifty-five rubles, for children - eighty rubles.

You can get to the cave on your own by using the cable car going from the village of Miskhor to Ai-Petri or by hiring a taxi in the Yalta resort and its environs. Of course, you can buy a full tour at any travel agency. By the way, Geophysical and Yalta caves are located nearby on Ai-Petri.

Skelskaya cave near Mount Ai-Petri- Skelskaya cave is considered one of the most beautiful in the Crimea, but unsafe for independent visit tourists, so you can only get there with a guide. It appeared millions of years ago and over many centuries nature itself has decorated its dungeon with bizarre stalactites and stalagmites. The Skelsk cave was discovered only in 1904, but the inhabitants of the village of Skelsk knew about it for a long time, and only at the beginning of the twentieth century, an inquisitive and inquisitive school geography teacher descended into this underground cavity, finding the entrance to the cave in a crack in the rock. After that, archaeologists and speleologists came here to examine the internal contents of the dungeon. To date, the Skelskaya cave has not been fully studied, but the space that scientists have already examined has given great food for thought. Bones of animals that died out centuries ago were found - a saber-toothed tiger, a forest cat, a saiga, and so on, moreover, new levels and hitherto unknown cave cavities were discovered that have yet to be explored and landscaped for tourists to visit.

Only since 2003, a part of the Skelskaya cave has been fully prepared for visitors: lights have been installed, stairs and railings have been installed. The cave stretches for a distance of about seven hundred meters, it has several levels: at the top, the temperature is kept at thirteen degrees, at the bottom - eight degrees.

Those tourists who have visited this cave at least once, even though only five halls are now open for visiting, say that they visited a real underground natural palace, the interior of which resembles fairytale castle from the book cover. There are halls with speaking names: Knight's, Organ, Fireplace, Dolphin, Ghost Hall - they are not named so by chance, but in honor of unusual stone formations created by time, water and chemical salts. The fireplace hall attracts with massive columns that are similar to a real fireplace, only it has a huge size, and after placing the backlight there, the similarity only intensified. The Knights' Hall will surprise visitors with a stalagmite in the form of a figure of a knight in chain mail armed with a spear, as well as a stalagmite similar to the figure of a monk, whose head is covered with a hood. The Hall of Ghosts is famous for its absolutely fantastic blurry forms of stone formations, which is why it was called by such an ephemeral name. The "residents" of the underground castle - Skelskaya cave are mythical characters and animals: a dragon and a phoenix, a dolphin, a monkey, a gopher.

It is worth mentioning the danger again self-guided tour along the cave, as there are many sharp cliffs that communicate with the lower levels. The underground water system is also dangerous, especially in spring, when snow melts in the mountains, and even in autumn, during heavy rains, because the waters fill the cavities of the cave, it overflows and from its exit a swift stream of water rushes, dumping into the river. In summer, it is not so dangerous here in terms of water, but you should not forget about warm clothes, it is always cold here and it never gets warmer than eight degrees.

You can visit the equipped and open Skelskaya cave in summer from nine in the morning to eight in the evening, in winter - from ten in the morning to six in the evening. The ticket price for an adult is five hundred rubles, for children from five to twelve years old - two hundred and fifty rubles, for children under five years old - free of charge.

You can get to the Skelskaya cave on your own by car, because the road to it is excellent. From the city of Sevastopol, you need to go along the H19 highway to the village of Goncharnoye, then turn left, having reached the village of Orlinoe, turn east and drive through the small villages of Pavlovka and Podgornoye, reach the village of Rodnikovskoye.

You can get to the cave from Yalta by bus: 37, 41, 182, 37a, 41a to the bus station "Fifth kilometer" on the Balaklava highway in the city of Sevastopol, and then take the buses going to the village of Rodnikovskoye, from where you need to walk a kilometer following the signs, leading to the cave.

Kizil-Koba caves or the Red Caves on Dolgorukovskaya Yaila - The Kizil-Koba Cave, formed two and a half million years ago, is a whole complex of underground voids-cavities connected to each other, which, for the fiery red color of the mineral that forms the walls of the dungeons, have another name - "Red Caves". The caves are hidden in the western part of the Dolgorukovskaya yayla, in the Simferopol region, three kilometers from the village of Perevalnoye.

The six-level caves of Kizil-Koba occupy twenty-seven kilometers in length, and sixty-five thousand kilometers in area, therefore they are recognized as the largest in Europe. The lower level goes to a depth of one hundred and forty-five meters, numerous corridors, passages, halls, galleries rise above it, for people who have never been there, this complex maze where you can easily get lost and even die.

Red caves are karst, as they were formed by the underground river Kizil-Kobinka, the waters of which break out to the surface and appear before us in the form beautiful waterfall Su-Uchkan. The process of washing out new karst voids is not over, the river continues its centuries-old work, regularly increasing the area of ​​the caves. Underworld The red caves impress with their beauty, the reddish stone on the walls in the rays of artificial light seems to be golden, which enhances the already strong impression of visitors from the underground beauties they saw: stalactites, stalagmites of various shapes and sizes, with bizarre tints and shades. There are many charming grottoes, interesting halls - Chinese, Indian, Argentine, as well as underground lakes and waterfalls, stone natural figures Viking, the Master of the cave, giant columns.

In the bowels of the Red Caves, people began to settle in ancient times, but to what people belonged the remains discovered by archaeologists, dated to the seventh century BC, and what kind of culture these people represented, scientists cannot say for sure to this day, therefore they called it "Kizil -Kobinsky. An extremely large number of finds were made here, including weapons, jewelry, household items, and it was stated about these artifacts that the people who created them had a fairly high level of development. Some scientists make assumptions that the people could refer to the Cimmerians, who were forced to hide in the Red Caves from the steppe inhabitants, the warlike Scythians, who were pursuing them.

I would like to talk about the mystical component of this place, because the Crimean caves of Kizil-Koba and the valley around them are, according to psychics, a place of power. There is a geomagnetic fault here and an underground river flows, which attracts otherworldly forces here, which can be seen at night in the form of luminous energy balls moving in the air. It is said that four times a year, during the change of seasons, a luminous ghost of a girl with wings appears near the cave, which the locals call the "Firebird", they say that seeing her is considered a good omen.

Excursion to the Red Caves starts from the main entrance, where there is a stone tower. The road goes along the underground river Kizil-Kobinka, along the giant Middle Halls - Kharanlykh-Kaya, Ilye-Koba, through majestic lakes, waterfalls, water cascades. At the same time, do not forget that the river is underground, and you are walking along ancient cave, whose walls are covered with graceful patterned outgrowths of quartzite, along the way you will meet fantasy growths on the floor and ceiling, created by nature itself. In the Red Caves grows the largest eight-meter stalactite in Europe, eight thousand years old.

The tourist group gathers at least five people, if desired, you can order and private tour which will be much more expensive. Don't forget to dress warmly, because the cave is never warmer than nine degrees. There are also extreme tours to this cave for trained and experienced amateur speleologists, when the five-kilometer route goes through galleries and halls that are completely unsuitable for travelers, here you will have to overcome steep, narrow paths, passages in the form of a bottleneck, and also dive into the ice river water in wetsuits with special equipment.

You can get to the Kizil-Koba caves on your own from Simferopol by buses, trolleybuses, minibuses moving in the direction of the cities of Alushta or Yalta, you need to get off in the village of Perevalnoye, and the stop will just be called "Red Caves".