Do you know that apart from the beaches, the sea and the sun, there is a completely different world in Sochi, unexplored and full of secrets. This is the underground kingdom of the Vorontsov caves. And there is a whole system of them! This article will tell you about what the Vorontsov caves are, how to get to them and what interesting things you can see there.
Why the Vorontsovs?
The complex of Sochi caves is called Vorontsovskie. And this is not because there are a lot of ravens, as it might seem. The caves got their name from the village closest to them - Vorontsovka.
And the village - from the name of the landowner, who at the beginning of the twentieth century owned this land, where the caves are located. His name was Illarion Vorontsov-Dashkov. And all the settlements on the territory of his former possessions are named after him. For example, Vorontsovka, Illarionovka, Dashkovka.
Cave system
The Vorontsov caves in Sochi are the third longest caves in Russia. The total length of the entire system is 12 kilometers. It includes several caves: Vorontsovskaya cave (its length reaches 4 kilometers), Labyrinth (3.8 km), Kabanya (2.3 km) and Dolgaya (despite the name, the mostthe shortest of the Vorontsov caves is 1.5 km long).
In the depths of the caves, two rivers originate: Kudepsta and East Khosta. The system has 14 different inputs and outputs. The Vorontsovskaya Cave is considered the largest component of the complex.
From the bottom of the ocean
Vorontsovskie caves were formed in limestone, which was deposited more than 120 million years ago. The lower tiers of the caves appeared about 2 million years ago, and the upper ones - no more than 1 million years.
Once upon a time in the place where the Vorontsov caves are now located, there was a huge ancient ocean called Tethys. Millions of years ago, terrible cataclysms occurred on our planet: the seas dried up, the continents collapsed, and mountains, on the contrary, rose from the depths of the sea. So once the territory of the Caucasus rose to its present height, and the seabed of the dried up ocean turned into mountain ranges.
Even today, layers of marine sediments, particles of petrified marine life: shells and hedgehogs are clearly visible in the caves. Each of the layers can tell a lot of interesting things about its era.
Saber-toothed tigers, woolly rhinos, cave bears, wolves, wild boars, and even leopards lived in the Vorontsov caves at different times. Researchers and archaeologists have found in the caves the remains of hearths, traces of sites and rookeries of ancient tribes.
At different times the caves were used in different ways. So, there were dwellings of people, and places for bloody rituals, and warehouses, and prisons. Ancient bone knives and arrows were found in the Vorontsov cavesCircassian tribe.
Prometheus Grotto
The most interesting and visited cave of the whole complex is the Vorontsovskaya cave. It is the longest, widest and most beautiful. Of course, not all of its territory is accessible to tourists, but only some part (about 400 meters).
The first room that will meet you at the entrance to the Vorontsovskaya cave is the Prometheus grotto. It occupies more than ¼ of the entire excursion part. The first thing you should pay attention to is the height of the vaults. Over 20 meters high. To the right, right next to the entrance, there is a huge pile of boulders. These are signs of collapse. The walls and ceilings of the grotto are decorated with streaks resembling garlands in shape. There are a lot of them here, and they are very diverse. As water seeps through cracks in the ceiling, the falling water droplets mix with the limestone, giving rise to stalactites. There are many such transparent icicles in the cave, as well as stalagmites - stone pillars growing towards them. When pillars and icicles join, a column is formed - a stalagnate.
Music Hall
There is also a Musical, or Variety, Hall. It is named so because its wall has a transverse ledge, on which, like on a stage, you can climb. To the right of the stage is the "organ". These are sintered forms in the form of a musical instrument. If you hit them, you can hear a wide variety of sounds. In the very center, a stalactite incrustation hangs from the vault in the form of a huge theatrical chandelier.
All the walls of the hall are covered with streaks in the form of grapes. The floor is strewn with corallites,which resemble a silver carpet. Here and there you can see "baths" with calcite crystals. It seems that nature was having fun and fantasizing, creating the Vorontsov caves of Sochi.
How to get there
The first option is to purchase a ticket for the tour.
The second option is to get on your own. In this case, you should take bus No. 127 "Khosta - Kalinovoye Lake", which departs from the bus station in the village of Khosta. By bus, you get to the final stop and go to the place where the tour buses stop (directly from the station, towards Vorontsovka). You will not miss the parking lot, because next to it there is a monument to the dead pilots in the form of an airplane tail.
Further from the parking lot, go up the dirt road leading up along the Sochi National Park. Along this road, which then turns into a rather narrow path, you will come straight to the Prometheus grotto, from which the Vorontsovskaya cave begins. Just don't turn anywhere so as not to get lost in the green jungle.
