HOW IT WAS. F. Nedosekin.

To the opening of the cave under the cathedral in Trubchevsk. In 1926 I was already in the 6th grade and was elected secretary of the local history circle at school. In the vicinity of Trubchevsk, at a distance of 25-30 km, I was familiar with the nearby villages, rivers and forest lands.

As an activist-ethnographer, at the invitation of the director of the museum Porshnyakov, he took part in the excavations near the village of Khatyanovka, the mammoth encampment. This interesting work lasted more than 2 weeks. All finds: bones, tusks, tools were carefully packed and sent to Leningrad at the direction of Academician Belyaeva. I didn't stay at home. So it was in May 1926. There was a festive demonstration on the occasion of May 1st. Spring is in full swing. The Desna River overflowed and overflowed its banks. Without waiting for the end of the celebration, I was drawn to the city park to the river. The steep slope down to the river was difficult, but I decided to try it anyway. And so, going down the slope, and then along the steep slope of the town, 15 meters from the last tree, my foot fell into some kind of hole. I can't describe my fear. This had never happened to me before, there was nothing to hold on to, and the leg had to be released. And the more I moved one leg, the more the hole in the hole widened.

Having got my festive costume dirty, I still stayed on this cooler one. I myself resisted, but my new cap was already floating in the water. While tearing the hole in the hole with my hands, I still stood with both feet on the bottom of the hole. So, within 30-40 m (minutes - Ed.), I nevertheless became at the bottom of the pit. Later I saw that it was not a pit, but a cave. I made such a hole that I could crawl into the cave. The cave turned out to be more than 2 m high with a semicircular vault up to 2 m wide. I walked 4-5 m along it, stopped and realized that it was impossible to move on - it was dark. Crawled to the surface smeared. With great difficulty I climbed into the city park. Tired and smeared with wet clay, I came home, my father gave me the "first number". But after my story about my adventures, anger changed to mercy. I became interested and kind.

The next day I organized an "expedition" to the cave: brother Sasha, Vadim Nuzhnov, Oleg Grashinsky and Pavlik Ionchik. We took with us "grubs", a reliable rope 20-25 m long, an ax, two shovels, a kerosene lantern and a large bag. To enter the cave, I had to make steps on a steep descent, tying myself with a rope, I was the first to go down to the cave. The guys were holding the other end of the rope tightly. And so, gradually, step by step, all the guys got over to the mouth of the cave. The work was in full swing. The cave was dug in full profile, and an inspection of the cave began. The ceilings and walls of the cave were tapped step by step. Pits 0.5-1 m deep were made every meter. The cave was an adit with a length of, as it seemed to us, 30-35 m. On the walls, rhombuses, squares and rectangles were cut in the correct form, the side of which was 1-2 cm. And the only thing the word was scribbled with a sharp object "AVVA". At the entrance to the cave, charred bones (apparently domestic animals), coals and ashes of a fire were found. Our exploration of the cave lasted almost 6 hours. Exhausted, tired and smeared with clay, we trudged through the city center to our homes. At home our family and friends listened to our story. A few days later, the whole city knew about the discovery of the caves, and later the nearby villages.

Museum Director in 1919-1928 - Porshnyakov G.M.

The next day I went to the director of the museum, Porshnyakov, and told about everything that had happened the day before. The director of the museum wished to personally inspect the cave. And again the same company went to "storm" the cave. The director of the Porshnyakov Museum is a very obese man, elderly, and we had to widen the path to the cave. He was pleased with what he saw, only drew attention to the floor of the cave. We dug it up a lot. After inspecting the cave, an act was drawn up. One copy was sent by Porshnyakov to the Academy of Sciences, and the second copy was left in the museum. The news of the discovery of the cave by me spread throughout the city of Trubchevsk and its environs. The holy fathers of the city believed that this was the cave of "the life of the Monk Nile. The population of the area came to see the cave and take a handful of the" holy land "from there, and I was numbered among the Holy Fathers. Later, when I left to study in Moscow, rumors circulated around Trubchevsk that I found a treasure in this cave. Unfortunately, this was not the case, although we dug holes in the cave, hoping to find something similar. What value this pepera had for Trubchevsk - I don’t know, and after my departure to Moscow I lost connection with the museum The director of the museum Porshnyakov then expressed two assumptions;

1. The cave was an observation post for the approach of enemy ships to the city of Trubchevsk (XVI-XVII centuries)

2. A hermit monk lived in a cave.


F. Nedosekin in Trubchevsk visiting Levenkov on Lenin street with K. Portsevsky, O. Levenk, F. Prostakov. June 16, 1990

When I was in Trubchevsk in 1992, the entrance to the cave was blocked up and there was no sign of its existence. The management of the Trubchevsky Museum of Local Lore should pay attention to this historical monument of the city. Nedosekin F.A.., a resident of Trubchevsk (1913 to 1928) Moscow, We have deliberately removed the full address of residence (Ed.).


- In 1936, together with the director of the museum, Vs. Prot. Levenkom to inspect the cave, but something new was not found, and the inscription, which the author cites, was not found. Carved into a cave ... (inaudible) with a sharp spatula, has a vaulted ceiling. The work of a hermit monk?

04.24.1973 V. Padin.


- In 1929, May 15. Students of the Trubchevskaya secondary school of the 2nd foot: G. Germanov, O. Grashinskiy, A. Nedosekin, F. Nedosekin opened an underground passage deep into the mountain in Trubchevskaya Cathedral Mountain.

V.P. Levenok 1979.

cave in the park

Alternative descriptions

Yakov (1812-1893) Russian philologist, academician

Natural or artificial cave

Mor. the lowest straight sail on the mainmast

On the yacht - the main sail, the leading edge (luff) of which is supported by the mast

Shallow cave with a wide entrance

One of the main sails on the sloop

A park structure imitating such a cave

Sail, mast

A cave, an excavation in a rock with a flat bottom and a wide entrance

Slightly outlined cave

Shallow cave

Lower sail on the second mast from the bow

Artificial cave

Baby cave

Both the sail and the mast

Park cave

Small cave

Mini cave

Sail or mast

Mizzen-mast and ...- mast

Bottom sail on the second mast

Inverted bargaining

Lovers' cave

Expansion of the cave after the passage

Artificial decorative cave

Expanded. caves after passage

Small cave, niche in the glacier

Small cave

Coastal cave

Park imitation cave

Karst landform

Cave for a nymph

Coastal cave

Cave

Vaulted cave

Natural or artificial cave

Shallow cave with a wide entrance

Russian philologist (1812-1893)

M. Morsk. on sailing ships, large straight sail, on the lower yarn of the middle mast; oblique or storm mainsail, triangular sail at the bottom of the same mast, during a strong storm; on rowing ships: almost the same, big sail on the middle mast. To explain the complex words of this beginning, let's say that the mainmast is called the middle one, and where there are two of them, usually the rear (of three masts, the foresail, in compound words for odds; rear mizzen, in compound words beguigne and cruse); all accessories of the mast armament bear, for each, one name, but the name of the mast is placed in front of it. So the first guide or attachment of the mainmast: mainsail; second: grotto-brahm-stena; the third, grot-bom-bram-sanga; its tip, a mainsail-flagpole, on which a flat head is a clot, a clot. First platform, gazebo, poop on the mast, main mars; the second, on the wall, is the mainsailing; the third, grot-bom-saling; transverse trees or yards, to tie sails to them, lower mainsail; the second, the grotto-marsa-ray; the third, grotto-brahm-ray; fourth, grotto-bom-bram-ray. the ends (knots) of the lower and mars-yards, more poles are shot, for additional side sails (foxes) these are fox-spirits; bottom two: grotto-lissel-alcohols; and on marsa-ray grotto-marsa-fox-alcohols. Resinated or standing rigging, for strengthening the mast from the sides: cables, and for the wall and extensions of its cables (ladder), for-dunes and backstays; front stays; These tackles are named after the mast, wall, etc., to which they belong, for example. main-stay, main-wall-stay, main-bram-stay, main-head, main-wall-head, etc. Running rigging gets its name from the sail; the lower sail on the mainmast: mainsail, main topsail on the wall, mainsail on the mainsail; these names correspond to rheums (see above). The sail is lifted by a halyard, stretched at the bottom at the corners with sheets (some sails have a windward sheet called a tack), pulled into the wind by a bowline, picked up by gits (and gorden), and each of these gears is called by the sail, for example. mainsheet-sheet, mainsail-marsa-sheet, mainsail-brahm-sheet; grotto-marsa-bulen; mainsail-bom-bram-fal, etc. Rheas are raised by halyards (the lower ones hang constantly on borg-slings), supported from the ends (knots) by toppers, turn into braces; all these tackles are named after the yard: mainsail-marsa-bras, mainsail-brahm-topping, etc. Staysails are called oblique sails, without yarns; they are raised by the halyards along the line and are named after the mast, stena, bram-stena, etc., to which they adjoin with one side (shkatirinoy); and the tackle with them, also called by them, the same sheets and gits: fock-brahm-staysail-halyard, sheet, etc. Main hatch m. Entrance, manhole in all decks, in front of the mainmast

M. cave, nativity scene, exit, basement, underground, dug and decorated or natural. Grotto entrance

Cave with a wide entrance

Bargaining from end to beginning

Shallow. wide-entrance cave

Unique natural masterpieces have always attracted people, and the mysterious caves for many centuries have been a reliable shelter from bad weather and a place where various rituals were performed. The miraculous speleological monuments, which have a special charm, are full of mysteries, and every year more and more tourists want to make fascinating trips to the underground kingdom in order to experience new sensations and see the fairy world with their own eyes.

Where is the Mammoth Cave?

One of the most interesting miraculous works is located in Kentucky (USA), south of Louisville, on the banks of the Green River. The cave stretching for several hundred kilometers, consisting of an extensive system of intricate corridors, deep pits and spacious halls on five levels, is a karst one. Many millions of years ago, soft rocks were gradually washed away by waters, voids were formed in the limestone in the form of gigantic grottoes, connected by several passages, and some of them broke off into natural wells. The lower level is inaccessible for study, where underground rivers flow, and the halls are filled with water.

Lying in limestone layers beneath the Flint mountain range, Mammoth Cave, which is over 627 kilometers long, is the longest on our planet. However, every year cavers exploring underground grottoes map out new openings on the map.

Description of a natural masterpiece

Despite its name, the mysterious Mammoth Cave, formed over 10 million years ago as a result of karsting in a limestone layer, has nothing to do with extinct animals. Mammoth Cave got its name due to its gigantic size, since the word mammoth is translated not only as "mammoth", but also "giant". According to scientists, the Indians who lived in the Ohio Valley have long known about the existence of underground labyrinths and first visited them more than four thousand years ago. They used dark grottoes for performing funeral rites, and this fact is evidenced by the finds discovered by scientists - burials with well-preserved mummies and wall petroglyphs.

The Mammoth Cave in Kentucky is always dry because it is protected from water by a thick layer of sandstone that seals it like a lid. Visitors have a unique opportunity to walk along the five levels of the sight, into which new passages are deliberately pierced, equipped with lifts for the convenience of tourists. The dungeon corridors are so huge that a powerful river system was formed in it, and groundwater found channels at the very base of the cave.

History of the discovery of Mammoth Cave

In 1797, hunters, the Hutchins brothers, chasing a wounded animal, accidentally find a mysterious hole that led deep into the cliff. Returning with torches, they make their way along an underground corridor to a spacious hall, from which multiple branches-labyrinths begin. Fearing to get lost, residents return home, announcing unexpected finds: near the entrance to the Mammoth Cave, they found the mummy of a man crushed by a huge boulder. The body and clothing of the Indian, who died about two thousand years ago, were in excellent condition.

Saltpeter production and tourism business

A year later, entrepreneurs engaged in the extraction of potassium nitrate buy out the cave and build a small plant for its production here. At that time, there was a war between the United States and Britain, and the American troops were in dire need of gunpowder. And the thing is that saltpeter, which instantly skyrocketed in price, is its important component. Several dozen slaves worked around the clock in the gloomy dungeons, but after the end of hostilities, the demand for potassium nitrate falls, and the owners permanently close the plant and begin organizing tourist excursions to mysterious caves.

In 1838, the miraculous miracle of nature was acquired by the new owner F. Gorin, who continued to do business. His slave S. Bishop, who became a guide for visitors, explores the corridors and halls of the Mammoth Cave in North America and even names many of them. Finding that the underground galleries are much longer than previously thought, he maps more than 16 kilometers of underground passages, and this invaluable information was used by other researchers for many years. By the way, Bishop, who died a year after he was granted freedom, is buried on the territory of the complex.

National park formation

By the end of the 19th century, the local landmark became famous, and after a railway was laid in the local area and a steamship was opened, the flow of tourists increased several times. The Kentucky authorities in the 20s of the last century buy out all the land in the vicinity from the last owner natural miracle and through the courts they evict farmers who did not want to leave their homes.

1941 becomes the year of the formation of the national park called "Mammoth Cave" (Mammoth Cave National Park), which is visited by two million tourists a year. Soon, UNESCO takes the natural complex under protection, and 27 years ago it was assigned the status of a biosphere reserve.

Now on its territory, which occupies more than 21 hectares, free routes have been laid for tourists, where they can get acquainted with the history of the park and have an interesting time. Research on a unique work of nature continues to this day, and both government agencies and private funds that protect the environment are involved in their financing.

What does the miraculous monument hide?

The entrance to the Mammoth Cave is not visible at first glance: it is an inconspicuous iron door in the rock. Tourists descend a vertical shaft along a rather narrow staircase, after which they find themselves in a spacious hall and walk along a limestone corridor called Broadway. Reaching 15 kilometers in length, it resembles a mysterious tunnel with many exits with a semicircular arch.

Through a wide alley, visitors reach the small river Echo, which cuts through the underground and bursts out. Previously, everyone could swim in a boat on an underground lake 10 meters deep, where any sound reflected from the walls changes beyond recognition. Next is the Concert Hall, where violinists often perform, and the Frozen Niagara grotto will amaze you with frozen limestone formations of bizarre shapes that excite the imagination of every visitor.

A new passage leads to a round Church Hall with a stepped floor, followed by a Gothic Gallery about a kilometer long. It ends with the Star Grotto, which got its name from the small blotches of shining quartz crystals on the vaults of the cave. Having crossed Lake Leta, tourists disembark on the other side and pass the Great Alley, where you can see an incredible number of stalactites and stalagmites.

Scary entertainment

At the end of the excursion, everyone will have compulsory entertainment: the lights suddenly turn off and tourists remain in complete darkness to understand from their own experience what total darkness is. The sheer haze creates an unusual effect of the infinity of underground labyrinths. However, time passes, and tourists rejoice at the newly activated illumination like children.

Strict rules of conduct in the underworld

Visitors gather near the information center, with whom the initial instructions are given and the rules of conduct in the cave are read. One interesting point is the warning that any writing on the walls of a dungeon is a federal crime. In addition, it is forbidden to take pictures with a flash, use a tripod, or take anything out of the cave. The group is necessarily accompanied by two rangers: one goes in front, turning on the light, and the other makes sure that no one lags behind.

After the end of the excursion and leaving the Mammoth Cave, tourists treat the soles with a special agent that prevents the disease, which is deadly for the bats living in the park.

Excursions for every taste

The extensive underground system is also a popular tourist attraction. It is easy to breathe here, as the air is very dry, in addition, numerous shafts provide powerful ventilation around the clock. Access is open here all year round, but in the period from the beginning of autumn to the end of winter, the number of excursions decreases. You cannot get inside the grottoes on your own to explore them, so it is necessary to book tours in advance.

Sightseeing tours offered by the Mammoth Cave Park last from one to six hours. There are a variety of routes, from easy, designed for beginners, to difficult, requiring special training. There are also educational excursions, where those who wish are introduced to how saltpeter was previously mined here.

You can also go on a fascinating journey through the darkest corners of the dungeon, where tourists carry kerosene lamps to illuminate their path, and all extreme lovers are delighted with the route in which visitors are allowed to independently master the dusty, unexplored passages.

Numerous underground rooms are named after celebrities. So, here is the Washington Hall, the Styx River, the "Fat Man's Suffering" and "Giant's Coffin" corridors, the Mouse Grotto.

At the request of ecologists, boat excursions were canceled several years ago: they did not bring profit, but caused serious harm to the river fauna.

To prevent visitors from spoiling the walls by carving words or drawings on them, the administration of the Mamontova Cave National Park has created a special grotto where everyone can leave a small mention of themselves - the Recording Hall.

Many directors making films about cavers have asked permission from the administration to capture the beauty of the underground labyrinths on film. And everyone received a hard refusal, since the soffits would have heated the air greatly, thereby violating the fragile microclimate.

In the last century, cavers discovered other underground kingdoms near the place where the Mammoth Cave is located, proving that they are closely connected with each other by intricate labyrinths.

At the beginning of the last century, concerts of jazz bands in grottoes with excellent acoustics were especially popular, as well as memorable wedding ceremonies.

How to get there, cost and opening hours

Tourists who are going to visit the miraculous monument have a logical question: "How to get to the Mammoth Cave?" You can reach it by car, moving from the north along the highways 31W, 31E, I-65. The large city that is closest to the underworld is Louisville, and a miniature Brownsville is located on the border of the national park.

The cost of the trip is 5 dollars, and the excursion around the cave is 14. However, not all the underground labyrinths can be visited by tourists. So, to get into the "Frozen Niagara" hall, you will have to pay $ 13, and you can see the shimmering crystals of the Star Grotto for $ 14.

Fans of long journeys choose the "Wild Cave Tour", the price of which ($ 55) includes a visit to all the labyrinths on five tiers. There are good discounts for children and seniors.

Mammoth Cave National Park is open from 8:00 to 18:00 in summer and from 8:00 to 16:00 in winter on all days except December 25. On its territory there is a restaurant offering delicious dishes national cuisineand a cozy hotel awaits everyone who wants to stay to feel the unusual atmosphere.

Carlsbad Caves is a national park founded in the first half of the 20th century on the territory of the picturesque Guadalupe Mountains, in the southeast of the North American state of New Mexico. The park is a unique karst landscape, where over a hundred different caves have been discovered today. These caves are famous for their grandiose size and colorful variety of characteristic mineral formations, which often take on very bizarre forms.

The history of the Carlsbad Caves is over two hundred and fifty million years old, some of them are three hundred meters deep, and the total length of their slopes and halls exceeds the mark of twelve kilometers. The area of \u200b\u200bthe largest of the local caves, which is called the Big Room, reaches six hectares. This cave has a longitudinal shape with a length of six hundred meters, a width of three hundred meters and a wall height of 90 meters.

Carlsbad Caves National Park is located in the Guadalupe Mountains, a mountain range that stretches from western Texas to southeastern New Mexico. The height above sea level ranges from 1095 m in its lowest part to 1987 m in the highest. Although the park has areas of forested upland areas, the park area is mainly covered with grass and desert shrubs.

The location of the national park at the intersection of the northern Chiguauan Desert, the southern Rocky Mountains, and the southwestern Great Plains biogeographic provinces contributes to the diversity of the natural habitat of the animal world. The deserts southwestward contain some of the tallest species of mammals, birds, reptiles, and insects in the United States. The park is an important habitat for some predators, in particular cougars, and is also home to one of the largest colonies of cave swallows in the northern hemisphere. The Carlsbad Caves Zone is a significant habitat for a huge colony of Mexican tailless bats, where new offspring are born, and migratory bats stop.

The Chihuahuan Desert is the largest and wettest desert in North America. Much of this desert is located in Mexico and the park is one of the few places where it is protected and protected. The park receives an average of 366 mm of precipitation per year; the climate is continental, semi-arid with mild winters and sultry summers. The average annual temperature is 19 º C.

A special place in the Carlsbad Caves National Park is Ruttlesnake Springs - an area covered with forest around the current year-round spring, which contributes to the diversity of the animal world. Rattlesnake Springs Spring (Rattlesnake Spring) and the area adjacent to the spring have been designated by the National Audubon Society (the National Audubon Society is an American non-profit environmental organization whose activities are focused on wildlife conservation and bird research) as a significant habitat birds. This area attracts poultry farmers from all over the world who want to see some of the more than 300 bird species living there. At the moment, the park has 67 species of mammals (including 17 species of bats), 357 species of birds, 55 different reptiles and amphibians, 5 species of fish, more than 600 insects.

The plant communities of the Carlsbad Caves National Park are diverse and, in some cases, unique. The park has about 900 species and subspecies of vascular plants. The park's diverse ecosystem provides habitat for many plants that are geographically within their area of \u200b\u200bdistribution. For example, the yellow pine reaches its extreme eastern border here, and the dwarf chestnut oak (chinkapin oak) is located at the westernmost border of its range.

The Chihuahuan Desert has the largest variety of cacti of any region. Experts believe that this plant originated here, or to the south of this region, and then spread throughout the New World. The list of vascular plants in the park includes 26 species or subspecies of cacti.

The underground voids are one of the most important geological resources in the United States. The Guadalupe Mountains are an uplifted part of the ancient reefs that abounded in this part along the inland sea more than 250 million years ago during the Permian period. The rock contains the remains of sea sponges, algae, snails, molluscs and other living creatures that lived in this ancient sea. Scientists from all over the world visit the park every year to study the structure and fauna of the reef.

The most famous of all the geological features in the park are the caves. The national park includes 116 caves, the most famous of which are the Carlsbad Caverns (or Carlsbad Cavern). It receives over 300,000 tourists annually and provides its visitors with a rare opportunity to look at the underworld, above which is the desert.

More than 1000 years ago, prehistoric Indians ventured into the Carlsbad caves in search of shelter. They left behind some mysterious drawings on the walls of the caves near the exit. Much later, in 1898, teenager Jim White accidentally opened the entrance to Carlsbad Cave. While searching for strayed livestock, Jim saw a huge number of bats flying from the desert hill. He went to a huge hole in the ground and described what he saw: "I was looking into a huge black hole ... in which the mice seemed to literally boil." Going down into the cave, Jim described his impressions as follows: “I walked until I found myself in the space of grandiose stalagmites. It was my first cave that I entered, and my first stalagmite that I have ever seen, but my intuition told me that there was no other similar place in the world that could be compared with this environment.

Jim White explored the caves using handcrafted wire ladders. When he grew older, most people did not even believe that such caves existed. He gave the name to many rooms, including the Great Room, the King's Palace, the Queen's Chamber, and the Green Lake Room. He also gave names to many notable cave formations, such as Witch's Finger, Giant Dome, Abyss, Fairy Land, Temple of the Sun and others. Jim tried to show this unique place to other people, but only a few really believed in the existence of huge underground cavities filled with unusual cave formations.

Only photographs convinced skeptics that amazing caves really exist. Demonstrated in the city of Carlsbad in 1915, they caused a real sensation. Immediately there were many who wanted to see the amazing caves with their own eyes.

The fame of the caves spread quickly and reached the city of Washington. In 1923, the US Department of the Interior dispatched Inspector Robert Holley to investigate and make sure that the caves are indeed a beautiful natural setting. Initially a skeptic, Holly described his impressions as follows: "... I am fully aware of the futility of my efforts to convey conflicting emotions, a sense of fear and good fortune, the desire to understand the work of the Creator, who presented such a complex complex of natural wonders to human eyes."

On October 25, 1923, US President Calvin Coolidge signed a decree establishing the Carlsbad Caves National Monument.

On May 14, 1930, the Carlsbad Caves National Park was established by Act of Congress of the United States, administered by the National Park Service.

The study of the caves of Carlsbad has been going on constantly since that time. Experienced underground explorers, cavers, scientists became Christophers Columbus of today, traveling beyond the unknown. The caves attract many specialists who want to shed light on some of its secrets. Teams of cavers, well versed in safe research methods, continue to discover new, unexplored caves. Their finds include the Guadalupe Room, the second largest room in the Carlsbad Cavern, and the exceptionally bright and ornate Bifrost Room.

The national park is one of the largest in its abundance, diversity and beauty of mineral formations. The park has 116 caves, which are among the largest underground chambers in the world. The main attraction of the park is a complex of 80 Carlsbad caves, with a high diversity and aesthetic appearance of mineral formations. The age of the formation is approximately 4-6 million years, the depth is up to 339 m, the total length of all passages and halls is about 12 km. Almost 5 km of paths have been laid along the territory of the caves, thanks to which numerous tourists explore the beauty of this amazing corner of nature. The largest cave is the Big Room, which is 1219m long, 190.5m wide, and about 107m high at the highest point. It is the third largest cave in North America and the seventh largest in the world. In total, it is equal to 14 football fields.

Most of the caves on our planet were formed by rainwater, which slowly dissolved limestone. Usually, water penetrates through cracks and sinkholes, gradually transforming into underground streams and rivers, carving out complex cave systems. Carlsbad caves were not hewn out by running water and streams like many limestone caves in the world, but were formed under the influence of very aggressive sulfuric acid.

From 4 to 6 million years ago, water rich in hydrogen sulfide (H2S) began to penetrate through cracks and fractures into limestone. This water, mixing with rainwater, penetrated into the thickness of the earth's crust. When the two types of water mix, H2S, combined with the oxygen that was present in the rainwater, is converted to sulfuric acid (H2SO4). This acid dissolved limestone along cracks and folds in the rock, thus forming the Carlsbad Caves. This process left behind massive deposits of gypsum, clay, and sediment as evidence of how the caves were formed. About 4 million years ago, the processes of speleogenesis in the area called the Carlsbad Caves stopped, and the caves acquired the appearance that we can observe today.

The caves were once at the bottom of the sea, covered with a coral reef. Therefore, the limestone rocks that the caves contain are full of marine fossil plants and animals.

In addition to the 80 Karlsbad caves, in the territory of the national park, tourists can only access the Slaughter Canyon Cave, which also has impressive geological formations. There are no paved paths or lighting, and tourists can take an organized guided tour with a National Park Ranger.

Today, Lechuguilla Cave, discovered in 1986, is at the center of exploration by cavers in the national park. Its depth is 490m, making it the deepest limestone cave in the United States. It is closed to the public, and the exact location of its entrance is relatively hidden information in order to keep the cave intact.

Until 1986, Lechugia Cave did not enjoy much interest among visitors to the Carlsbad Caves National Park. It had a 30 meter entrance, which led to a depth of almost 130 meters and ended in a dead-end ending. In the 1950s, cavers heard the roar of the wind from the bottom of the cave covered with rubble. Various experts have come to the conclusion that there is a cave corridor under the rubble. A group of Colorado cavers received permission from the National Park Service to excavate in 1984. The opening of a large underground passage took place on May 26, 1986.

This was followed by one of the most exciting explorations of one of the planet's most famous cave. Since 1986, researchers have mapped over 180 km of passages, establishing the depth of the cave at 490m. Lechugia Cave is ranked 5th in the longest cave category in the world (third in the United States) and is the deepest in the United States. Cavers, attracted by unexplored passages and unprecedented beauty, come here from all over the world to explore.

Lechugia Cave is unusual not only due to its huge size. Cavers discovered a large amount of gypsum and lemon-yellow sulfur deposits here. A fantastic set of rare speleothems (speleothems are mineral deposits that formed in caves as a result of dripping water), some of them are unique. Lechugia Cave surpasses its sister, Carlsbad Cave, in size, depth, and variety of speleothems, although there are no rooms that can match the huge Great Room of the Carlsbad Cave. Lechugia Cave is a true underground laboratory where geological processes can be investigated based on a virtually untouched environment.

The evening flight of Mexican free-tailed bats from the entrance and exit of the Carlsbad Cave is one of the main attractions of the national park. Tailless bats live only in colonies and feed only on insects. The bat colony in Carlsbad is composed mainly of females, which give birth from June to July, and migrate to Mexico for the winter in October.

The park is home to 17 species of bats, including a large number of Mexican tailless bats. It has been estimated that the population of Mexican tailless bats once numbered in the millions, but has declined dramatically in the modern era. Recently, their population has increased slightly, but it cannot compare with what it was before. Many methods have been used to estimate their numbers in a cave. The most recent and most successful of these efforts involve the use of thermal imaging cameras to track their numbers. According to 2005 data, their number was 793,000.

Mexican tailless bats live here from April to late October or early November. From the cave, they fly out in a dense group, move upward in a spiral in a counterclockwise direction, as a rule, starting at sunset; the departure takes about 3 hours. Bats have a complex locating system so they never collide with each other. An amphitheater has been built at the entrance to the cave, where visitors to the national park, beginning on Memorial Day (Memorial Day is a national holiday in the United States and is dedicated to the memory of American soldiers who died in armed conflicts or wars with the participation of the United States. It is celebrated annually on the last Monday in May) , and until mid-October, they listen to the ranger's stories about bats, and the audience is waiting for the moment when the mice begin their appearance from the cave.

The most impressive flights of bats take place in August and September. At this time, new offspring, born in early summer, join their older relatives, and then they all migrate south together.

Daily pre-dawn bats comebacks are different from evening departures, but they are also impressive. Those who watch the morning return witness how the bats dive from a height of hundreds of meters into the opening of the cave entrance. The speed of some of them can reach 40 km / h and more.

The park is open to the public all year round, but most tourists come here mainly in summer, on weekends and holidays. The lowest visit is in January. Carlsbad Caves National Park is open 24/7, except for Christmas Day. Tourists are offered the choice of going down to the cave to a depth of 230 meters on their own or using the installed elevators.

El Paso is the closest large city to the national park, the distance from which is about 190 km.

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The opening of the ice cave is scheduled for the last days of February. Now experts are building up the ice and finishing all the technical details associated with its further content inside. According to official comments, the Ice Cave will be open all year round in the future.

Zaryadye Park is located in the very center of Moscow: between Kitaygorodsky passage, Varvarka and Moskvoretskaya embankment. It was erected on the site of the Rossiya Hotel. The entrance to the park itself is free for everyone. Only paid rides.

Zaryadye Park ticket price Ice Cave, opening hours: Freezing of the ice cave has begun in Zaryadye Park

The structure with columns, labyrinths and arches with an area of \u200b\u200b350 square meters will be available all year round at the Conservation Embassy pavilion. The height of the "glacier", which will allow guests to plunge into the atmosphere of the Arctic, will reach six meters. It is planned to open it for visitors at the end of this winter.

“The structure of the ice cave consists of curved metal pipes with a total length of 15 kilometers. About eight tons of special coolant circulates inside. The temperature in the cave will vary from minus five to minus eight degrees Celsius, ”said the chief architect of Moscow, Sergei Kuznetsov.

The author of the project and artist Alexander Ponomarev noted that the special equipment that supplies the coolant was placed under the "glacier". New layers of frost are artificially frozen on the walls, ceiling and floor of the cave, which is then transformed into ice. The ice cover will be completely formed in about a month and a half. In total, it is planned to freeze about 70 tons of ice during this time.

Zaryadye Park ticket price Ice Cave, opening hours: how to get there, where is the park

Zaryadye pavilions are open from 14:00 to 20:00 on Mondays and from 10:00 to 20:00 from Tuesday to Sunday. The park itself switched to round-the-clock operation on October 27 last year.

The idea of \u200b\u200bthe Zaryadye Park - Russia in miniature, is a kind of open-air museum, which created landscape zones of four climatic zones - the northern landscape (tundra) and forest, steppe zone and flooded meadows. Moreover, each zone maintains its own microclimate.

The park is located between Varvarka Street and Moskvoretskaya Street, Kitaygorodsky Proezd and Moskvoretskaya Embankment.

You can get to the park by metro, car or public land transport:

There are four metro stations near the park: Okhotny Ryad, Teatralnaya, Revolution Square and Kitai-Gorod. There are different routes from the metro to the park.

From the Okhotny Ryad metro station (exit # 7 - to the Museum of the Patriotic War of 1812) you need to go straight all the time: past the Historical Museum, along the entire Red Square and past St. Basil's Cathedral.

From the Teatralnaya metro station (exit No. 10 - to the Museum of the Patriotic War of 1812) you need to walk along Bogoyavlensky lane, then along Rybny lane (past Gostiny Dvor) to Varvarka street.

From the Ploschad Revolyutsii metro station (exit No. 11 - to Bogoyavlensky lane) you need to walk along Bogoyavlensky lane, then along Rybny lane (past Gostiny Dvor) to Varvarka street.

From the Kitay-Gorod metro station (exit # 8 - to Slavyanskaya Square), walk along Kitaygorodsky proezd towards Moskvoretskaya embankment or along Varvarka street.

By bus, you can get to the park by different routes:

By buses М5, 158 you can get to Varvarka street (Red Square bus stop) and walk to the park entrance from Moskvoretskaya street.

By bus 255 you can get to Moskvoretskaya embankment (Zaryadye stop) and walk to the park entrance from Moskvoretskaya street.

On Slavyanskaya Square (Kitay-Gorod metro station) there is a large transport hub where buses M5, M7, M8, M9, M10, M27, 144, 904, 38, 101, 158, K, H1, H2, H3 stop. , H4, H5, H6, H7, the site became known. You can walk from Slavyanskaya Square to the park in 15 minutes (the entrance to the park is from Moskvoretskaya Street).

The park has an underground parking for 430 cars. 33 places are provided for people with limited mobility. Check-in - from Moskvoretskaya street, exit - to Kitaygorodsky passage.

Opening hours: Daily from 7:00 to 00:00. Departure - around the clock. Cost: 250 rubles per hour.

As for the work of the park itself, it is open to visitors around the clock. The pavilions are open daily from 10 am to 8 pm. On Monday, sanitary hours are held in the park, and therefore the pavilions open a little later - from 14.00 in the afternoon.

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