What to see in the Marble Cave in the Crimea and how to get to it?

Crimea is not just a rest on well-maintained beaches and swimming in the warm sea. Many tourists prefer to climb to the mountain tops, and an even greater number of visitors combine both types of these classes. Such enthusiasts will be interested in the famous Marble Cave. It is known that the Crimea hides a lot of miraculous miracles, and deep in its depths it is no less interesting than on the surface.

The marble cave is the main attraction of the Chatyr-Dag mountain range. It is located on the lowest plateau, the complex itself includes three caves that are recognized as the most beautiful in the Crimea and are included in the TOP-5 of the most interesting in Europe. The cave is recommended to visit all tourists on the peninsula. Marble cave was discovered relatively recently - in 1987, and already a couple of years later it was discovered for visiting tourists.

It should be noted that The history of this unique place is completely different from the usual stories of serious speleological expeditions. The cave, which at that time was called "Afghan", was discovered by an ordinary shepherd, who was looking for a sheep lagging behind a herd on the mountainside. However, the official honor to be considered the pioneer of this natural monument still belongs to Simferopol cavers.

The Marble Cave got its name right after it was established that about 90% of its entire surface is marble limestone. The entrance to the cave is located on an elevation of 920 m. It was established that it appeared many millions of years ago, due to the erosion of rocks. At present, the cave is fully adapted for visits to excursion groups: paths are laid here, lighting is organized, protective fences are erected. Tourists can take one of several routes of varying difficulty.

The total length of the Marble Cave is about 2 km, and includes 3 tiers. It should be noted that not all the grottoes of this unique place are accessible to the public. to find yourself in some areas, you need serious climbing training, which not every visitor to the Marble Cave can boast.

However, this is not the only reason that many grottoes of the Marble Cave are closed to tourists. The fact is that people can cause significant damage to the natural monument even by their presence in it - along with drafts, gusts of wind, carbon dioxide and dust penetrate into the green algae, which under the backlight lamps begin to grow, destroying the fragile rock.

Of course, the servants of the cave periodically scrape off the growths, maintain the required temperature and a given level of lighting in the room, but it is still difficult to resist nature. All this led to the fact that in the cave there are not just closed, but even cemented halls, which only selected scholars have access to, and then every few years. This precaution is not superfluous - the fact is that natural gems are dying not so much from human touch, as from heat, light, and breathing.

Marble cave consists of several levels, each includes several halls. At the top you can find the Gallery of Tales - from here all the routes begin. Here you can find The master of the cave, the frog-princess, the mammoth, and even Santa Claus — they all seemed frozen in stone. These figures are created by nature itself, and all look reminiscent of the favorite characters of children's books - hence the name of the cave.

Some other sculptures are more like beautiful stone flowers growing right on the walls. Everywhere hang huge stalactites with gigantic Druze, taking the most intricate forms.

On the side of the Fairy Tale Gallery, the Tiger Course is about 400 m long. It was discovered in the 90s of the last century, and was named after the remains of a large beast found here, which was first mistaken for one of the most dangerous ancient predators - the saber-toothed tiger. Later it turned out that it was a cave lion, but the name of the passage was not changed. Tourists note that the Tiger tunnel is much more beautiful than all the other passages of the cave.

Of great interest and Hall of Perestroika 150 meters long. Here you can find stalactites, called Minaret, Dragon, and Zombies.

Returning to the Gallery of fairy tales, you can move to the second level. Since 2006, open to visitors Pink, Lyustrovy and Theater Hall, as well as the Hall of Hope and Vernadsky Hall. Their total length is 600-700 m. The pink hall got its name thanks to stone flowers, similar to roses - they literally strewn the cave roof. By the way, this is the place where the Tiger's Pass goes.

In the Hall of Hope Visitors open up a cascade of streams of golden color, which form something like altars, where the inhabitants of ancient civilizations left their victims to the highest forces. Outwardly, these altars distantly resemble giant jellyfish, which let their stone tentacles into the depths of the cave.

The largest hall of the second level - BalconyIt is divided into two floors by a huge step. The upper compartment resembles a balcony decorated with fancy colors. Of great interest is the Luster Hall, the vault of which is decorated with hundreds of the thinnest tubes, resembling surrealistic chandeliers - some of them hang almost to the floor.

Located on the first, lowest level, the halls are currently closed to tourists. Here, over millions of years, the water carved out the openwork pools at the bottom, so it seems that all the space under your feet is covered with pearls.

For lovers of everything mystical and mysterious, there are a couple of grottoes here that will make you really start to fear ghosts. For romantics in the Marble Cave there are stone pillars created by stalactites and stalagmites fused with them, in the people they got the name "kisses".

Currently, the question of opening routes for people with speleological training is being considered. In the Marble Cave, concerts of symphonic orchestras are quite often arranged, and each such performance is always accompanied by a full house. Connoisseurs of good music know that the acoustics of even the best halls cannot be compared with the sound features of the caves. In such a place, classical music sounds more intimate, strongly and incredibly epic.

Marble cave is a rather unusual tourist object, therefore for all visitors there are strict rules that they must comply with.

• It is forbidden to visit the cave on your own, only excursion groups are allowed inside, in which professional speleologists act as accompanying people.
• When inspecting the cave, all visitors should keep together, any lag from the group is fraught with the most dangerous consequences.
• It is strictly forbidden to visit the cave in a state of drug or alcohol intoxication. Tourists with animals and weapons are not allowed inside. Smoking inside the cave is not allowed.
• Visiting a natural site does not require any special mountaineering gear, but it must be borne in mind that a sharp drop in height can cause adverse symptoms from the cardiovascular system of visitors, many complain of ringing in their ears, as if on an airplane, so it’s not a great deal to stock up on lollipops that perfectly cope with this problem.
• We draw attention to the fact that the air temperature in the cave never rises above 9 degrees, while the humidity is 98-100%, and the minimum duration of the excursion is half an hour. Therefore, it is advisable to dress warmly in advance, children will need a hat. However, at the entrance to the cave you can always rent jackets and jackets.
• Tourists are not allowed on the first floor, but if the visitor decides to go down there, he will need sports shoes (we remind you that visiting the lower tier is possible only for people with professional speleological training).
• And, of course, do not miss the moment to photograph all the beauties of the place where you found yourself - the guide will not give you the opportunity to stop on the way back to capture all the works of non-human art, which have no equal in the whole world.

The price of the tour in 2019 is:

• Fairy Tale Gallery - 30 min. /500 rubles;
• passage "Gallery of fairy tales - Pearls of the lake" - 50 min. / 600 rubles;
• transition "Gallery of fairy tales - Tiger Trail" - 60 min. / 600 rubles;
• visiting all rooms - 80 min. / 700 rubles;
• tour of the Chatyr-Dag caves - 1400 rubles.

Children under 5 can enter the cave for free.. For children aged 5 to 12 years, a 50% discount is provided. Some tourists tend to save money and buy a ticket for the cheapest excursion route, however, this tour turns out to be short, and neither morally nor financially "discourages" the forces and means spent on getting to the cave.

The marble cave is located right below the lower part of the Chatyr-Dag plateau, next to it there are a couple of caves: the Thousand-headed and the Cold. According to the map, the closest settlement to the natural monument is the Marble Village. The Marble Cave can be reached by car or by public transport. To do this, you need to take the buses going along the route Alushta-Simferopol or Yalta-Simferopol, get to Marmara, and then go on foot, 8 km.

The easiest way is to take a taxi or sign up for an organized tour, which includes travel on the ordered bus. This kind of service is provided by travel companies in all cities of Crimea, including the capital.

Marble cave, without a doubt, is one of the most attractive places of the Crimea, which is very popular with all tourists who come to rest on this peninsula. This is one of the main wonders for which the Crimean peninsula is famous, and which attract vacationers from different parts of our country to it, and not only.The Marble Cave has far from completely revealed to people all its riddles, one can return here again and again, each time discovering something new and unexplored before.

For information on how to get to the Marble Cave, see the next video.