The deepest cave in the world. Jewel Cave. South Dakota, USA

The largest in the Abkhazian cave Krubera-Voronya, the “Big Cascade” well descends to 152 m; the cave itself, with a known depth of 2196 m, is by far the deepest in the world. The passage record belongs to Ukrainian speleologists.
The Age of Discovery did not end with the mapping of the last piece of the earth's surface. The current pioneers rush to their goals not far away, but deep into, revealing the secrets of the underworld of the Earth.
Jules Verne's fantastic epic "Journey to the Center of the Earth" anticipated the real penetration of daredevil speleologists into the mysterious inner world of the planet, where underground abysses, grandiose halls, tunnels, wells and galleries, rivers and lakes are discovered. The chronicle of the conquest of the "underground pole" can be traced back to 1723, when the engineer Nagel, on the orders of the Austrian emperor, reached the bottom in the Macocha abyss in Moravia (-138 m). The record was then set by Italy with Patriciano Cave (-226 m in 1839) and Trebiciano Cave (-320 m in 1841). Then the caves in Switzerland, Austria, again in Italy were considered the deepest. In 1944, the minus 500 m mark was conquered in the Dent-de-Croll cave system, France, and almost until the very end of the 20th century. the French dominated the conquest of the cave depths.
The global speleology boom began in the middle of the last century, when a dramatic struggle ensued for the status of not the deepest, but the longest cave in the world. The exploration of the giant caves required special efforts and preparation (the top three were the American cave with a known length of 38 km at that time, which over time subsequent expeditions managed to increase to 563 km), the Ukrainian cave Optimisticheskaya (the known length of 230.5 km) and the Swiss Hölloch (156 km). "Under the earth's surface in absolute darkness is such a huge world that you can talk about a new continent," - said the famous Swiss speleologist on the pages of National Geographic magazine (Alfred Begley in 1966). The “underground continent” metaphor was immediately supported. Speleological expeditions continue, the study of caves is carried out on a large scale and intensively, the list of record holders is constantly updated as the boundaries expand in breadth and depth. It is not possible to go through the entire cave through, to the very bottom of the longest passage, and not on the first try. all the pioneers of the underworld manage to return alive. This is a very dangerous path, full of extreme situations, complicated by bottlenecks, blockages and siphons (sections of the tunnel completely flooded with water) of unpredictable length and configuration.
The deeper, the more extreme, and each new breakthrough into the depths became a sensation of its time. A depth of 1000 m was overcome in 1956 in the Berger abyss in the French Alps. The 1500 m line was passed in 1983 in the Jean-Bernard abyss, also in France (-1535 m). In 1998, the Lamprechtsofen abyss in the Austrian Alps with a depth of 1630 m (a record of the Polish team) was named the "underground pole" of the Earth. And finally, in 2001, the Ukrainian expedition explored the new deepest cave in the world - Krubera-Voronya on the Arabica massif in the Western Caucasus - to a depth of 1710 m. The previous record was surpassed immediately by 80 m. This became a real sensation not only in the speleological world, news bypassed all the mainstream media. At the 13th International Speleological Congress in Brazil in August 2001, the Ukrainian Speleological Association was awarded the honorary prize "For the most outstanding speleological discovery."
The entrance to the Krubera-Voronya cave is located in the Orto-Balagan valley from the northern side of the Berchil Range, at an altitude of 2240 m above sea level. m. It is a series of wells connected by stiles and galleries. During the exploration of the cave, the expedition equipped several camps inside: at a depth of 1200 m (a platform for two tents) and 1400 m. Further descent is only in a wetsuit. Siphon at a depth of -2145.5 m continues to the very bottom (final 50.5 m under water).
The Krubera-Voronya karst cave in Abkhazia, explored back in the 1960s by Georgian speleologists, is the current record holder in vertical races. Currently, it is considered the deepest in the world.
Back in 1977, the people of Kiev discovered and explored the deepest cave in the USSR at that time - the Kievskaya abyss on the Kyrktau plateau in Central Asia, which became the first Soviet "thousandth" (deeper than 1000 m) and the fourth in the world at that time. And promising Arabica in Abkhazia, in order to open here a new deepest cave in the world, began to be examined back in the 1980s. The choice of location was not accidental: the geology and hydrogeology of the massif made it possible to rely on ultra-deep caves. The Krubera-Voronya cave was then explored to a depth of 340 m. With each new expedition, the depth mark fell lower and lower.
For the 1980s Ukrainian and Russian speleologists have explored hundreds of caves in Arabica, including four caves deeper than a kilometer. But the team knew that this was not the limit: in 1984-1985. a unique experiment on staining groundwater proved the existence of the world's deepest hydraulic system in the bowels of Arabica. The colored water of the source on the top of the mountain, going into the crevices of the cave system, 2300 meters below, came out at the foot of the massif through 8 sources. It remained only to explore and go through this cave labyrinth following the underground waters.
But after the collapse of the USSR, the Georgian-Abkhaz ethno-political conflict escalated, which escalated into hostilities in 1992-1993 and 1998. The war interrupted the exploration of the caves. Only in 1999, an expedition led by Yuri Kasyan returned to the Ortobalegan glacial valley (the most promising section of Arabica in terms of caves). And immediately a continuation of the passages in the previously explored Krubera-Voronya cave was discovered. It was a breakthrough to a depth of 750 m, in August of the next 2000 - up to 1200 m, in September of the same year - up to 1480 m, and everyone felt that the world record was close. And they organized the third expedition in a year, without waiting for the next summer. In winter, at the turn of 2000 and 2001, the cave was explored to the dam at a record depth of 1710 m!
The world record in 2001 was not the ultimate dream: the team of speleologists set a new goal - to overcome the 2000-meter depth mark in a natural cave. In 2003, Oleg Klimchuk and Denis Provalov (an expedition of the Kiev Caving Club and the Cavex team) managed to overcome a flooded area in a small side branch of the Krubera-Voronya cave at a depth of 1440 m and discovered a new branch of the cave system. At that time, it was explored to a depth of 1680 m. In 2007, Ukrainian Gennady Samokhin descended in the Krubera-Voronya cave to a depth of 2191 m, setting a new world record. And relatively recently, in August 2012, an international team of speleologists managed to reach its bottom. The world record for the depth of being in a cave - 2196 m - was set by that Gennady Samokhin. The bottom of the cave lay 5 m below the record mark of 2007.
The possibility of opening a new, even deeper cave theoretically exists. Experts are confident that tens of thousands of caves explored to date are only a tiny fraction of the predicted number, and new depth records are ahead, which cavers will be proud of no less than the first climbers who conquered Everest.

general information

The deepest natural cave in the world(at the beginning of 2014).

Type: sub-vertical karst, the lower part is composed of black limestones.

Location: Arabica mountain range of the Gagra Range of the Western Caucasus.

Administrative affiliation: Republic of Abkhazia (partially recognized state in accordance with the UN resolution - is part of Georgia).

Nearest city: Gagra.

Opening year: 1960 (a group led by L.I. Maruashvili descended 95 m).

The status of the deepest in the world: 2001 (1710 m). The 2000-meter milestone was passed in October 2004.

Year of complete passage: 2012

Numbers

Known Depth: 2196 m.

Total stroke length: 16,058 m.
The deepest well: 152 m.
Cave entrance height: 2240 m above sea level.

Climate

The cave has its own microclimate.

Average annual temperature of air and water at depth: around +5°C.

Relative Humidity: about 100%.
The city of Gagra (Gagra) has a humid subtropical climate.

Average annual temperature: + 17°С.
January average temperature: +12°С.

July average temperature: +26°С.
Average annual precipitation: 1700 mm.

Curious facts

■ The cave is named after Alexander Alexandrovich Kruber (1871-1941) - "the father of Russian karst studies", an outstanding physical geographer. Kruber studied the karst structures of the East European Plain, the Crimea and the Caucasus. The Krubera ridge on the island of Iturup and a karst cave on the Karabi-yayla plateau in the Crimea are also named after him.
■ After the Ukrainians set a world record in 2001 (1710 m, Krubera-Voronya cave), the French tried to regain the palm and announced a depth of 1730 m in the Mirolda cave in the Alps. But then, six months later, they themselves discovered their error in the measurements and abandoned their claims to leadership. National Geographic magazine called that intrigue "The Race to the Center of the Earth."
■ From the Krubera-Voronya cave at the foot of the Arabika mountain range, the Reprua River flows out, officially considered the shortest in the world (and the coldest of those flowing into the Black Sea). It is a powerful outlet of an underground karst river, which flows into after 18 m. In fact, it originates on a glacier on the Arabica high plateau at an altitude of 2500 m, 12-15 km from the sea coast.
■ According to forecasts, the maximum depth of a natural mine on our planet can reach up to 2200-2500 m.
■ The limit of passability in speleology is constantly moving away: the arsenal of used equipment and technical means is expanding, and the psychological perception by speleologists of overcoming obstacles is also changing. The team can work on achieving a record depth over several expeditions, equipping intermediate camps and throwing equipment, supplies of provisions and oxygen there.

More recently, the Krubera cave was considered the deepest not only in Russia, but throughout the world. It is hidden in a mountain range with the beautiful name Arabica in Abkhazia. The second popular name is Crow's Cave. At the moment, its explored depth is 2199 meters. Speleologists say that this is not the limit. The cave belongs to the karst type and is completely vertical.

Scheme of the cave Krubera-Voronya

The main entrance to the Raven Cave is hidden in the Orto-Balagan area. The height of the mountains here is almost 2260 meters above sea level. The underground cavity belongs to the karst group. It is the caves of this type that are distinguished by the greatest depth, they are formed as a result of the dissolution of rocks (limestone, marble, gypsum, chalk, dolomite) in water. Krubera cave is formed in limestone. Its structure consists of wells following each other, connected by passages of different sizes and stiles. At a depth of approximately 200 meters, the dungeon splits into two branches: the main one (the maximum mark is 2199 meters) and the Nekuibyshevskoye (the maximum depth is 1679 meters). The name of the second branch came from the fact that they tried to find a connection with the neighboring Kuibyshev cave in it. From a mark of 1300 meters, the main branch begins to branch out, forming many holes. More than 8 tunnels (i.e. siphons) are open here, they are located at different levels. Water flows through each of them. According to the latest data, the total length of the passages is more than 16 km.

Most likely, the discharge of karst waters becomes possible with the participation of the Agepsta and Reprua rivers. They fill up in the cave and appear on the surface near the mountains. It is noteworthy that Reprua is one of the shortest rivers in the world, its length does not exceed 18 meters, and its width is 10 meters.

Discovery history

For the first time, the Voronya Cave was discovered by a detachment from the Georgian Geographical Institute named after Bagrationi in 1960. Then they went down only 95 meters. At that moment, the cave got its main name in honor of the founder of Russian karst studies, Alexander Alexandrovich Kruber. It was he, being a professor at Moscow State University, who first began to study the massif in Gagra at the beginning of the 20th century. Then the find was forgotten for several years.

In 1968, a team from the city of Krasnoyarsk descended to 210 meters already. Then the cave was given the name Siberian. Now this name is practically not used. And again calm. Only in the 1980s Kiev speleologists began to explore the cave. They were at a depth of 340 meters. During this period, another name appeared, which became widespread - the Voronya cave.

The Georgian-Abkhaz war that took place in the early 1990s cut off free visits to Abkhazia. Speleologists got the opportunity to return to these places only before the beginning of the new millennium.

Krubera cave - the deepest in the world

Until 2017, the Krubera-Voronya cave was indeed considered the deepest in the world. Records have been set one after another since 1999. Then the Kyiv detachment was able to descend to 700 meters in one expedition. Exactly one year later, they increased the distance to 1410 meters. At the end of January 2001, members of the UCA (stands for "Ukrainian Speleological Association") and several participants from Moscow were able to achieve a world record of 1710 meters. Prior to this, the French caves Pierre Saint Martin and Jean Bernard with a depth of 1600 meters were considered absolute champions.

The next decade, several competing expeditions moved lower and lower. In 2004, cavers penetrated to a depth of 2080 meters. In 2005, the CAVEX team discovered new, previously unexplored sections of the cave. The group had to work in the most extreme conditions, requiring immersion in icy water. One of the participants tragically died. Then they were able to reach 2140 meters.

On August 10, 2013, Ukrainian Gennady Sumokhin (member of the UCA) set a new world record for the depth of descent into the ground. He descended to 2199 meters.

A longtime rival of the Krubera cave for the title of "the deepest in the world" is the cave named after Verevkin. It was discovered in the same region of Arabica and around the same time. Research work was carried out in parallel at both sites. In 2017, the expedition was able to descend 2204 meters in the Verevkina cave and thus broke the record of the Krubera cave. A year later, the figure was increased to 2212 meters, when speleologists managed to measure the depth of the lake at the bottom of the cave. As a result, this depth was below the deepest mark in the Black Sea.

Underground inhabitants

From the dungeon, speleologists brought to the surface several species of previously unknown living organisms. The cave fauna was represented by invertebrates: arthropods, several species of sponges, flat and annelids and ciliates. As for vertebrates, several previously unseen species of fish and a tailed amphibian were found in the depths of the cave.

How to get to the Krubera Cave

The cave is located 15 km from the city of Gagra. The most convenient way to reach the mountains is by car or taxi. However, excursions to the Krubera Cave are not available. It is not a tourist place. Ordinary people will not be able to climb inside on their own. A visit to the dungeon is possible only together with an expeditionary group (with the obligatory availability of climbing equipment and the necessary level of training).

Crow Cave is a true legend in the world of speleology. Specialists from different countries dream of visiting it. Work continues. Apparently, new depths will be conquered in the near future.

The caves are called the cradle of mankind: ancient people took refuge in them from wild animals, buried the dead and even used them as a dwelling. Many secrets are hidden in their depths, but not everyone will dare to descend into the underworld.

For the most courageous, we have prepared a selection of the most impressive caves of our planet.

According to scientists, Mammoth Cave was formed ten million years ago. Since then, she had to go through a lot - Native Americans used it as a burial place for the dead, in the 19th century potassium nitrate was mined here, and even wanted to open a tuberculosis sanatorium. Now Mammoth Cave is a favorite place for lovers of active tourism.

On this topic:

For visitors who are not looking for thrills, the cave offers safe routes through well-maintained and illuminated areas. Tourists will visit the local "Broadway" - a corridor that leads to a round amphitheater with stepped floors, the Church Hall and an observation deck in the River Gallery, which offers a unique view of the Dead Sea Lake. They will also listen to live violin music in the Concert Hall near the Echo River.

A more interesting program has been prepared for extreme lovers - to try yourself as a speleologist. Mammoth Cave is the longest cave in the world. Its length is more than 587 kilometers; it has not yet been fully explored. If desired and with due perseverance, you can open new passages or explore hard-to-reach mines, as well as get acquainted with the unique fauna of the cave - albino shrimp and blind crayfish.

How to get there

The cave is located in Mammoth Cave National Park, 20 minutes from Brownsville. Brownsville can be reached from Louisville and the state capital of Frankfort.

From Louisville, you need to drive 143 kilometers along I-65S towards Bowling Green. From Frankfort, drive to Elizabethtown on KY-9002 W, then turn onto I-65S.

Tours can be booked in the park, which last from one to six hours and cost from $5 to $55. You do not need to pay for an independent inspection of the cave.

Cave Krubera-Voronya. Mountain range Arabica, Abkhazia

Krubera Voronya is the deepest cave in the world. To realize its depth - 2199 meters - you need to imagine four Ostankino TV towers, standing on top of each other. However, scientists believe that this is not the limit - the cave can be much deeper.

In addition to new records, researchers are attracted by the amazing flora and fauna of the underground - the Reprua River, only 18 meters long, cave waterfalls and new species of insects and bats.

There are no marked tourist routes in the cave. You can go down to the bottom only in a group and if you have climbing skills. The entrance to Krubera-Voronya is located in the Orto-Balagan tract at an altitude of 2250 meters above sea level. On the way to the bowels of the cave, speleologists expect many obstacles: rappelling, diving into cold underground waters, narrow passages and dangerous mines, but the secrets of Kruber-Voronya are worth the effort.

Cave Krubera-Voronya

How to get there

The descent starts from the village of Tsandrypsh. The nearest major city is Sukhum, the capital of Abkhazia. From there, you can reach the E60 by car or bus in an hour and a half.

Sondong cave. Quang Binh Province, Vietnam

Son Doong Cave was accidentally discovered by Ho Han, a resident of Quang Binh Province, in 1991 while looking for shelter from the rain. Then he was very scared - a terrible rumble and whistle were heard from the depths of the cave, but after 18 years he returned to the cave as a guide for the British expedition of speleologists. After a year of research, British scientists announced that they had discovered a real "underground city".

The length of the cave reaches nine kilometers, and the height is more than 200 meters - in its halls a whole block of New York could fit, along with skyscrapers. But the gigantic size is not the only thing that Shondong can surprise you with.

Dense tropical forests grow inside the cave and a cave river flows, which was the source of terrible sounds that once frightened Ho-Han. In this ecosystem, there are unusual representatives of the cave fauna - hornbills and small monkeys. Due to the mixing of air masses of different temperatures, clouds form here, and due to the calcite content in the walls, you can find real pearls.

Research is still being done in Son Doong, so tourist expeditions are organized once a year and they are not cheap - 3 thousand dollars for a week-long tour. Enthusiasts can make their way into the cave on their own, but it is not easy to do so. You will have to go down to a depth of 150 meters on a rope, go through the difficult jungle for more than a day and take care of accommodation and food.

Shondong Cave

How to get there

The cave is located in Phong Nha Kebang National Park in Quang Binh Province. The nearest airport is located in Hue city. From there, the cave can be reached by bus or by car along Route 1A. You need to go to the city of Dong Hoi and turn left towards Phong Nha Kebang National Park.

Jewel Cave. South Dakota, USA

In 1900, explorer brothers Frank and Albert Michaud discovered a small hole in the canyon walls in the southern Black Hills. When they got inside, an amazing picture appeared before him - a huge cave, completely covered with calcite crystals of various shapes and sizes. The brothers did not think long about the name - Jewel (Jewel) is translated from English as "precious stone".

In addition to calcite crystals, whose dimensions reach 17 centimeters in diameter, the cave is striking in its length - its length reaches 257 kilometers. The extraordinary beauty and the third place in the ranking of the longest caves in the world have turned Jewel into a popular tourist center. Excursions are held in its halls: for those who want to learn about the origin and development of the cave - a historical tour, for romantics - a tour by candlelight.

Fans of active tourism can walk through dangerous corridors and narrow mines accompanied by a guide, and if they have experience and good physical fitness, they can join the exploration of unexploited sections of the cave as a volunteer.

How to get there

Jewel Cave is located 360 kilometers from the city of Pierre, the capital of South Dakota. From there you need to go to the SD-34W highway. After 60 kilometers, turn left onto US-14 W and go straight. There will be signs to the cave along the way.

Cueva de Los Verdes. Lanzarote Island, Spain

The Cueva de Los Verdes cave owes its origin to the Monte Corona volcano. Almost 5 thousand years ago, its red-hot lava burned an oblong depression in the rocks, which after a while turned into spacious halls, narrow passages and curved corridors of Cueva de Los Verdes.

For many years, the cave served as a refuge for local residents from the Spanish conquerors, pirates and slave owners. And today, in its depths, lovers of speleotourism find salvation from the gray everyday life.

For fans of a comfortable stay, the organizers offer a tour of the illuminated passages and dinner in a mini-restaurant near an underground lake to the accompaniment of live violin music. And thrill-seekers are expected to explore undeveloped halls and hard-to-reach mines, walk along the edge of a cliff along a path without fences and handrails, as well as hunt albino crab, which can only be found deep underground.

A nice bonus: the temperature in Cueva de los Verdes remains the same all year round - 20 degrees Celsius.

How to get there

The easiest way to get to Lanzarote is by plane from Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, Asturias, Tenerife, Bilbao and Norta. Tickets cost 55-80 dollars. From Arrecife airport to Cueva de los Verdes can be reached in half an hour by bus.

Entrance to the park is paid - $ 10 per person.

Cave Sak-Aktun. Quintana Roo, Mexico

In the jungles of the Yucatan Peninsula, there is the most amazing attraction in Mexico - the underwater cave of Sac Actun. The ancient Indians considered the cave sacred and called it "Xibalba" - the place where souls go after death. Now the "kingdom of the dead" is a favorite attraction of adrenaline hunters.

In Sak-Aktun, anyone can feel like a discoverer - more than 98% of the cave is still unexplored. Underwater landscapes stagger the imagination - high vaults, stalactites of the most bizarre shapes and crystal clear mineral water. But it is dangerous to be distracted by the surrounding beauty - despite the reigning silence, the cave is not at all lifeless. It is home to piranhas, goliath spiders and five species of bats.

To dive into the underworld, you will need not only scuba gear, but also strong nerves - the cave really resembles the other world, and some travelers claim to have heard mysterious voices here.

How to get there

The cave of Sak-Aktun is located seven kilometers from the city of Tulum. From Tulum, the cave can be reached by car or bus along the QROO highway towards the city of Macario Gomez in 20 minutes.

You can visit the cave as part of an excursion group or accompanied by a guide. Some tourists prefer to explore the cave on their own, in which case you should not go down alone.

Helloch Cave. Muota Valley, Switzerland

Switzerland was created for active tourism: here you can conquer a mountain peak or slide down steep slopes on skis or snowboards. And if traditional entertainment is boring, then you can try something new and explore the underworld. In Switzerland, there is the longest cave in Europe - Helloch.

"It's a crazy maze!" - these are the words in their reviews, visitors describe the Helloch cave. It's hard to argue with them: Helloh is a 157-kilometer multi-storey dungeon with many halls, dead-end corridors and complex passages. There are no beaten paths and no lighting. It is almost impossible to get out of its bowels without the accompaniment of professional guides. No wonder, according to one version, the name of the cave means "hell pit".

During the flood season, the Helloch tunnels are completely flooded with water. During this period, visiting the cave is extremely dangerous, but extreme hunters make independent dives to admire the underwater scenery and get an unforgettable experience.

How to get there

The nearest major city to the Muota Valley is Schwyz. From there you can take bus number 1 (get off at the end) or by car along the Laburgstrasse road towards Ilgau.

Entrance to the cave is $10.

Ervandun cave. Chongqing, PRC

Ervandun Cave can be called the underworld without exaggeration. Its own microclimate has formed here, forests grow, rivers flow, hitherto unseen animals live. The only thing missing is the sun. It seems that Jules Verne's "Journey to the Center of the Earth" is not such a fantasy.

Ervandun is a system of caves. To get into them, you need to either swim a couple of kilometers under water, or go down the rope through a narrow descent with sheer walls. There is another entrance, the safest, but it is not easy to find it without a guide - it is hidden in the forests.

The cave was discovered relatively recently - in 2013, so there are no tourist routes here. However, this only inspires enthusiasts - there is an opportunity to independently explore the giant calcite stalagmites, an underground waterfall and mineral lakes inhabited by colorless fish, and even open new cave halls.

How to get there

The cave is located in Wulong County, Chongqing Province. From Chongqing, you can get to Wulong by car or bus along the G65 highway in two and a half hours. Distance - 170 kilometers.

Cave Abyss of Three Bridges. Lebanon

But for thousands of years, the waterfall of the Throat of Baatara has been making its way through the rocks and thus creating a bizarre cave. From the outside, the Three Bridges Abyss may seem like a setting for another fantasy film: a three-story cave, the opposite walls of which are connected by stone bridges.

It will be possible to go down to the bottom of the cave only with special equipment and certain skills - the depth of the cave is 225 meters.

But you can admire the cave and at the same time tickle your nerves without it - you just need to walk along one of the bridges. Despite the impressive appearance, the bridges are quite fragile and can collapse at any moment. Slippery edges and lack of guardrails add to the sensations.

How to get there

The Three Bridges Chasm is located near the city of Tannorin. You can get there from the capital city of Beirut. You need to go along the Jounieh Hwy highway to the city of Jabeil, then turn onto Jbail - Aannaya Rd. After 30 kilometers there will be signs to the waterfall of the Throat of Baatara.

Ordinskaya cave. Perm region, Russia

Speleologists believe that the caves are alive and some of them are not at all happy with guests. Ordinskaya Cave - the longest underwater cave in Russia - clearly prefers solitude. To get into its bowels, you will have to make a lot of effort.

The cave consists of small grottoes and huge halls, which are interconnected by narrow corridors and kilometer-long tunnels. And in some areas, the vaults of the cave are almost in contact with the floor: in order to continue the path, you will have to climb through the gap formed. It's easy to get lost here. For this reason, you can only dive in a group or with a partner.

The water in the cave is very cold - the temperature rarely rises above 4-6 degrees Celsius, so without a wetsuit there is a risk of hypothermia. But even in a wetsuit, you can't relax. Sometimes large pieces of gypsum break off from the vaults and walls of the cave, "the size of a bus" - according to the words of divers, which can lead to injuries or more tragic consequences.

How to get there

The cave is located southwest of the village of Orda in the Perm region. You can get there from Perm along the P242 highway towards Yekaterinburg. Distance - 116 kilometers.

The Krubera-Voronya cave is located in the Arabica mountain range. From its mere sight, the spirit is breathtaking: numerous layers of earth, water flowing down and hopeless darkness around. And under their feet - a terrible abyss.

But if You think that Krubera-Crow is a huge, straight and wide hole in the ground, I will have to disappoint You.

This cave is a labyrinth of passages leading down, branching in different directions, forming water wells. Often these are narrow gaps, through which it means risking your life.

That is why the descent into the cave is a dangerous and very difficult business. In addition to the fact that cavers constantly have to overcome oblique slopes, they also drag air tanks, food and various equipment for sleeping and relaxing.

And if a sudden downpour passes in the mountains, there is a danger of falling into the whirlpool of an underground flood.

The Georgians were the first to discover the cave in 1960, although then they managed to explore it only to a depth of 180 m. It was in the sixties that the cave received its first name - Krubera, in honor of the famous Soviet physicist, geographer and karst expert Alexander Kruber.

The second part of the name - Voronya - was assigned to the cave during another attempt to explore its depths, when desperate adventurers reached 340 m underground. Since then, the cave has been called that - Krubera-Voronya.

Each expedition made incredible discoveries: discovered new passages, underground waterfalls, tunnels. Some of them led to a dead end, others became the beginning of a new long journey.

Today, the depth to which they were able to explore the cave is 2196 m. The record belongs to a Crimean GennadiYuSamokhin. In the summer of 2012, the speleologist as part of the team of the Ukrainian Speleological Association reached the current maximum mark and ... became famous all over the world.

There, at a depth of hundreds of meters, in the firm embrace of the earth, the researcher discovered a unique ecosystem.

- Immersed in one of the underwater lakes, I noticed living creatures around me. These were small, completely transparent fish. They swam around me, touching my legs, arms and mask. It was clearly visibleridgeand tail fins.Spinnsand abdominalI didn't see the fins. Perhaps they didn't exist at all. Unfortunately, I had nowhere to take at least one fish to study. I didn't have a camera with me either.

There are no tourist routes to the Krubera-Voronya cave. So you can get into its tunnels only as part of a speleological expedition, having special climbing skills.

Interestingly, the shortest river on the planet feeds on the waters of the deepest cave in the world - Reprua, 18 m long.

How deep the Georgian cave is is not known for certain, but even a part of it (2196 m) has been studied, making the underground labyrinth in the Arabica mountain range the deepest on the entire planet.

The Krubera-Voronya cave, located in Abkhazia, is considered the deepest cave in the world explored: the entrance to it is located at an altitude of about 2256 meters above sea level in the Orto-Balagan tract. The cave, which is part of the mountain, was discovered in 1960 by Georgian speleologists and explored to a depth of 95 meters. Expeditions conducted in the cavity of the karst cave over the next half century found small forks at a depth.

Knowledge about the mysterious underground passages multiplied with each new descent: for several decades, each regular speleological expedition announced reaching a new depth - 210, 340, 710 meters. Research continued until 2007, when a depth of 2196 meters was reached. One of the grottoes of the cave was called the "Hall of Soviet speleologists": the discovery of the Krubera-Voronya cave is the merit of several generations of karstologists and speleologists.

Krubera-Voronya cave is part of the Arabica mountain range, Abakhzia // Stephen Alvarez, National Geographic Stock

There are no marked tourist routes in the Krubera-Voronya cave; you can go down to the bottom only as part of one of the speleological expeditions, which are held several times a year to explore the cave cavity.

How to get there

The Arabica mountain range is located 15 kilometers northeast of the resort. You can get to the depths of the Krubera-Voronya karst cave only as part of expeditions, with special speleological equipment and appropriate climbing skills.

The resort town of Gagra is located 20 km from the Russian-Abkhazian border. The most convenient way to get to Gagra from Adler is through the Psou border checkpoint. In the summer, you can get from the airport or the Adler bus station to Abkhazia by minibuses that run several times an hour. The distance from Adler to Gagra is 33 km.