Address: Abkhazia
The Krubera-Voronya Cave, located high in the Greater Caucasus Mountains in, is the deepest cave in the whole world. Today its depth is 2200 meters. The cave has a rich history and is of great value to speleologists.
*Remember that according to Georgian legislation, Abkhazia and South Ossetia are considered occupied territories. Accordingly, by visiting these territories from the Russian side, you are breaking the law.
Story
The history of the cave begins in 1960, in which it was discovered and studied to a depth of 95 meters by a group of enthusiastic speleologists from the Bagrationi Institute of Geography. Immediately after the opening of the cave, it was given the name of Kruber, the founder of Russian karst studies. By the way, since you like caves, maybe you’ll be interested in the mountains? We invite you to the Georgian resort of Sairme, where there is a wonderful mild climate all year round.
The cave was explored for the second time in 1968 by an expedition of speleologists from Krasnoyarsk. The explored length of the cave increased to 210 meters. She gave the cave a second name - Siberian.
In the 80s of the 20th century, speleologists from Kyiv studied the cave. After this expedition, the explored depth of the cave was 340 meters. Scientists gave the cave another name: Voronya. After this, the cave began to be called Krubera-Voronya.
Exacerbation of the armed conflict in Abkhazia in 1992-1993. suspended the study of the cave for a long time. Research resumed more than 20 years later, in 1999. This year, speleologists from Kyiv made a breakthrough 700 meters deep into the cave.
At the beginning of 2001, the cave was explored by the organization of speleologists of Ukraine together with speleologists from Moscow. During the expedition, a world record was achieved - the depth of the cave was 1710 meters. Previously, the world record holders were the caves of France - Pierre Saint Martin and Jean Bernard, their depth is 1600 meters.
In 2004, during an expedition by the Ukrainian Speleological Association, a new record was set - for the first time in world history, the depth of the cave exceeded 2 km. Currently (2015) the explored depth of the cave is 2200 meters, this is the highest in the world.
About the cave
The entrance to the cave opens on Mount Arabica in the north of the Berchil ridge. The distance above sea level is 2250 meters. The cave has a karst origin of a subvertical type. It consists of a string of wells connected to each other by climbers. The depth of the greatest plumb is 152 meters.
The shortest river in the world, the Reprua, flows near the cave. Its length is 18 meters. Reprua is the coldest river in the Black Sea basin.
The cave consists of two large branches: Nekuibyshevskaya (length about 1700 meters) and Main (length reaches 2200 meters). At a depth of 1300 meters, the Main Branch diverges into a huge number of small branches.
In the deep part of the cave (1400-2150 meters) there are 8 underground tunnels through which water flows. The cave runs through a layer of limestone, which, starting from a depth of 1600 meters and below, is black in color.
The total length of the passages of the Krubera-Voronya cave exceeds 16 km.
There are no paths for tourists in the cave. Getting into the cave is possible only with a group of speleologists. Expeditions are conducted 2-3 times a year to explore the cave.
How to get there
The city closest to the cave is Gagra. The distance to it is 15 km to the southwest. You will not be able to get inside the cave on your own. This can only be done on an excursion as part of an expedition group with specialized equipment and mountaineering experience.
The Krubera-Voronya cave is of great interest among speleologists as the most deep cave in the world. Speleologists claim that 2200 meters is far from the limit for a cave; there is a possibility of conquering even greater depths.
Remember that according to Georgian legislation, Abkhazia and South Ossetia are considered occupied territories. Accordingly, by visiting these territories from the Russian side, you are breaking the law. This leads to a fine of 400-800 GEL and other troubles.
If you have a stamp in your passport about visiting these territories, it is better not to go to Georgia using this passport. If you want to visit Abkhazia or Ossetia legally, do it from the Georgian side. Get official permission and there will be no problems. More details on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia: www.mfa.gov.ge.
Gallery
There are some pretty deep caves, and over 85% of those discovered to date are above sea level!
But not these ten: they are the deepest in the world, and some of them are so deep that they can only be explored and studied with the help of radar equipment, since not a single person could survive in them...
10. Huautla Cave System, Mexico
depth - 1475 m
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9. Cehi II Cave (Čehi 2), Slovenia
depth - 1502 m
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8. Sima De La Cornisa Cave, Spain
depth - 1507 m
This cave system is famous for its 28 Neanderthal skeletons, discovered in one of the deepest parts of the cave. But how they got there without the equipment we have today is still one of the questions. greatest secrets peace.
7. Cave named after. Vyacheslav Pantyukhin (Pantyukhin Cave), Abkhazia
depth - 1508 m
In the mine. Vyacheslav Pantyukhin has 513 caves, and new ones open every year.
6. Torca Del Cerro Del Cuevón, Spain
depth - 1589 m
The Torca del Cerro cave system is a system consisting of two interconnected deep chasms. It is also a deep chasm that has claimed the lives of many cave explorers.
5. Jean Bernard Caves, France
depth - 1602 m
This cave is located in and has the highest entrance in the world. It's also pretty deep, but that goes without saying since it's on this list.
4. Mirolda Cave (Gouffre Mirolda), France
depth - 1626 m
Back in 2001, Mirolda Cave was considered the deepest in the world, but over time, deeper cave systems were discovered, which you will learn about below.
3. Lamprechtsofen Cave, Austria
depth - 1632 m
This is a cave that has been known and explored since 1701, but soon after its discovery it was walled up to prevent the invasion of treasure hunters who tried to get into it, having heard enough legends about wealth hidden by a knight named Lamprecht, who returned from the Crusades.
2. Snezhnaya Cave, Abkhazia
depth - 1753 m
Snezhnaya Cave is the general name of the cave system, which consists of interconnected caves: “Snezhnaya”, “Mezhennogo”, “Illusion”.
1. Krubera Cave, Abkhazia
depth - 2199 m
Also called Crow Cave, it is the deepest in the world today, and every time someone goes down into it using sonar, it gets deeper and deeper. The Krubera-Voronya Cave is the only known cave whose depth exceeds 2 kilometers.
Tourism is one of the main sectors of the economy of Abkhazia. All travelers come here for two things, beach and mountain tourism. Most of the attractions consist of objects natural origin, which are mainly located in mountainous areas. Among them are gardens, lakes, waterfalls and, of course, caves, which are in demand and famous in Abkhazia, as well as beyond its borders. Special attention deserves the Krubera-Voronya cave, which will be discussed further.
The Krubera-Voronya Cave is a natural site known all over the world. The reason for this is its physical size; this cave is the deepest cave currently explored in the whole world. This natural miracle reaches a depth of up to 2199 meters! Krubera-Voronya cave is located in the Arabica mountain range, Gagra ridge, in the Western Caucasus.
The Arabica massif is one of the largest and highest in the Western Caucasus. The depths of this part of the Gagra ridge are dotted with many caves, including Krubera-Voronya. Its main entrance rises at an altitude of about 2250 meters above sea level, surrounded by the Orto-Balagan tract. According to its type, the Krubera-Voronya cave is a karst cave, which was formed by the long-term activity of water dissolving the rock, which in turn led to the appearance of voids.
The Krubera-Voronya cave is subvertical and consists of a series of wells connected by galleries and climbers. Another entrance to it was opened in August 2014 and it is located three meters higher than the main one. Still, there are five entrances to the cave. Having descended to a depth of 200 meters, the “mine” branches into two main ones: the Main branch, depth up to 2196 meters, and the Nekuibyshevskaya branch, depth 1697 meters. After a level of 1300 meters, the Krubera-Voronya cave branches into many others.
The Krubera-Voronya cave contains quite deep plumbs, among which there are heights of 110, 115 and even 152 meters. Just imagine that such a plumb line can accommodate a 50-story skyscraper. More than 8 tunnels (siphons) are known in the bottom part of the cave. The bottom part of the attraction has another interesting feature, starting from a depth of 1600 meters, the limestone in which the cave is located becomes black.
Krubera-Voronya Cave was discovered in 1960. For the first time it was explored to a depth of 95 meters by an expedition led by the largest researcher of Georgian geography, honored scientist, Doctor of Geographical Sciences and Professor Levan Iosifovich Maruashvili. The cave received its name in honor of the outstanding Soviet geographer, founder of Russian karst studies, Alexander Alexandrovich Kruber.
After some time, the Krubera-Voronya cave was forgotten, but in 1968 it was explored again, but to a depth of 210 meters, by speleologists from Krasnoyarsk. The new expedition gave a new name to the natural object, Siberian Cave. Oddly enough, the cave again lost interest and was forgotten until the 1980s, when Kyiv speleologists discovered it and re-explored it to a new depth of 340 meters. This time the Krubera-Voronya cave received its new, third name, Voronya.
Subsequent descents resumed only in August 1999; the reason for such a long break was the Georgian-Abkhaz war, which cut off the Krubera-Voronya cave from free visits by speleologists. At the end of the 1990s, Kyiv speleologists reached a depth of 700 meters, which in September 2000 had already reached 1410 meters. In January 2001, members of the Ukrainian Speleological Association, together with Moscow speleologists, set a world record, reaching 1710 meters.
In subsequent years, the Krubera-Voronya cave became a place of rivalry between the two teams. In August 2003, the Russian Cavex team passed the fourth siphon and stopped at a depth of 1680 meters, where it then had free continuation. A year later, the same team set a new world record at 1775 meters.
A month later, the Ukrainian Speleological Association explored another branch of the Krubera-Voronya cave, and again set a world record of 1840 meters, and on October 19, for the first time in the history of speleology, the 2-kilometer limit was overcome - 2080 meters. All subsequent expeditions of the rival teams consisted of diving bottom tunnels (siphons), each time increasing the depth.
On August 10, 2013, the Krubera-Voronya cave became known for a new record of 2197 meters, set by a teacher and speleologist from Simferopol, Gennady Viktorovich Samokhin. And in 2014, a new entrance was passed, located 2 meters lower from the main one, which increased the depth of the system to 2199 meters, with a total length of 16058 meters. So every year more and more expeditions come, exploring the subsoil, discovering something new, and who knows, maybe the numbers 2199 and 16058 meters are not the limit.
There are some pretty deep caves, and over 85% of those discovered to date are above sea level!
But not these ten: they are the deepest in the world, and some of them are so deep that they can only be explored and studied with the help of radar equipment, since not a single person could survive in them...
10. Huautla Cave System, Mexico
depth - 1475 m
It's a cave system that is said to have endless passages, waterfalls as tall as a 60-story skyscraper, and true natural wonders such as a huge 90-meter cavity called the Aphrodite Hall.
9. Cehi II Cave (Čehi 2), Slovenia
depth - 1502 m
In Slovenia, all caves are considered national property and are protected by law, even if they happen to be located on privately owned land!
8. Sima De La Cornisa Cave, Spain
depth - 1507 m
This cave system is famous for its 28 Neanderthal skeletons, discovered in one of the deepest parts of the cave. But how they got there without the equipment we have today is still one of the world's greatest mysteries.
7. Cave named after. Vyacheslav Pantyukhin (Pantyukhin Cave), Abkhazia
depth - 1508 m
In the mine. Vyacheslav Pantyukhin has 513 caves, and new ones open every year.
6. Torca Del Cerro Del Cuevón, Spain
depth - 1589 m
The Torca del Cerro cave system is a system consisting of two interconnected deep chasms. It is also a deep chasm that has claimed the lives of many cave explorers.
5. Jean Bernard Caves, France
depth - 1602 m
This cave is located in the Alps and has the highest entrance in the world. It's also pretty deep, but that goes without saying since it's on this list.
4. Mirolda Cave (Gouffre Mirolda), France
depth - 1626 m
Back in 2001, Mirolda Cave was considered the deepest in the world, but over time, deeper cave systems were discovered, which you will learn about below.
3. Lamprechtsofen Cave, Austria
depth - 1632 m
This is a cave that has been known and explored since 1701, but soon after its discovery it was walled up to prevent the invasion of treasure hunters who tried to get into it, having heard enough legends about wealth hidden by a knight named Lamprecht, who returned from the Crusades.
2. Snezhnaya Cave, Abkhazia
depth - 1753 m
Snezhnaya Cave is the general name of the cave system, which consists of interconnected caves: “Snezhnaya”, “Mezhennogo”, “Illusion”.
1. Krubera Cave, Abkhazia
depth - 2199 m
Also called Crow Cave, it is the deepest in the world today, and every time someone goes down into it using sonar, it gets deeper and deeper. The Krubera-Voronya Cave is the only known cave whose depth exceeds 2 kilometers.
The Krubera-Voronya cave, which is located in Abkhazia, is the deepest in the world. It is located in the Arabica mountain range, its depth is 2190 meters. deepest karst cave is a series of numerous wells connected by galleries and climbs.
This “abyss” has an entrance that is located above two thousand meters above sea level. From a depth of about 1000 meters, the central branch branches, going further into the depths with its numerous “tentacles”.
The Krubera-Voronya cave holds more than one world record. Her groundwater give birth to the shortest river on the planet - Reprua, which is only 18 meters long. After its short run, it flows into the Black Sea.
The deepest cave in the world is the Krubera-Voronya cave.
The most interesting fact associated with the “bottomless cave” is that it is home to an animal from a series of springtails that existed 450 million years ago. Scientists discovered it at a depth of 1980 meters and gave this underground inhabitant the name Plutomurus ortobalaganensis. I would like to note that no one lives deeper than this creature in the world.
The cave was first discovered and explored by speleologists from Georgia in 1960. They studied it to a depth of 95 meters. Then the cave received its first name in honor of A.A. Kruber, who was the father of Russian karstology. Many expeditions sank deeper and deeper underground, reaching new heights. These people don't lack courage. Their courage was rewarded with more and more interesting discoveries.
Krubera-Voronya cave in Abkhazia.
The second part of the name, Voronya, was given to the cave in the mid-80s of the 20th century. This is what Kyiv speleologists called it, who explored the cave to a depth of 340 meters. To date, the diving record in Krubera-Voronya belongs to speleologist from Ukraine Gennady Samokhin. He managed to descend to a depth of 2191 meters in 2007.
USA expedition to the Krubera-Voronya cave, August 2004. Video.
