What is the Crimean cave Emine-Bair-Khosar and how to get to it?

The cave of Emine-Bair-Khosar is better known as Mammoth. It is one of the most fabulous and unusual places of the Crimean peninsula. When you enter it, you get the feeling that you are in the dwelling of fairy-tale creatures who live in your underground world in peace and quiet, far from worldly vanity. Every tourist should visit this unique natural monument.

The name Emine-Bair-Khosar in translation from the ancient Turkic language means “well on the hillside near the oak,” but it is called Mamontova by the people. The fact is that it was here that the skeleton of a mammoth was once discovered, which today can be seen in one of the halls.

This unique cave owes its appearance to a whole set of factors:

• geological processes lasting millions of years;
• natural conditions of the Crimean mountains;
• landscape peculiarity;
• the structure of the rocks that make up the rocks.

A large amount of precipitation transformed the depressions into deep wells, and the latter were transformed into long tunnels, which gave rise to underground rivers, turning the stone from the inside.

Emine-Bair-Khosar is estimated to be 10 million years old.But the study of the Mammoth Cave, scientists began only in 1927. Since 1970, speleological expeditions there have become regular, however, if you listen to local folklore, it will become obvious that people knew about the existence of this cave much earlier.

There is one very beautiful legend associated with the cave., according to which, near the foot of Mount Chatyr-Dag, there lived the beautiful young beauty Emine, in love with the shepherd Bair. Young dreamed of getting married and planned a wedding after harvest. But the girl saw a cruel Khan Seliemet and wanted to get her herself. To achieve his insidious goal, he decided to get rid of the shepherd, for this he ordered the guy to go into the wild forest and destroy the living boar.

Only in this case, Khan was ready to give his consent to this wedding. Bair rushed to the top of the mountain, leading away the angry angry boars. He knew that there was a deep well. The horse jumped easily, and the boars, one by one, disappeared into the funnel. Bair felt tired and decided to settle down for the night, sitting on stones nearby, but in the middle of the night he woke up and accidentally fell into a well.

The faithful horse of the shepherd was very clever, he returned to the village and galloped straight to Emine, who immediately felt trouble. Beauty rushed to search for her beloved. When the horse led her to the well, she carefully went downstairs - there she found a groom wounded but alive.

With an effort, overcoming terrible pain, the young went upstairs and returned to their village, and when Bair recovered, they played a long-awaited wedding. Locals have since nicknamed the mysterious cave Emine-Bair-Khosar.

One of the most beautiful caves of the Crimean peninsula Emine-Bair-Khosar is located on the lower level of the mountain Chatyr-Dag, so everyone who goes on a tour will have a unique opportunity to admire the picturesque mountain views. The only entrance to it is in the form of a well, with walls descending steeply, whose height is approximately 16 meters.Mass access for tourists to the Mammoth Cave was discovered relatively recently - in 1994, when speleologists were able to break through a horizontal tunnel, making the descent into the cavity safe for people without special physical training.

The cave consists of several halls, moving into each other. The total length is 2 km, but tourists can visit no more than half. Emine-Bair-Khosar consists of five levels, the upper one located at a depth of 30 m from the surface, and the lower one leads visitors to 180 m. The temperature here does not even rise above 5 degrees in summer, and the humidity is almost 100%. All tourist halls and galleries are equipped with stairs and handrails. Everywhere held bright lights.

Getting lost in this cave is impossible. Therefore, if you do not deviate from the intended route, then the map will not be necessary.

Interestingly, a few years ago experiments were conducted: The goal of the researchers was to find out how people in a cave will feel for 21 days. It was found that humid air had the most beneficial effect on all biochemical processes occurring in the human body. The subjects easily, almost imperceptibly for themselves, switched from 24 to 48 hours a day and did not get tired at all. In a cold environment, cell aging slows down, and the nervous system gradually stabilizes. But it was not without its side effects: from staying in constant darkness, the brain did not receive the required amount of light and responded to such unusual conditions with colored hallucinations.

Acquaintance with the cave begins with a spacious main hall. It is a grotto with a length of about 120 m. At a height of about 40 meters there is the same well, which is described in local tales and legends. It looks like a volcano's mouth. In the hall there is a paleontological museum. Here you can see the skeletons of mammoths who lived in these places hundreds of thousands of years ago, among them is the mammoth Kolya, whose skeleton got its name in honor of the paleontologist Nikolash who discovered it. Scientists found that the baby mammoth was very young, no more than 12-15 years old, the body weight was about two tons, and the height was about three meters. This exhibit lies in the Main Hall of the headless cave - during the fall of the animal, its skull split into small pieces.

Every year, archaeologists dig up the remains of some new animals, but the woolly rhino is considered the oldest. Its age is determined at about 50 thousand years. The company consists of three adult mammoths, as well as cave bears and saber-toothed tigers, long since disappeared from the face of the earth.

No human remains have been found in the cave. Archaeologists tend to think that people knew about the well and were extremely cautious, moving through the mountain range. The Lake Hall looks very unusual and really fantastic. As the name implies, there is an underground lake here, its depth varies depending on the level of precipitation, on average it is 55-65 m. During the whole year the water remains icy.

The Hall of Idols looks spectacular, here you can see bizarre, not made by hands figures up to 10 meters high. At the lower level, there are sintering formations that look like melted caramel of various colors - from pale yellow to dark chocolate with frequent inclusions of minerals sparkling in the snow.

Very beautiful "Treasury" - a small but truly amazing room. Thanks to helicopters, spiral, threadlike, and also curly figures are formed here, which in the rays of light shimmer with all the colors of the rainbow.

Kecskemet is a hall, the main attraction of which is a pair of small pillars of stalagmites. One of them resembles a small volcano, and the other has a pure white color. By the way, it is called the owner of the cave.

The Throne Hall is also open to tourists. Here you can see an unusual formation, which has received the name "Monomakh's Hat", it consists of their semi-liquid viscous substance of snow-white color. Its height is about 15 meters, and from the side it looks like a giant mushroom.

At a depth of 70 m is located Hall hostess. It is considered the lowest accessible area for excursions. The hall got its name because of the unique education in the center, which remotely resembles a female figure. Only about 700 meters are open for tourists, but they are also enough to get the most indescribable emotions and enjoy the opening picture.

Without a doubt, Emine-Bair-Khosar is a cave, interesting for many tourists who prefer active recreation. It is not surprising that many visitors to the Crimea dream of being in this place. The easiest way to use the services of a tour operator is that almost all agencies conduct organized tours, providing a tourist car that takes travelers to their destination.

For lovers of independent travel it is better to travel by public transport: to do this, take a trolley bus following route No. 51 or No. 52, departing from Simferopol, or take the suburban minibus “Yalta-Simferopol”, get off near the village, then walk to the Marmara village, then follow the signs to the cave entrance . If you plan to make an excursion on your car, then you need to go from the capital of the peninsula along the Yalta highway, from there turn off to Marble.

If you decide to visit the Mammoth Cave, then you should use the useful recommendations.

• The cave is rather cold and damp, so clothes must be appropriate: you will need a jacket or a warm jacket, a headdress is desirable for children.
• Shoes should be athletic, comfortable, the surface - waterproof. Sandals, shales and shoes with heels are not suitable here.
• Be sure to photograph everything that you see fit in the direction of travel. Separate time for photo and video nobody will give you.

In the next video you can take a closer look at the Emine-Bair-Khosar cave.