To see this natural ice miracle, people come to the Urals from different parts of not only our country, but the whole world. The largest Russian cave, equipped for visiting, has been known since ancient times, but tours of it have been held since 1914. Most of it is hidden from the eyes of tourists so as not to disturb the ecosystem.
Ural business card
Kungur Ice Cave has long been recognized as a hallmark of the Urals. Where is this unique wonder of nature located? It is located in the Kungursky district of the Perm Territory, at the very base of the Ice Mountain.
There are several stories associated with the local attraction. It is said that the Cossack ataman Yermak wintered in the cave before his campaign in Siberia. In addition, the crosses found in the grottoes and even a small crypt testify that the Old Believers once lived here.
Kungur ice cave is a huge labyrinth stretching for almost six thousand kilometers, with spacious halls decorated with ice crystals.
Cave exploration
Ifnot to take into account the legend of Yermak, scientists still cannot say for sure who discovered the amazing miracle of nature. It is known that in 1703 the well-known explorer S. Remezov, after visiting Kungur, drew up a detailed plan of the grottoes. However, there were a lot of inaccuracies on it, which academician I. Lepekhin tried to correct after 67 years, who examined a small part of the cave.
In 1879, an archaeological expedition led by I. Polyakov worked inside the labyrinths, and in Soviet times, a professor at Perm University G. Maksimovich even published a work in which he examined in detail the halls of the cave and various types of ice covering the grottoes. To this day, research is being carried out and scientific articles are published on the current state of the object.
Protected Landmark
Kungur ice cave is the oldest in the world. The state-protected natural monument contains about 48 grottoes and about 70 underground lakes. According to scientists, the age of the Ural landmark reaches twelve thousand years. It was then that a global catastrophe led to the extinction of many animals on Earth.
Kungur ice cave: opening hours
The best time to come here is from February to April, when the cave stalactites and stalagmites reach incredible sizes. A kilometer route has been laid for tourists, and the duration of the journey through the magical halls of frozen music made of ice is an hour and a half.
Group tours are held daily, seven days a week. Starting from 10.00 to 17.00, the Kungur Ice Cave awaits all visitors, the prices for visiting which have increased since the new year and start from 300 and 600 rubles for children and adults tickets. For an individual tour of the grottoes, you will have to fork out for 1,500 rubles.
Ice Palace
Everyone who visits the amazing halls of the cave for the first time feels like fairy-tale heroes who unexpectedly find themselves in the magical world of the Snow Queen. Admired by the beauties of the interior decoration, adults turn into small children and walk around the natural palace with bated breath.
About 100,000 people a year visit the Ural landmark. Tours are conducted along two main routes, and tourists note that it is best to visit both. Each group is accompanied by a guide who tells about interesting stories related to the cave and tells about the main grottoes.
Surprisingly, the Kungur Ice Cave grows to this day, in which it is always cold. In some grottoes, the temperature drops to minus thirty degrees, which was previously used by merchants who stored meat here.
Routes and excursions
The Big Circle is the main route, laid out along concrete paths that are convenient for visitors and well lit. The most popular grottoes of the Kungur cave will not go unnoticed.
But the rarely visited halls, barely touched by civilization and poorly explored, make up the Small Ring. Difficult passages on undeveloped paths are notpopular among the elderly, but loved by the youth. Often, at the request of tourists, they are led through the grottoes, lit only by the lights of candles, which add mystery. The most interesting route, which will not leave anyone indifferent, also passes through the purest underground lakes.
Another innovation that visitors can take advantage of is signing up for themed tours with a laser show at the end of the program. A stunning sight, in which ice icicles bloom in different colors, shimmering and flashing with lights, will remain in your memory for a long time.
New Services
The Kungur Ice Cave, whose tour schedule is incredibly convenient for all visitors, is introducing new services - they will help lovers organize a romantic date and even register a marriage in one of the ice halls.
For tourists who want to visit not only the cave, but also stay for a few days to view the ancient city of Kungur and its museum exhibits, inexpensive hotels located at the very base of the Ice Mountain offer their services.
Diamond Grotto
What awaits visitors inside the fairy kingdom? Let's consider what objects of the Kungur ice cave will appear before the visitors. It is simply unrealistic to tell about all the grottoes, so let's focus on the most interesting ones.
The first grotto, which is meaningfully called the Diamond, shimmers in the spotlights like Ali Baba's cave. snow crystals,covering the walls and the vault of the hall are lit with cheerful lights, and the cut passage to the next grotto is overgrown with ice.
Polar grotto
The Polar Hall of the Kungurskaya Cave once upon a time formed a single whole with the Brilliant Hall. Now the admirable spacious cave is famous for the largest accumulation of calcareous outgrowths on the ceiling and bottom of the grotto, forming an incredibly beautiful formation. Fantastically beautiful stalactites and stalagmites of various shapes intertwined here, which create original fabulous compositions.
And in the niche of the Polar Grotto, a column is hidden, consisting of a monolith of ice and resembling a frozen waterfall.
Dante's Grottoes and Crypt
The journey through the ice kingdom continues, and before the eyes of the astonished visitors, a picturesque view of Dante's Grotto, so named for the stone randomness depicting the picture of hell described by the poet, opens up.
Following it begins the Crypt, from which there are forks of the Big and Small routes. The cave got its name from a small house built of stones here, which was mentioned by many research expeditions. The hideout was later destroyed, but the name remains.
Cross Grotto
Next to the Crypt is a new hall, in which they found an altar and icons left over from the Old Believers. Scientists are sure that hermits were hiding here from persecution of the authorities.
Pompeii Ruins
The Grotto of the Ruins of Pompeii is a cave full of chaotic heaps of stone blocks, as if left afteran ancient city destroyed by a volcanic eruption.
At the center of nature's mess is a sculpture illuminated by cave workers whose outlines resemble a turtle and a crocodile.
Seabed and Sculpture
Both children and adults will enjoy the following grottoes of the Kungur Ice Cave - Seabed and Sculpture. In the first one, the overgrown gypsum formations will amaze the imagination, in which the figures of the inhabitants of the sea day are guessed. And in the center of the second tourists are met by the Frog Princess, made of stone.
Meteor Grotto
The meteor grotto is known according to a legend saying that in the complete darkness of this cave, a person with a bad conscience will see the outlines of a lame Light speleologist, who remained here forever after the betrayal of a friend.
A huge spotlight goes out for several minutes, plunging all visitors into absolute darkness.
Coral Grotto
The coral cave will be remembered by fans of horror films, because it guesses miraculous profile of Count Dracula. And on a bright red background, a bizarre silhouette of a huge rhinoceros without a tail appears, carved over many centuries by nature itself.
Cognitive adventure reviews
According to tourists, the Kungur ice cave is an amazing world of ice and cold. The stone chaos created by mother nature and the ringing silence take all visitors to an unreal world in which they begin to truly appreciate life.
After the end of an amazing adventure, a manunderstands that he is just a grain of sand in a vast world, and his life is a moment compared to eternity.
