But did you know that, in addition to beaches, the sea and the sun, in Sochi there is a completely different world, unknown and full of secrets. This is the underground kingdom of Vorontsov caves. And there is a whole system here! This article will tell you what the Vorontsov caves are, how to get to them and what interesting places you can see there.
Why Vorontsov?
The complex of Sochi caves is called Vorontsovskie. And this is not because there are many ravens, as it might seem. Caves received this name from the nearest village - Vorontsovka.
And the village is from the name of the landowner, who at the beginning of the twentieth century owned this land, where caves are located. His name was Illarion Vorontsov-Dashkov. And all the settlements on the territory of his former possessions are named in his honor. For example, Vorontsovka, Illarionovka, Dashkivka.
Cave system
Vorontsov caves in Sochi take third place among the 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 shortest of Vorontsov caves is 1.5 km in length )
In the depths of the caves two rivers originate: Kudepsta and East Khosta. The system has 14 different inputs and outputs. The largest component of the complex is the Vorontsov cave.
From the bottom of the ocean
Vorontsov caves were formed in limestones, which were deposited more than 120 million years ago. The lower tiers of the caves appeared about 2 million years ago, and the upper - no more than 1 million years.
Once upon a time, 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 fell through, and the 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 dry ocean turned into mountain ranges.
Even today, in the caves, layers of marine deposits, particles of petrified marine inhabitants: shells and hedgehogs are clearly visible. Each of the layers can tell a lot about its era.
At different times, in the Vorontsov caves lived saber-toothed tigers, and woolly rhinos, and cave bears, and wolves, and wild boars, and even leopards. Researchers and archaeologists found in the caves the remains of foci, traces of the sites and rookery of ancient tribes.
At various times, caves were used in different ways. So, here there were dwellings of people, and places for bloody rituals, and warehouses, and prisons. In the Vorontsov caves, ancient bone knives and arrows of the Circassian tribe were found.
Grotto "Prometheus"
The most interesting and visited cave from the whole complex is the Vorontsov cave. She is the longest, widest and most beautiful. Of course, not all of its territory is accessible to tourists, but only a certain part (somewhere around 400 meters).
The first hall that will meet you at the entrance to the Vorontsov cave is the Prometheus grotto. It takes more than ¼ of the entire excursion part. The first thing you should pay attention to is the height of the arches. More than 20 meters in height. On the right, right near the entrance, there is a huge pile of boulders. These are traces of a collapse. The walls and ceilings of the grotto are decorated with sagging, reminiscent of the shape of a garland. There are a lot of them, and they are the most diverse. When water seeps through cracks in the ceiling, falling droplets of water mix with limestone, which gives rise to stalactites. In the cave there are many such transparent icicles, as well as stalagmites - stone pillars growing to meet them. When the pillars and icicles are connected, a column is formed - a stalagnate.
Music hall
There is also a Music or Variety Hall. It is named so because its wall has a transverse ledge, which, as a platform, you can climb. To the right of the scene is the "organ." These are baking forms in the form of a musical instrument. If you hit them, you can hear a wide variety of sounds. In the very center from the arch hangs a stream of stalactites in the form of a huge theater chandelier.
All walls of the hall are covered with leaks in the form of grapes. The floor is dotted with corallites that resemble a silver carpet. Here and there, you can see the "bath" with crystals of calcite. It seems that nature was entertained and fantasized, 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 travel by yourself. In this case, you should take the bus number 127 "Hosta - Kalinovoe Lake", which leaves from the bus station in the village of Hosta. Take the bus to the final stop and go to the place where the sightseeing buses stop (directly from the station, towards Vorontsovka). You will not miss the parking lot, since next to it is a monument to the fallen pilots in the form of an airplane tail.
Further from the parking lot, you climb along a dirt road leading up along the Sochi National Park. On this road, which then goes into a rather narrow path, you will come straight to the Prometheus grotto, from which the Vorontsov cave begins. Just do not turn anywhere so as not to get lost in the green jungle.