Fans of travel and nature probably asked themselves the question: “Where is the New Athos cave?” This unique natural complex attracts a large number of tourists every year. About why the New Athos cave in Abkhazia is of interest , the photo of which we provide will be described in the article. As well as about the history of its discovery by a 16-year-old teenager, what halls it is divided into, and the metro that operates in it.
Description of the cave
Anacopian abyss - this was the original name of the New Athos cave in Abkhazia. It is a huge karst cavity, which has a volume of more than 1 million m 3 . This is one of the largest caves in the Gudauta region of the Republic of Abkhazia. The cave is located under the slope of Mount Iverskaya, named after the homonymous icon of the Mother of God. Not far from it is the temple of Simon Kananita and New Athos Monastery.
The New Athos cave includes nine halls, in six of them there are guided tours every day, and in one research work is carried out. The halls were renamed twice, today they bear the following names:
- "Anacopia" (Abkhazia). That was the name of the capital of the Abkhazian kingdom in ancient times.
- “Ayuhaa”, which in Abkhazian means “Gorge”.
- "Apsny" - "Land of the Soul", the ancient self-name of Abkhazia.
- The “Aphyartsa” is a two-stringed violin.
- "Helictite Grotto." Helictites are wriggling calcites in the form of sticks.
- Sukhum. Another name is the hall of Givi Smyr - the discoverer of the caves.
- Corallite Gallery. Corallites are the skeletons of coral polyps.
- The hall of the "Mahajirs", orthodox Muslims who performed the hijra.
- "Nartaa" is an epos of the North Caucasian peoples, telling about the life of the heroes, brothers of Nart.
A brief history of the discovery
The history of the New Athos cave tells that since ancient times, on the northern slope of the Anakopian mountain, at a 220-meter height, there has been an abyss, which the people called the Endless. For several millennia, local people have not tried to descend into this natural well. This was done only in 1961 by the 16-year-old teenager Givi Smyr. Later he became a professional caver (explorer of caves), as well as a sculptor and artist.
Using an ordinary rope, he penetrated to a depth of 35 meters. However, he failed to get to the very bottom of the abyss without the appropriate equipment. Later, he told the cavers about his find. In mid-July of the same year, a group of scientists went on a reconnaissance expedition and went down to a depth of about 140 meters, finding themselves in a huge dungeon. The descent time was eight hours.
So the New Athos cave was discovered. First, the Anakopia Hall (Abkhazia) was opened, and later all other halls. After extensive research undertaken during numerous expeditions, and then landscaping, in 1975 the cave was open to tourists.
Anacopia Hall
The first halls of the cave are the largest; at some points, the ceiling height reaches from 40 to 60 meters. The Anacopia Hall is also one of the deepest; it is with it that the acquaintance of tourists with the New Athos Cave begins. The length of the hall is 150 meters, and the height is 40 meters. The bottom is covered with blocks of various forms and rocks and massive pieces of plastic clay, which owe their appearance to the destruction of limestone and the waters flowing from the surface of the earth into the cave.
Two shades dominate here - these are the colors of coarse gray limestone and brown clay. However, among these gloomy colors there are emerald and aquamarine colors pleasing to the eye. These are two underground lakes illuminated by bright spotlights. The lake in the southern part of the hall is called Anatolia, its depth is 25 meters. The water temperature in it does not change all year round, freezing at around + 11 ° C. The water in the lake is fresh, but there is no fish here, its only inhabitants are crustaceans.
The second lake is called Blue, it actually has no coast and looks like an abyss filled with water of beautiful blue color. Previously, the entire Anacopia Hall was occasionally flooded with water. To prevent this phenomenon, a drainage system was created through which excess water flows into the Manikvara River.
Ayuhaa Hall
As mentioned above, the name of this hall in translation means "Gorge". It is here that the dry part of the cave begins, which scientists consider to be the dead part of the water system, since water no longer enters here. Ayuhaa is located below the other halls, its arches have the shape of an arc, and on the walls there are various indentations and ledges formed due to the flow of the river, which was here many years ago.
Relative humidity here is 60%. The hall no longer has a waterfall or a river, they left traces only in the form of grooves, furrows, crevices. Here are numerous stalagmites. These are calcareous growths at the bottom of the cave, which appeared as a result of falling drops of water from the arches. There are stalactites on the ceiling, they stretch down towards the stalagmites. For their creation, nature needs several millennia. They are orange and reddish in color and vary in shape and height.
Apsny Hall
The Apsny Hall in the New Athos Cave is the smallest, it is rich in stalactites. Thousands of these amazing works of nature of various colors hang from the ceiling. From a large ceiling opening, a stone 20-meter waterfall rushed down, which in size and beauty is not inferior to similar creations found in other caves around the world.
One episode of the Soviet feature film “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” was shot in this room. There are many stalactites in the hall that resemble unusual curtains and curtains that shield you from the outer space of the cave. There is also a huge stalagmite, reaching more than four meters in height, bearing the name "Patriarch". Above it is a stalactite arbor, which was nicknamed the Royal Tent.
Hall "Uphartsa"
At the bottom of the hall are clay blocks and deposits of plastic rocks. In different places there are lonely standing stalagmites that have an unusual amber hue. Their color depends on the salts of manganese, which are present in sperm droplets.
The ceiling in the hall of the “Apkhartsa”, as in others, is arched. There are numerous recesses on it, called caverns "organ pipes". The largest of them come to the surface of the earth, forming small cracks that are difficult to notice with the naked eye. Thanks to these cracks, moisture and oxygen penetrate the cave, allowing it to “breathe” and moisturize.
Almost all the halls of the New Athos cave have very good acoustics, but in “Apkhartsa” it has special sound effects. It is for this reason that the concerts of tourists are held here by the artists of the Abkhaz choir chapel. Surprisingly, the human voice and melodies of musical instruments, reflected from the vaults and walls of the cave, acquire a new, unusually beautiful sound.
Helictite Grotto
The grotto is filled with a variety of rare forms, striking in its beauty. The walls are covered with white calcite and sparkle due to particles of quartz embedded in them. On a light background, yellow, orange, green and lilac stalagmites play with bright colors. The floor is decorated with many small, thin-walled bathtubs.
The main feature of the Helictite grotto is helictites, eccentric stalactites, which for unexplained reasons, despite gravity, grow up, sideways, zigzag, but not down.
On the arches of the grotto are thousands of small helictites, which have a rich color palette - from dark red to soft pink. Some reach 10 cm in length. Excursions are not carried out here due to the fact that the presence of a person increases air humidity and temperature, which can lead to the death of this unique system.
Mahadzhir Hall
The Mahadzhir Hall occupies a length of 260 meters, and its width ranges from 26 to 70 meters, the height of the arches reaches 50 meters. Everywhere randomly located boulders and blocks of rock divide the hall into several parts. In the center is the White Mountain. This is a large calcite deposit that is 5 to 15 meters high and about 40 meters in diameter.
Water that is saturated with calcium enters this formation from a hole located directly above it. The source operates for about seven months a year, and, as cavers say, the White Mountain is increasing by one millimeter every year, which is considered good growth. From the Majahirov Hall there is the longest cave bridge 120 meters long directly to the Nartaa Hall.
Nartaa Hall
There is a third underground lake in this hall, but tourists cannot see it due to the low water level. Only during heavy rainfall, when water from the surface of the earth penetrates here, can everyone see the lake, called Siphon.
This lake, like Anatolia and Goluboye, located in the Anakopia Hall, is the lowest point of the cave system - it is 36 meters above sea level, and the depth of the New Athos cave is 160 meters.
All lakes communicate with each other using underwater channels, and are also interconnected with the Mtsyrtsha river, located outside the cave, thereby forming a single water system.
Nartaa Hall is covered with voluminous clay layers and various stone figures created by nature. Next to it is the Corallite Cave, in which all the walls are covered with corallites - thousands of snow-white formations of a spherical shape, bonded to each other.
Opening hours and underground of the New Athos cave in Abkhazia
In the cave there is a working underground, which is one of a kind. It was opened in 1975 and is intended for the delivery of excursions inside the Iverskaya Mountain. The metro line has a length of 1291 meters and three passenger stations. The train can travel them for three minutes at an average speed of just over 30 km per hour. During the season, a train carries about 2 thousand people in one day, that is, on average about 700 thousand people a season. The capacity of cars is 120 people.
The mode of operation of the New Athos caves directly depends on the time of year. It looks like this:
- From January to April and October, the caves are available for visits on Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, from 10 to 18 hours.
- In May, they can be visited from the 1st to the 10th on working days, and from the 11th to the 31st - on Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, also from 10 to 18 hours.
- From June to September, the cave is open all week, seven days a week, from 9 am to 19 pm.
As can be seen in the photo, the New Athos cave in Abkhazia is a beautiful and unique complex created by nature itself. The beauty of the halls themselves and the lakes located in them will not leave indifferent any tourist. Many people who have been here claim that they had never seen anything like it before. Therefore, we can safely say that, being in Abkhazia, it is necessary to visit the New Athos cave.