Nature was unusually generous to the Crimea. On a small area of ​​the peninsula, you can see everything: the sea and estuaries, wide sandy and tiny beaches lost among the rocks, gentle hills and impregnable mountains, steppe and forests with relic plants, waterfalls and mountain rivers with the purest water. Amazed by the beauty of the Crimean nature, people often do not suspect that a whole world is hidden under their feet - the mysterious and wonderful world of Crimean caves, created by nature for millions of years. It is not easy to get there, it is dangerous to explore them on your own, but thanks to the work of speleologists, the Crimean caves, open for inspection, will reveal their secrets.

Which Crimean caves should tourists definitely visit?

• Emine-Bair-Khosar

Known as Mammoth. The Crimean caves are very old, Mamontova is 10 million years old, people knew about it for a very long time, but it was possible to get there only through a well 16 meters deep. In the last century, a convenient horizontal tunnel was laid and, after studying the cave, it was equipped for visiting. In the first hall you can see the skeleton of a mammoth (unfortunately, without a skull), which fell into this well millions of years ago, and the guide will tell you about the bones of which fossil animals were found when this cave was discovered in Crimea. Further, a convenient staircase leads to the halls of the Idols, the Treasury, the Kecskemét and the Pink Grotto. Skillful illumination snatches out of the darkness amazing sintered columns, crystals and stalactites and stalagmites striving towards each other. There are halls available only for speleologists. This Crimean cave is a natural monument and is very strictly protected.

• Marble

The most beautiful cave in Crimea - Marble - got its name when it was found that almost all of its surface consists of marble-like limestone. Its age is estimated at millions of years, its depth is 60 meters, and the length of all the halls of this cave in Crimea known to speleologists is more than two kilometers. It is very easy to breathe inside, and the air temperature is always plus 9 degrees, regardless of the season.

Many halls richly decorated with nature open stalagmite fairy-tale figures, frozen waterfalls, bizarre stone “flowers” ​​before people. This is one of the most popular.

• red cave

Of all the caves of the Crimea and Europe, Red is the longest, its halls and galleries stretch underground for 26 kilometers. This large Crimean cave got its name because of the high content of iron oxides in the rock. A river flows through the lower galleries, constantly washing away the rock, so the length of the corridors becomes longer, new halls with sinter formations appear. In this cave in the Crimea, there are six levels, floors, closing in a huge labyrinth.
Archaeologists claim that the site of primitive people was located here. There, to this day, fragments of arrowheads and ceramics are found. For tourists who are interested in the caves of the Crimea, two routes have been created: an extreme one, which involves descending to the lower gallery and crossing an underground river, and the main one, which runs along convenient paths.

• three-eyed

On the Ai-Petri plateau, very close to the cable car, there is a small, relatively young cave in the Crimea - Three-eyes. It got its name because of the presence of three entrances resembling eye sockets. One entrance is an almost vertical well through which daylight enters the cave, and snow in winter. The snow does not melt even in summer. Slightly thawing, it freezes again, forming ice. Hence the second name of the cave - Ice. Archaeologists claim that this cave of the Crimea, like a refrigerator, was used by hunters of the Stone Age.

This amazing Crimean cave is equipped for visiting, but excursions are held only in summer. In winter, the entrances are closed.

• Skelskaya

A relatively small karst cave was formed as a result of a limestone fracture under the influence of groundwater. This Crimean cave has several levels, which are connected by vertical wells 25-45 meters deep. At the very bottom there are several underground lakes and rivers that feed the waters of the Ai-Petri plateau. In the spring, when the snow melts, there is so much water in the underground lakes of this cave in the Crimea that it rises to the surface.
Only a little more than 600 meters of the cave area has been explored, further water blocks the path, but cavers are confident that they will be able to move forward. This Crimean cave has been repeatedly examined by biologists: here they found the bones of long-extinct animals and the richest speleofauna, many of whose representatives were preserved only in this place.
Skelskaya, like other equipped caves of the Crimea, is open for excursions. Tourists can visit the upper and middle levels with halls decorated with sinter formations, inhabited by creatures and animals from fairy tales.

• Geophysical

Another of the caves of the Crimea, lying on the Ai-Petrinsky plateau. It is special in that it refers to the opened caves, that is, the entrance to it was opened due to a natural process: the failure of the dome, corrosion or washing the entrance with water. Such caves allow you to restore the exact history of its occurrence. You can go down
a spiral staircase installed in a vertical shaft - a natural entrance. At the bottom, the mine passes into a hundred-meter passage, which, either narrowing or expanding, takes tourists to large halls decorated with sinter formations and stalactites. This Crimean cave is unique in that its sinter formations emit a bright green glow when the lamp flashes.
Geophysical - one of the caves of the Crimea, which belong to protected, protected areas.

Inaccessible caves of the Crimea - a godsend for speleologists

Most of the Crimean caves are concentrated in the Ai-Petri and Chatyr-Dag mountain ranges, many have long been explored by speleologists, but the Crimea is rich in inaccessible places, and they become a kind of magnet for cavers.

• Soldier's

Located on Yaila Karabi. Of all the caves in the Crimea, Soldatskaya is the deepest (517 meters) and the most difficult to pass, although small in size. Almost immediately at the entrance, the cave ends with a deep abyss, at the bottom of which an underground river was discovered. You can reach the bottom only with scuba gear. It is recommended to visit this cave in Crimea only for experienced speleologists.

• thousand-headed

One of the infamous Crimean caves. They knew about it for more than one century, but it became popular with local residents only from the middle of the 19th century. A large number of human skulls were found there, which were popular with the then tourists as souvenirs from Chatyr-Dag. A local legend tells of local residents who did not submit to the barbarians, who preferred death to captivity. But archaeologists have proven that the dead were buried in the cave. This Crimean cave was the best suited for this purpose: a wide platform at the entrance turns into a narrow passage, which again expands into a hall adorned with stalactites and stalagmites.

• Cold

So named because of the constant low temperature of 6 degrees. This Crimean cave looks like a rather long, sloping tunnel (210 meters). After passing it, tourists find themselves in a suite of halls 23-25 ​​meters high. In this cave of the Crimea, there are many sinter baths with the purest water.

The entrance to the cave is free, the authorities do not look after it, which, of course, affected its safety.

• bottomless well

This Crimean cave is located on the Chatyr-Daga plateau and is a deep karst well, going to a depth of 140 meters. At about a depth of 30 meters, there are karst pockets in the well. Three horizontal passages 200 meters long depart from the bottom to the sides. One of the passages ends with a well, at the bottom of which two halls were found. There are almost no in-situ education here.

This Crimean cave is considered difficult to pass: only those who have special equipment can go down. And even such a descent provides for the mandatory accompaniment of an experienced speleologist.

• golden burrow

This legendary Crimean cave is located on the steep slope of the White Rock at a height of 52 meters from the foot. Only climbers can get there, the ascent is so unsafe. This Crimean cave is known for its artifacts. Scientists have found bones of long-extinct animals there: mammoth, cave bear, bull, saiga. But the most amazing find was the bone remains of Neanderthals, the age of the remains was determined to be 150 thousand years. It is proved that later this unique cave of the Crimea was chosen by the Sarmatian tribe - after them there were tribal signs, tamgas.

In the middle of the last century, a thirty-meter cave with a height of 4 to 10 meters was discovered on the slope of Demerdzhi. At the very end of the cave there is a well 30 meters deep, the first finds at its bottom turned out to be the bones of various animals. Above the landslide there is a sacrificial stone, so archaeologists consider this cave of the Crimea an ancient sanctuary of the Taurians.
It is strictly forbidden to visit this dangerous cave of the Crimea without a guide, even for experienced cavers.

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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 of the peninsula is 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. For the most part, the Crimean caves are 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 on the territory of the 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 a 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. The approximate price for an hour and a half tour is 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. The natural underground complex has been open for tourists 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 the Simferopol railway station to the Mramornoye ST station, then walk about nine kilometers to the cave itself. The easiest way is to take an organized excursion to the cave with a 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 the trolleybus route connecting the Crimean capital with 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 is a karst cave, which is three and a half million years old, 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 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. Local residents have known about the features of the fact that the cave is icy from the inside for a long time, they even say that when Empress Catherine the Second traveled around the Crimea, it was in Yalta's Three-Eyed Cave that ice was mined 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- The Skelskaya cave is considered one of the most beautiful in Crimea, but unsafe for tourists to visit on their own, 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 a fairy-tale castle from a book cover. There are halls with telling names: Knight's, Organ, Fireplace, Dolphin, Hall of Ghosts - they are named so not 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 again the dangers of an independent tour of the cave, as there are many sharp cliffs that communicate with the lower levels. The water system of the underground is also dangerous, especially in spring, when the snow melts in the mountains, and even in autumn, during heavy rains, because the waters fill the cavities of the cave, it overflows and water rushes out of its exit in a swift stream, dumped 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 is a complex labyrinth 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 of a beautiful Su-Uchkan waterfall. 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. The underground kingdom of the Red Caves impresses with its beauty, the reddish stone on the walls in the rays of artificial light seems 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 an ancient cave, the walls of which are covered with graceful patterned outgrowths of quartzites, 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.

A tourist group gathers at least five people, if you wish, you can order an individual 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 along 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 an icy 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".

Caves of Crimea (Crimea, Russia) - detailed description, location, reviews, photo and video.

• Hot tours to Crimea
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Crimea is so rich in interesting caves that many consider it to be the birthplace of Russian speleology in its modern form. The peak of research work in the Crimean caves fell on the 50s. 20th century, and at that time scientists discovered and studied at least a thousand large Crimean caves and a myriad of small ones. And there is no doubt that many more Crimean caves remain hidden from human eyes and unexplored.

I must say that those caves of the Crimea, which are the most accessible for visiting, alas, today are the most littered and spoiled by numerous crowds of tourists. And those that are not easy to get to, on the contrary, can be pristine and beautiful, but there is nothing for a person to do in them without special training and skills of a speleologist. In any case, do not neglect the services of a guide and do not forget to take warm clothes with you when heading to the caves.

Most of the Crimean caves are located in one of four regions: Chatyr-Dag, Ai-Petri, Dolgorukovsky massif and Karabi-Yayla. The most famous caves of the picturesque mountain Chatyr-Dag, one of the symbols of Crimea, are Marble, the entrance to which is located at an altitude of more than 900 m above sea level (according to some estimates, this cave is one of the five most beautiful equipped caves on the planet) and Emine-Bair -Khosar, which is part of the overall Marble complex and is famous for the legend associated with it. Ai-Petri is famous for the Black flooded cave and Ayu-Teshik. The most famous caves of the Dolgorukovsky massif are the Red Cave (Kizil-Koba) and Yeni-Sala. In this massif there are generally leading caves in the sense of underground lakes and siphons. Karabi-Yayla is known for the Big Buzuluk ice cave.

The mountain caves of the Crimea often melt inside a lake or river. The largest water-filled gallery is located in the Yeni-Sala-3 cave, its length exceeds 110 m. And the largest of the completely flooded caves is Black, its length is 1300 m. Another option is when the cave is not filled with water, but with snow or ice , and the whole year. There are about forty such caves, and the most famous of them is Big Buzluk, where the oldest ice deposits can be preserved for half a century, and picturesque ice icicles hang from the arch. Also well known is the Watering Cave and the Three-Eyes on Ai-Petri.

Other caves are not so interesting purely outwardly, but they surprise with riddles and legends associated with them. For example, in the Kaplu-Kaya cave, they say, a cradle made of pure gold was once buried.

And in the Thousand-Headed Cave, a huge number of human remains from the Middle Ages were found.

Cave Emine-Bair-Khosar.

Many people in Crimea are only interested in record-breaking caves. For example, the largest on the entire peninsula is the Red Cave, 16 km long, where you can also see the maximum number of tiers - six floors. It is also considered the most studied in the Crimea, because more than one and a half hundred scientific papers have been published about this cave. Or the deepest - the Soldier's mine, more than half a kilometer deep. The highest cave in the Crimea is Treschinnaya, whose height above sea level is almost 1500 m. The largest rocky hall can be seen in the Marble Cave, its floor area is about five thousand square meters. m. This cave is also the most visited.

Those who are not looking for easy ways may be interested in the most difficult caves of the Crimea - such statistics are also available. The hardest thing to go through, not surprisingly, is the very famous Red, as well as the Soldier's. Routes through these caves are assigned category 4B. And the most dangerous cave in terms of accidents is Kaskadnaya on Ai-Petri: in 30 years, five tourists have suffered here, of whom two have died.

Recently, Skelskaya has taken the first place among the rest of the Crimean caves.

Many travel agencies specially organize trips here and here's why: the speleological complex in Skelskaya was created relatively recently, and so far it is clean, beautiful and there are not many people at all compared to the same, for example, Marble. The Skelskaya cave is located near Sevastopol, and it is easy to get here. At the beginning of the 21st century, the cave was equipped for tourism purposes, and in 2011 the latest electrical equipment was installed here, creating the first precedent of this kind in the Crimea. With the help of colored illumination, the bizarre calcite outgrowths of Skelskaya look very beautiful, and you can guess different figures in them: there is definitely a knight and a monk, a monkey and a dolphin, a dragon and a phoenix, and also, which is especially curious, Crimean sights, such as the Foros Church .

Mountain Crimea is very rich in caves. The fact is that some mountain plateaus, called yayls, are composed of limestone, which is relatively easy to erode, that is, to wash out soluble rocks with water. Such processes and, as a result, the terrain they create is called karst. An example is the Chatyr-Dag plateau and the Karabi-Yayla mountain range. There are more than 200 caves and more than 1000 sinkholes on the Chatyr-Dag plateau. And on Karabi-Yaila there are even more karst sinkholes - more than 3500. By the 1970s, when the book "Caves of Crimea" by V.N. Dublyansky (geologist, speleologist, professor) knew about 800 karst cavities in the Crimea, currently there are about 1100 of them. 2 pcs.

The best and famous caves in Crimea

If you are interested in the beauty of the underworld, then, of course, with such a quantity, there is a certain difficulty in choosing which caves of Crimea are worth visiting in the first place. We didn't have this problem, they helped us. Often in our choice we turn to some specialists or professionals. In our case, a guide from, located in Adygea, as a professional in his field, advised the three main caves of Crimea:, and (another name for it is Mammoth Cave). Having visited them, we can say with all responsibility: these are really very beautiful caves, moreover, the most famous ones. In this case, we are talking about equipped caves (so that speleologists do not throw tomatoes at us), where you can get as part of an excursion group without special skills (knowledge) and special equipment. Both old and young can visit them. Therefore, if you are not a professional speleologist, but only get acquainted with the mysterious and beautiful world of the underground depths of the Crimean mountains, then you should start by visiting these three caves. So, let's begin.

How to get to the best caves of Crimea

All three caves are located on both sides of the highway Simferopol-Alushta(highway number 35A-002). The Red Cave (Kizil-Koba) is located on the slope of Dolgorukovskaya Yayla, you can get to it by turning off the highway near the village Perevalnoe on the road 35N-554. More details in the article about.

The Marble Cave is considered the most beautiful cave in Crimea and one of the five most beautiful equipped caves in the world. The length is 2 km, the depth is 60 m. The main treasure of the cave is the Perestroika Hall - the largest equipped hall in the Crimea and Europe, 250 m long and 28 m high, area 5,000 m2, and volume 50,000 m3. The age of the cave is about 6-8 million years. The cave was discovered in 1987 by the Simferopol speleological section. In 1988, the Onyx-Tour speleotourism center was founded, which equipped excursion routes for visitors, it also studies and preserves the cave to this day. The name of the cave is associated with marble-like limestone - the main rock in the layers of which the cave lies.

Read more about the cave, how to get there, the cost of visiting, opening hours and photos - in the article.

The Emine-Bair-Khosar Cave can easily compete with the Marble Cave for the title of the most beautiful cave in Crimea. But she does not need to argue, she is unique in her own way. Namely, with its calcite formations and incrustations, located at five different levels. The halls of the highest level are located approximately 30 meters from the surface of the earth, and the lowest level is 180 meters. The length of the cave is about 1460 m. Another unique part of the cave is a sixteen-meter well-failure that goes to the surface, as well as an almost complete skeleton of a mammoth and other prehistoric animals found in this cave. That is why the cave has a second name - Mammoth Cave. And of course, it is worth noting the delightful Kecskemét Hall.

Read more about the cave, how to get there, the cost of visiting, opening hours and photos - in the article

Crimea is famous for many interesting places. Among them, caves deserve special attention. There are a large number of them in this territory, each of them is unique and has its own characteristics. Since ancient times, people settled in them and used them for their needs. In this article we will talk about the caves of the Crimea, open to the public.

Caves and cave monasteries of Crimea on the map:

Three-eyed or Vorontsovskaya cave

Mountain Crimea hides a large number of caves. But not all can be visited by non-specialists. The most accessible - Three-eyed.

Three-Eyed Cave inside

There are more than 3 million years old, the depth is -30 meters. Occupies over 600 sq. meters. You can get inside it through 3 shafts - failures resembling three eyes along the ladder. Through one of them, located almost vertically, sunlight enters the cave; during the cold period - snow flies. It's always cold inside. The snow does not completely melt, even in summer there is ice on the floor. Ancient hunters kept the meat of dead animals here. When they shot the film "The Prisoner of the Castle of If", they painted the eyes.

Important! Before you go on an excursion, you need to take warm clothes with you, inside the air temperature does not rise to 10 degrees. In winter, the Trekhglazka is closed.

Yalta cave on the Ai-Petri plateau

The smallest, but incredibly beautiful cave. Traces of the life of people of the Neolithic era were found here.

During the warm period, tourists can contemplate numerous long stalactites that hang from the arches, like pasta. On the floor of the great hall, there are many stalagmites of incredibly crazy shapes. Walls in swells. Light from small electric bulbs creates an unimaginable play of light and shadow.

It is famous for its vertical well, 40 meters long, through which you can go down to the lower hall. Not every tourist can do it: only daredevils, in the company of a climbing guide, dressed in special equipment, will go down.

marble cave

The most visited cave in Crimea is located on the Chadyr-Daga plateau, not far from the village of the same name. It was formed in marble-like limestones, which is why it got its name. It is located at a depth of 60 meters, the length is just over 2 km.

Red Cave Kizil-Koba

The largest one is 20 km long. Red, because iron impurities predominate in the rock. Ordinary tourists are only accessible half a kilometer. It will be convenient to get there on a fabulous train, especially when it rains.

There is the possibility of an extreme excursion: put on a scuba gear and see the flooded passages and halls with your own eyes. Underground passages are located on six levels, with a difference of more than 250 meters.

Inside the cave are numerous lakes, wells, waterfalls, huge halls, as well as the largest stalactite in Europe, 8 thousand years old. Full information about the Red Cave (Kizil Koba) in Crimea can be found.

Cave monastery near Sudak

The ruins of the monastery lie near Mount Sokol. At the beginning of our millennium, Byzantine monks lived here - icon worshipers. Later the Turks ravaged it. But people have not forgotten about him.

In one of the three caves, there is a carved cross on the wall, and next to it is a shop. In the other, only the front wall and a few cells have been preserved. You can get there along the path along the steep slope of the mountain. From above you can see the sea. The place is also notable for the fact that a healing spring was found nearby.

Holy Dormition Cave Monastery in Bakhchisarai

This monastery was also founded by Byzantine monks. It is carved into a sheer rock. This holy monastery has an interesting history.

When the Crimean Khanate gained independence, and Russia received the Crimean fortresses, local Christians, due to harassment by the Muslim population, leave these places. The Russian commander Alexander Suvorov took an active part in the event. But three years later the monastery began to hold services again.

During the revolution, the monastery was plundered, and the servants were shot. During the Great Patriotic War, a hospital was located within these walls. The monastery was revived again after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The parishioners restored the Holy Place by joint efforts. They did a titanic work: they restored the stone staircase, the Assumption Church, restored the rock painting, erected a bell tower and much more.

Tepe Kermen - cave city in Bakhchisarai

A purely strategic building, arose on a cone-shaped mountain, at an altitude of more than 500 meters. Casemates, quarters for guards, cisterns for collecting rainwater were built in the rock. The city has more than 200 rooms of various shapes and sizes, located on six levels.

At the top there were living quarters and water tanks, at the bottom - outbuildings. The northeastern slope of the rock is decorated with a rock church. On the stone stairs from it you can go to the very bottom of the cliff. On the sixth level there is a tomb covered with a stone slab, on the fifth level there is a sacristy and a refectory, on the fourth level there is a crypt with a niche for an icon. There is also a chapel.

The second name - Emine Bair Khosar - is translated as a well on a mountain slope. At the bottom of the failure, a large karst cavity was discovered - now it is the main hall.

Location - Chadyr dag, lower plateau. The length is 1.5 kilometers, the depth is about 100. The halls and passages are illuminated, equipped with stairs with railings.

Here they found the bones of extinct animals, even a mammoth, after which the cave is named.

Stalactites form outlandish figures: the Cap of Monomakh, the Stone Flower, fairy-tale gods. Of particular interest is the two-level lake. The cave is deservedly considered one of the most unusual in Europe.

Shuldan Cave Monastery

Located near the village of Ternovka, it includes two churches and twenty rooms in two tiers. The main temple is made in the form of an elongated rectangular room. Altar in the shape of a horseshoe.

Shuldan cave monastery inside

In ancient times, the walls of the temples were decorated with frescoes, but they have not survived to our times. Recently, a chapel tower was erected, the dome of which is clearly visible from afar.

From the observation deck of the tower offers a wonderful view of the valley. The sight is told not only by tourists, but also by pilgrims. They are provided with cells for guests, where it is possible to spend the night.

Cave city Bakla

The northern city of Crimea is once an open medieval settlement. To date, almost not preserved.

In the sixth century, a castle was built here from large pieces of limestone, which was destroyed by the Tatar-Mongols. On the shore there are graves carved in stone, grape presses, waste pits, and artificial caves.

Cave city Inkerman

The ancient fortress of Kalamita, consisting of more than three hundred fortifications, is the hallmark of the city.

Kalamita fortress of the cave city Inkerman

The fortress itself did not last long, and the caves under it were preserved. Today, the largest wine-making enterprise of the Crimea is located here. Its underground cellars occupy 55 thousand square meters. Along with a local history tour, tourists are offered to visit wine tasting rooms. Also in the city is a functioning monastery. We talk more about the cave city of Inkerman in.

Kalamita Fortress of the cave city of Inkerman in Crimea, a monastery at the foot of the Kalamita Fortress

We also invite you to watch a video about the most popular and beautiful cave of the Crimea Marble: