The hottest cave in the world. The most beautiful caves in the world

Deep underground, where the sun does not shine and people rarely appear, there lurks an unknown, mysterious world, where amazing flickering insects live, incredible gems, stone formations of magical shapes and any size, marble columns, halls and grottoes, the creator of which is not man, but nature itself.

Blue Grotto, Italy

The Blue Grotto is practically the emblem of the Italian island of Capri. This gorgeous sea ​​cave, located on the coast of the island, is known to all tourists.

The Blue Grotto is unique in that its walls glow and sparkle with blue and emerald hues. This breathtaking glow comes from two light sources: one is a small cave entrance located above the water, where bright daylight enters, and the other is a large, wide hole that is submerged in the water, from which a muted bluish light streams into the cave.

Cave of Crystals, Mexico

First, in 1910, the Cave of Swords was discovered, which is located just above the Cave of Giant Crystals. In the Cave of Swords, the crystals are much smaller, approximately one meter long, and the temperature is colder. This may be why the crystals in the upper cave stopped growing.

The Cave of Giant Crystals was discovered in 2000. Its level is covered with completely transparent faceted blocks. The cave contains the largest natural crystals ever found anywhere in the world. The largest crystal discovered here reached 12 meters in length and was 4 meters in diameter. The usual temperature in the cave is 50-58 degrees Celsius, and the humidity is 90-99%. Due to such conditions, the cave remains relatively unexplored and people without special equipment can survive in it for a maximum of 10 minutes.

Krubera Cave, Abkhazia

Krubera Cave, or Crow Cave, is located in the Caucasus Mountains and is the deepest known cave in the world. Its depth exceeds two thousand meters. The Crow Cave is called the Crow Cave because, while exploring it, speleologists had to drive away entire flocks of crows from the entrance.

Fingal's Cave, Scotland

This is a sea cave located on desert island Staffa in Scotland. It is formed entirely from hexagonal columns of basalt and was washed into the coastal rock by the flow of water. Inside, the cave resembles a Gothic temple, which is only emphasized by the size of the grotto, the high ceiling and the sounds created by the waves rolling onto the rock.

Ice cave Eisriesenwelt, Austria

The name of the cave means "World of Ice Giants". This is a limestone cave formed naturally, and it is the largest of its kind. The Eisriesenwelt extends for 42 kilometers and falls 400 meters deep. Ice is preserved in it all year round. Since the entrance to the cave is open all year, cold winds freeze the snow that falls inside. During the summer, the ice layers are preserved and do not melt due to the cold winds that circulate inside the cave.

Although the cave is relatively long, only the first thousand meters are open to tourists and are covered with ice. Most of the cave is simple limestone.

Puerto Princesa Underwater River, Philippines

Puerto Princesa - underground river, named one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature. It is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In 2010, a group of ecologists and geologists discovered that this underground river has a second floor and in the cave there are many small waterfalls and a hall with a 300-meter dome, on which you can see not only sinter formations different shapes, but also large bats. The river divides into several streams and channels and goes deep into the cave, where tourists can no longer access due to lack of oxygen.

Mammoth Cave National Park, USA

Mammoth Cave National Park is the largest cave system in the world and will likely remain so forever because surpassing the 52,830-hectare record is nearly impossible. The second largest cave system barely reaches half of this area.

The national park offers visitors several cave tours. The longest of them takes six hours and passes through the main attractions. Guests of the park also have the opportunity to go on “wild” tours, where they can see unlit parts of caves, climb dirty and dusty tunnels, and examine sinter formations in the light of lanterns shaking in their hands.

Skocjanske Jam, Slovenia

This limestone cave system is one of the most remarkable underground phenomena in the karst region of Slovenia. This cave also takes its place among the most important caves in the world and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. International scientific circles also consider it to be a natural treasure of the planet.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park, USA

This is one of the most visited cave parks in the United States. The attraction of the caves is the Great Hall - a huge grotto made of natural limestone, a kilometer long, 190 meters wide and 80 meters high.

The caves offer numerous tourist programs, including the popular bat watching. They are watched at sunset, when they fly out of the depths of the caves, and at dawn, when they fly back. You can even stay in a cave for the night, sleeping in tents or without them, but you need permission to do this.

Waitomo Cave, New Zealand

This cave is popular all over the world due to the fact that the fireflies living in it turn the ceiling of the cave into a starry sky that is directly overhead, literally.

Fireflies arachna luminosa live only in New Zealand and only in this cave. They are the size of a normal mosquito, and millions of them live in Weimoto Cave. The cave tour begins with a boat ride through an underground river, where the cave ceiling is lit only by these spectacular glowing gnats.

About ten kilometers from the city of Kuala Lumpur are the Batu caves (karst caves), with a 42-meter statue erected at the entrance in honor of the Hindu god Murugan.

Marble Caves, Chile

The main attraction of Lago General Carrera lake, the Marble Caves in bluish shades is one of the unique and beautiful places in the world, located on the border between the countries of Chile and Argentina. beautiful music for relaxation

Son Doong Cave (Hang Son Dong)

The largest and one of the most beautiful caves on the planet is located in Vietnam and is called Son Doong. The cave is striking in its scale - its height is about 200 meters, and its width is up to 150 meters.

Thamlod Cave

Located in the Thai province of Mae Hong Son, Thamlod Cave is one of the oldest in the country. It is very popular among archaeologists and tourists.

Mendenhall Glacier Caves

The picturesque Mendenhall Glacier, located in Alaska, is famous for its amazing ice caves with its own fantastic world.

Cave of Giant Crystals

In the desert of Mexico at a depth of three hundred meters lurks amazing world giant crystals.

Kyaut Sae Cave in Myanmar

Another one on the list of amazing caves is the place where a Buddhist temple was built, the Kyaut Sae cave, which amazes with its views and size.

Vatnajokull glacier and its caves

On the impressively sized Vatnajokull glacier in Europe (which means “glacier that gives water”) there are picturesque caves in the ice.

Phraya Nakhon Cave in Thailand

Not quite a cave, but rather a valley 50 meters wide and 65 meters deep, over which hang walls covered with vegetation and stalactites.

Muntovsky volcano cave

This cave of indescribable beauty, created by lava, ice, geysers and light, is located in Kamchatka, not far from the Muntovsky volcano.

Reed Flute Cave in China

Fabulously beautiful, similar to fantasy world The karst cave is located in Guilin, China.

Caves are a natural underground cavity accessible to human penetration. They are the object of study of the science of speleology. It is speleologists who make the greatest contribution to cave exploration. Some of nature's creations amaze with their beauty, others with their bizarre shapes, and others with their size.

The top 10 included largest caves in the world by length, volume or area occupied.

(Ukraine) opens the ten largest caves. It is also the longest gypsum cave in the world. The explored territory is 230 kilometers long, but the cave itself is much longer. The rest of it has not yet been studied by researchers. The Optimistic Cave was discovered in 1966 by Lviv speleologists. Initially it was assumed that its length was no more than 3 meters, but further persistent research showed that the cave is one of the longest in the world. It got its name because speleologists who were skeptical about exploring the cave called Lviv residents optimists. Since then, more than 200 expeditions have been made here.

(Abkhazia) is included in the list of the most deep caves world, which is located in the Arabica mountain range. It was discovered in 1990 by Sergei Shipitsin. The entrance to it is located at an altitude of 2150 meters above sea level. The maximum known depth of Sarma is 1830 meters. The cave is formed by limestone and gypsum rocks. Many speleologists took part in her research. Among them are Rudko Pavel, Koreshnikov Evgeniy, Plotnikov Vladimir, Osintsev Alexander, Sukhachev Vasily, Zakrepa Andrey, Safin Rafail, Bezverkhy Anatoly, Verbitsky Alexander, Kalachev Artem and many others.

(Abkhazia) - the deepest cave in the world, known for speleology. Its depth is 2.2 kilometers, and it is located in the Arabica mountain range in Georgia. The entrance to it is located at an altitude of 2250 meters above sea level. It is a subvertical type cave, consisting of a series of wells, which are connected by climbers and galleries. Another entrance to Krubera Voronya was opened in 2014 and is located at an altitude of 2253 meters above sea level. At a depth of two hundred meters, the cave branches into the Main and Nekuibyshevskaya branches, which are the main ones. Then there are many smaller branches. Krubera-Voronya was first discovered in 1960 by a speleological expedition of the Institute of Geography named after. Vakhushti Bagrationi AN GSSR. In 2014, a team of speleologists opened a new entrance, located above the main one, which made it possible to set a new world record for the depth of the cave system, which became equal to 2199 meters.

(Mexico) - one of the largest caves in the world, almost completely flooded with water. It is also included in the list of the longest caves in the world. Its total length is more than 317 kilometers, of which only 5 kilometers are not flooded. Speleologists began studying it in the second half of the 20th century.

(USA) is recognized as the longest in the world. It is located in the state of Kentucky, USA, in the national park of the same name. Its length is more than 587 kilometers. In fact, the cave is much longer, but researchers have only studied this part so far. Now in this cave system there are 225 known underground passages and about 20 huge halls. It got its name because of its impressive dimensions. There is quite a flow in one of the passages large river Echo, whose width is 60 meters and depth is 10 meters. Mammoth Cave was formed approximately 10 million years ago. The Indians have known about its existence since ancient times. Subsequently, scientists discovered Indian burials in the cave. Its discovery by Americans took place at the end of the 18th century.

(Russia, Crimea) is one of the longest caves, the length of which is 16 kilometers. Its area is 52 thousand square meters. m., and the volume is 200 thousand cubic meters. m. The Red Cave is located on approximately 30% of the territory of Crimea, and in length it occupies approximately 19%.

(Austria) - the world's largest ice cave, where permafrost remains throughout the year. Its length is 42 kilometers and its depth is 407 meters. People have known about its existence for a long time, but in fact it was discovered in 1879 by naturalist Anton von Posselt-Kzorich. The most thorough study of it was carried out by the Salzburg speleologist Alexander von Mörck, who died during the World War (1914) and was buried in one of the niches of the Eisreisenwelt. Currently, this cave is one of the most popular vacation spots. The first excursion here was made in 1920. About 150 thousand tourists visit Eisreisenwelt every year. Excursions are conducted from May to October, but in winter time visiting the cave is prohibited due to the danger of avalanches.

(China) is one of the largest caves in the world by volume. It was discovered in 1989 by a Chinese-European expedition. Miao is located in the largest Gebihe cave system in China's Ziyun Getu He Chuandong National Park. The only way to get to Miao is through an underground stream. To determine the boundaries of the cave, the researchers used laser scanning. According to the data obtained during the study, the volume of Miao was 10.78 million cubic meters. m.

(Malaysia) - cave with the world's largest grotto Sarawak. The length of the grotto is 600 meters and the width is 415 meters. It reaches a height of one hundred meters, and its area is 163 thousand cubic meters. m. The total volume of the grotto is 25 million cubic meters. m. It was discovered in 1981 by three English speleologists who were exploring a karst massif in Gunung Mulu National Park. The British climbed up the river flowing from the cave and found themselves in a grotto, which the researchers’ lanterns could not illuminate. The area of ​​the hall turned out to be so huge. Sarawak can accommodate 50 huge aircraft.

(Vietnam) - the most big cave in the world. It is located in the Vietnamese Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, Quang Binh Province. Local residents learned about its existence back in 1991, and in 2009 it was discovered by a British group of speleologists. In some places Shondong reaches two hundred meters in height and one hundred and fifty meters in width. It is recognized as the cave with the highest and widest passages. Its volume is approximately 38.5 million cubic meters. m. In places where light penetrates, grass and even trees grow.

A cave is a naturally occurring natural cavity in a mountain large enough for a person to enter. They are studied by such a science as speleology. Thanks to speleologists, we know a lot about caves, because they can be very different: deep, beautiful, bizarre or simply huge. What is the deepest cave in the world and what other outstanding caves exist on Earth?

This Vietnamese cave was discovered relatively recently - in 1991 - by a local resident who was afraid to enter it because of the terrible roar of water inside and called friends for help. Eighteen years later, speleologists from Britain began to study it closely. Having covered a distance of four kilometers, they came across an obstacle in the form of an impressive wall, entirely formed from solid calcite (rock-forming material). In 2010, the study resumed again, the expedition stayed in the depths of the cave for two weeks.

Unusual stone columns and deep gorges were found in the cave. The wonders of Shondong amazed the entire speleological world. The dimensions of the cave are truly gigantic; in some places a skyscraper could fit there. It resembles a lost city underground. It’s even surprising that for so many years no one suspected its existence.

When floods occur, it is not possible to enter the cave

The cavity is 150 m high and about 9 km long. After the opening of the cave, extreme sports fans flocked there. To get underground, you will need a rope and other climbing equipment. Along the way, you will be able to explore dark labyrinths decorated with real rock patterns created by water flows. After all, inside this strange cave a stormy underground river roars, creating various tunnels. In some places she managed to break through to the surface.

Shondong - extremely unusual place. 70-meter stalagmites grow here, attracting the attention of tourists, and real clouds are formed due to the mixing of warm and cold air. No matter how difficult and tiring the path to the cave may be, everyone who has been there unanimously assures that it is worth it.

Lubang Nasib Bagus

This largest cave in the world is located in Malaysia. It has a famous grotto called Sarawak. This grotto has very impressive dimensions - 600 by 415 m, and a height of about a hundred meters. The total volume of the grotto reaches a fantastic figure of 25 million cubic meters. It was discovered by three cavers from England in 1981.

At that time, they examined the karst massif, which is located in the Gunung Mulu Nature Reserve. The scientists climbed up the river and found themselves in the cave from which it flows. The speleologists didn't even have enough flashlights to fully illuminate it.

The area occupied by the Sarawak Grotto can easily accommodate several dozen aircraft.

Miao (Miao)

China also has one of the largest caves on the planet. It is hidden under the hills, and you can only get there by moving along the underground river. The cavity is a huge cave chamber. Several years ago, an expedition took place to study this chamber in detail using the laser method.

This expedition was organized by the British, including specialists from the Chinese Institute of Karst Geology. Funding was provided by the American National geographical society. Later, all the information was announced at a conference on the issue of caves held in England. After extensive laser scans, the cave was officially mapped in 2013.

The volume of Miao is approximately 11 million cubic meters

Eisreisenwelt

Is on the planet amazing place, surrounded on all sides by ice. It is located in Austria near the city of Salzburg. This is the longest cave in the world that is partially made of ice.

The cave goes as much as 40 kilometers into the depths of the Alpine mountains, but ice occupies only a small part of it, followed by limestone. The cave was formed by the efforts of the Salzak River, which made a hole in the mountain, and the ice appeared due to snow that fell into the cave and into winter period were freezing.

The entrance to the ice part of the cave is always open to tourists, and cold winds constantly blow through the tunnels, which prevents snow and ice from melting, and in the warm season, cold air rushes out, forming a kind of airlock.

According to official data, the discoverer of the cave was A. Posselt in 1879. This naturalist, however, was able to explore only the initial 200 m. Before the discovery, only local residents knew the cave. They were afraid of it, calling it the devil's abode. In the mid-20th century, it was decided to build a special cable car, which reduced travel time from 1.5 hours to just 3 minutes. The open season lasts from early May to late October. A full tour of this impressive site will take approximately 1.5 hours.

It's difficult to find a photo of the cave's interior because photography is prohibited there.

Red Cave

On the Crimean Peninsula, part of Russia, there is also an outstanding cave, or rather a cave system, stretching for more than 25 kilometers. There are many halls underground different sizes And appearance, between them lies a difficult labyrinth. True, only 500 m is accessible to tourists, and then under the supervision of an experienced guide.

Internal view The cavity is striking primarily due to the lighting, skillfully distributed along the entire route. Its intensity is adjusted in such a way that the relief is emphasized and beautiful shadows are created. Walking around the cave is convenient and safe: it is equipped with special paths with railings. The place is very interesting from the point of view of speleology, especially for its large stalagmites and bizarre sagging on the walls. There is also an amazingly clean river flowing inside. It is so transparent that sometimes it can only be seen by reflections of light.

Hearing this name, anyone will imagine the remains of the greatest prehistoric giants discovered by scientists underground. But this is just a play on words, in the English dialect “mammoth” means huge. However, despite the fact that it has nothing to do with mammoths, traveling in it is extremely exciting. This is a whole underground kingdom, full of halls, galleries and passages. The cave seems to live its own independent life: rivers roar here and waterfalls bubble. The reservoirs even have their own unique fauna: blind fish, shrimp without eyes...

The main entrance is located in the USA, Kentucky. Nearby, in the western part of the Appalachians, there are several smaller underground systems that were previously considered independent, but now it turns out that they are all somehow connected to Mammoth. On this territory they founded a significant national park, where a colony of rare bats lives and you can enjoy untouched nature. In Mammoth Cave, scientists have repeatedly come across unusual finds, for example, the mummified corpse of an Indian, perfectly preserved along with clothes thanks to special climatic conditions.

The cave has not yet been fully explored, but its estimated length is 587 km.

Sak-Actun

This unique cave is one of the main attractions not only of Mexico, but also of the world. The large river flowing through it bears the same name, which means “white cave”. The cave system has a length of more than 300 km and is a suite of rooms connected by “room” passages. The study of Sac Actun, located on the Yucatan Peninsula, began only in 1987, but in the years since then, only one percent of the territory has been studied. It is difficult to imagine how many more amazing things are hidden in it, because the cavity was formed 65 million years ago.

According to one version, its occurrence is the result of a collision of the Earth with a huge meteor. At the place where he fell, a crater appeared, from which, in turn, many cracks spread underground. Time passed, and the crater, along with the cracks, was filled with rainwater. And so it turned out to be a long deep underground channel. Local tribes, such as the Mayans, have always treated this river with respect.

The river occupies almost the entire cave, and the spectacle is extremely beautiful.

Krubera-Voronya

This cave is located in Abkhazia. Its length is just over two kilometers, and Georgian scientists began to study it in 1960. Krubera-Voronya is of interest not only for speleologists, but also for biologists. Here they discovered a previously unknown species of beetles, which were recognized as record holders among insects for the depth of their habitat. Biologists also claim that many other new species can be found in this place.

The cave is mainly studied by the famous speleological group Cavex. It was this team that was the first to reach the maximum depth of 1.7 km. Research cannot be called easy: the expedition kept coming across dead ends and had to go back. It also happened the other way around: windows were discovered in the wall of the cave, leading to the opening of new paths.

From Kruber-Voronya flows the most short river on the planet - Reprua, which is only 18 meters long

Sarma

Sarma is located in Arabica Mountain, in Georgia. It is a series of wells and halls, between which many tunnels and small climbs meander. Sarma is unanimously recognized by scientists as one of the most beautiful and scientifically interesting caves, extremely valuable for the world speleological community.

Sarma is conventionally divided into three levels - the first goes to a depth of 420 m, the second - to 900 m, the third - to 1830 m, further the territory has not yet been explored. Sarma received its name in accordance with the name of the wind: due to the peculiarities of aerodynamics, a strong hurricane wind always blows here, reaching a speed of 50 km/h, which local residents are afraid of.

The cave is closed to tourists, so you can get into it only as part of an expedition with the appropriate skills and equipment

Our Earth is a place filled with amazing wonders and mysteries of nature, only a small part of which has been explored by mankind. Huge and majestic caves always delight travelers.

On December 27, 1966, the Cave of Swallows in Mexico, the largest well cave in the world, was discovered. In terms of depth, the Cave of Swallows ranks 2nd in Mexico and 11th on Earth. We decided to talk about ten of the most unusual caves in the world.

The cave is of karst origin, located in Mexico, in the state of San Louis Potosi. She seems smaller than she actually is. The shape of the cave resembles a bottle: the entrance to the cave is 55 meters, and in depth it expands to 130–160 meters. The depth reaches 376 meters, which is comparable to the height of the Empire State Building (381 meters without the spire). The cave could easily accommodate the famous New York skyscraper Chrysler Building, which reaches a height of 319 meters. The cave is home to black swifts, but the name is derived from the Spanish word Golondrinas (“swallow”).

In the morning, flocks of birds fly in a spiral, gaining altitude until they reach the exit of the cave. In order not to disturb the quiet life of swifts, descents into the cave are allowed only at certain times: from 12:00 to 16:00. In addition, colliding with a flock of birds during a free flight is very dangerous: the cave, which has become a Mecca for fans of extreme sports, is a serious test even for very experienced and physically trained base jumpers. The descent into the cave takes about 20 minutes using climbing equipment and about 10 seconds when skydiving, and the parachute can only be opened at a strictly defined time: at 6–7 seconds of the fall. The climb to the top takes about two hours and requires good mountaineering and physical training.

Carlsbad Cave

Carlsbad Cave, which is 250 million years old, is part of a chain of 80 karst caves in the Guadalupe Mountains on southeast State of New Mexico, USA. The depth of the cave is 339 meters, the total length of all passages and halls is about 12 kilometers.

The largest hall is shaped like the letter T with dimensions in two directions of 610 and 335 meters, a height of up to 87 meters and an area of ​​5.7 hectares. The cave is a system of huge halls and galleries and is famous for the special beauty and elegance of its mineral formations. Carlsbad Cave was formed during the deposition of thick layers of limestone in rock. This limestone formed small cracks into which water seeped, dissolving softer minerals and forming caves and tunnels.

In all the caves of the Carlsbad chain, stalactites formed fantastic figures: Bashful Elephant (Bashful Elephant) looks like an elephant turning its back to the passage, Rock of Edges (Century Rock) is a lonely giant stalagmite. The caves have become a haven for a colony of bats: at dusk, the entrance to the caves becomes black due to the nocturnal inhabitants flying away to hunt.

Cave of Crystals

It is located in the Mexican desert of the state of Chiahua at a depth of 300 meters and was found while drilling a local mine. The cave is famous for its giant crystals of selenite, a mineral structural variety gypsum The largest crystal found is 11 meters long and 4 meters wide, weighing 55 tons. These are the largest natural crystals ever found on the planet. The cave is also known for its unusual climate: it is very hot here. Temperatures reach 58 °C with a humidity of 90–100%, which makes exploring the cave very difficult. Even with equipment, the stay in the cave usually does not exceed 20 minutes. Access to the cave is open only to scientists.

Han Son Doong Cave

The largest cave on planet Earth, Han Son Doong, which translates to "Cave mountain river", located in Vietnam. It was discovered only in 2009 by a group of British researchers. The largest hall of the cave has a total length of more than 5 thousand meters, the total length of the cave is supposedly 9 thousand meters. The width of the halls and corridors is 100 meters, and the height reaches 200 meters.

The cave is unusual in that many years ago, holes appeared in the roof of the cave, through which light and plant seeds penetrated into the underground halls. Now in the cave you can find a real jungle. In addition, another interesting rare phenomenon attracts speleologists: cave pearls form in the cave. This rare species pearls grow themselves in puddles of lime water. Its composition differs little from traditional pearls produced by mollusks, but it does not have a beautiful mother-of-pearl luster.

Photo: traveltimes.ru

Chasm of Three Bridges

Limestone cave Jurassic period, a 255-meter-deep sinkhole in Lebanon that is 160 million years old. The cave owes its name to the fact that the opposite walls of the abyss are connected by three bridges, each of which hangs over the other. A powerful waterfall passes through them. Over thousands of years, water from the stream slowly washed away the limestone and gradually destroyed the cave arches. After the appearance of the upper bridge it for a long time destroyed by vertical and circumferential erosion, which, combined with a series of landslides, created the middle and lower bridges.

Fingal's Cave

The famous sea cave is located on the tiny islet of Staffa in Scotland. Rains and sea ​​water They drilled a whole system of caves on it, the largest of which is named after the giant Fingal, the hero of the Irish epic, who built a dam connecting Scotland and Ireland.

The main hall of Fingal's Cave is 75 meters long, 20 meters wide and 14 meters high, and the entrance is so narrow that it is impossible to get there by boat. In Gaelic, the cave was called Uam Bin, “Cave of Melodies”: the huge hall of the cave repeats the sounds of the surf many times, and the whole cave literally sings. An interesting fact is that when the famous author of the “Wedding March,” composer Felix Mendelssohn, visited the cave in 1829, he was so amazed by the amazing play of sounds and echoes that it inspired him to create an overture called “The Hebrides, or Fingal’s Cave.”

The cave is also famous for its impressive basalt colonnade of amazingly regular shape. Most columns have a 6-sided shape, but there are also 3-sided and 8-sided ones. like this unusual shape they acquired through a long crystallization process volcanic lava. As the legend says, these are the remains of piles driven into the bottom of the Irish Sea by the giant Fingal.

Marble Caves of Chile

Marble Caves are the main attraction of Lago General Carrera in Chile and one of the most beautiful places in Patagonia. They are also called the Marble Cathedral (Marble Cathedral or Las Cavernas de Marmol), which is a labyrinth of beautiful geological formations. In fact, the walls of the cave labyrinth are not made of marble, but of limestone. Numerous tunnels and columns have been formed by wave action over the past 6,200 years.

The most famous caves are the Marble Cathedral, the Marble Cave and the Marble Chapel. All three grottoes are part of the peninsula and were previously completely flooded with water. The glacier that filled the lake melted over time, the water level dropped significantly, revealing to the world marble labyrinths partially filled with turquoise water. Tourists can explore the caves by small boat or kayak, but only if the weather is good and completely calm.

Reed Flute Cave

Reed Flute Cave is an amazingly beautiful cave near the Chinese city of Guilin. One of the largest karst caves in the region, reaching 240 meters in length. The cave got its name due to the plants growing around it. special type reed, from which some of the best flutes in all of China have been made since ancient times. The age of the cave is at least 180 million years, it was formed due to the destruction of quartz rocks by water. The cave is famous for stalactites, stalagmites and other bizarre rock formations, and thanks to the lighting and reflection in underground lake one gets the impression of frozen actions, to which the Chinese gave poetic names: “Crystal Palace”, “Dragon Tower”, “Pine in the Snow”, “Dawn in the Lion Grove”, “Red Threshold” and so on.

Dragon Cave

The Dragon Cave is located in Kastoria, in northwestern Greece. The cave is considered unique and is the only cave in Greece with 7 fresh underground lakes and 10 halls of various sizes (the largest is 45x17 meters) and 5 tunnels. The depth of the cave reaches 600 meters, but speleologists have not yet advanced further than 300 meters. The cave got its name from the legend of a dragon who jealously guarded the gold mine. He scorched everyone who gathered the courage to sneak into his domain and killed them with flames from his mouth. In addition, the entrance to the cave resembles the mouth of a dragon. The cave is also famous for its special air circulation system and special microclimate.

Jeita Grotto

Jeita Grotto is a complex of two separate but interconnected karst limestone caves with a total length of almost 9 kilometers. The caves are located in the Nahr al-Kalb valley in the settlement of Jeita, 18 kilometers north of the Lebanese capital Beirut. Caves and grottoes have been known since Paleolithic times. The lower cave was discovered in 1836 by priest William Thomson, an American missionary. You can only get here by boat, as the cave is filled with an underground river, providing drinking water more than one million Lebanese. The upper galleries were discovered in 1958 by Lebanese speleologists. They consist of a series of individual chambers, the largest of which reaches a height of 120 meters.

Here is also one of the largest stalactites in the world with a height of 8.2 meters. In one of the caves, the remains of an ancient foundry were found, where swords were supposedly produced. The giant stalactites of the caves create beautiful compositions, thanks to which the Jeita Caves were among the 28 finalists of the “Seven New Wonders of Nature” competition.