Punkevny caves – walking and boat tours, main halls, history of discovery. Syana Caves Caves Tours

Hello dear readers. Let's talk about caves. Or rather about one of them. Believe us, they are worthy of attention. Punk caves are the most popular dungeons. Anyone can go down to the bottom here, swim along underground river Punkwe. As they say, the doors are open to everyone. What will we see there, in the depths of the earth?

Moravian red Near the city of Brno. From Prague 30 km north.

The entrance to the caves is approximately 1 km from the Skalista Mlyn information center.

Punkevny caves (Punkevní jeskyně) or, as they are also called, Punkvennye caves, are located on the left side of the canyon formed by the Punkva river.
The length of their corridors is more than 30 km.
The air temperature in the caves is around 8.7 °C (47 °F).
They are part of the longest cave system in the Czech Republic.
Entrance to the caves is only with a guide.
Its name comes from the Czech word for “to fall.” Indeed, the river seems to be falling, then hiding in caves, then reappearing on the surface.
In ancient geological eras, this part of the continent was the seabed.

Opening

The history of exploration of the Punkva Cave began relatively recently. The first documented descent into the underground was made by Lazarus Schopper in 1723.

It was possible to study the Kardu Absolon cave in more detail by 1909. He and a group of researchers walked along the so-called Dry Road.

The wet road was opened even later, by the 1930s. And this place was opened to visitors by 1933. The first excursions were held at the same time.

Inspection of the caves

Entrance to the caves is only with an organized tour.
The tour lasts approximately 60 minutes and covers 720 m of corridors and stairs.
Water part of the excursion (cruise along the underground river by boat) – 450 m

The tour of Punkva begins with a descent to a depth of 187 meters. This can be done using a funicular or a special antique-style train that will take you directly to the entrance.

Prepare to be surprised! Much here will amaze your imagination. In the stalactites and stalagmites here and there one can discern the silhouettes of animals, buildings familiar to us, and what your imagination and erudition tell you.

For example, the Jan Hus stalagmite is very similar to one of the towers in Prague.
Stalagmite and stalactite “Romeo and Juliet”, like two lovers eternally drawn to each other. Who knows, maybe decades will pass before they finally connect.
The stalactite, called “Stole”, resembles an item of women’s clothing, carelessly thrown off the shoulders of a beauty.

One of the most beautiful stalagmites of the cave is “Angel”. Over the centuries, the limestone has taken the shape of an angel with sadly drooping wings. It is believed that he, tired of flying above the ground, found his home here.

Punkevny caves are a group of connected caves of different sizes. They are called halls. Access is open to well-explored halls.

Inside there is a path along which there is a guided tour.

Two halls deserve special attention: the Front Hall and the Masaryk Hall, which received its name in honor of the first president of the Czech Republic.

Front hall

There is a lake with a glass-smooth surface. In fact, it is called “Mirror Lake”.

The largest one “tucked itself” in the corner karst formation in Punkva - Salma stalagnate.

There are also stalagmites here, really fancy shapes. Their names are appropriate: Inverted Umbrella, Castle on the Rock, Turkish Minaret.

Second hall

The second hall or Masaryk's grotto was discovered completely by accident when artificial passages were being laid.

It is also “decorated” with natural growths. An underground pier leads here.

Cave tour

The entire excursion is divided into two parts: walking and water.

During your walk, you will see the Front Cathedral cave, the entrance to which is guarded by a large stalactite.
Walking further along the underground corridor, you will find yourself in the Clay Halls.
Then to the Middle Cathedral. Here, right near the ceiling is the Crystal Corridor.
The next point on the route is the Rear Cathedral and the bottom of Macocha.

The water part of the excursion will begin at this point. You will board boats and sail through three lakes to the Fairytale Cathedral, which is called the pinnacle of underground beauty.

Tip: The caves are cool, with temperatures around 8.7°C (47°F). The difference is especially noticeable in the heat. Take a light jacket, sweater or cape with you. If you are sweating in the heat, it is better to change your T-shirt.

The administration asks you to make a reservation in advance because tickets are often sold out. Honestly, we haven't found a simple way to do this. We arrived and bought it on the spot without any problems.

Opening hours

November-March: Tuesday to Sunday - 8:40-14:00
April-September: Monday from 10:00 to 14:00, Tuesday-Sunday from 8:20 to 16:00
October: Tuesday-Thursday from 8:40 to 14:00, Saturday-Sunday from 8:20 to 16:00

What is the price

You need to pay 40 CZK separately for filming.

Website Moravian beauty: www.moravskykras.net/ru

How to get there

The entrance to the caves is at natural park"Moravian beauty"

You can get to the caves by public transport. You need to get, first of all, to Brno from there by train to Blansko, and finally by bus number 226 to the caves.

Another option is by car on the 3B11 highway.

Address: 6 78 01 Blansko

Punkevnye caves on the map

Thanks for your attention, friends. See you soon!

Not all Muscovites know that some twelve kilometers from their city there is a large cave system. This fact may seem unexpected, but it has a logical explanation. These caves - Syans - were made by human hands and for a reason. In Syany, limestone rocks were mined for the construction of white-stone Moscow.

A little history

These moves have the most great length moves in the Moscow region. And in Russia they occupy 5th place. The total length of the underground passages is 19 km, and these are only known and verified ones. There is a possibility that the Syana caves near Moscow may turn out to be more extensive. At the same time, their position in the ranking of caves will rise.

Large caves in the Moscow region began to be created in the 13th century. The fastest increase in underground passages occurred in the 15th century, when limestone construction was actively developing. Peasants mined it in adits only in winter time. This is due to two reasons:

During the rest of the year, peasant people worked on the land, growing grain and raising livestock.
In winter, the risk of tunnel collapse decreased. In the past people did not have sufficient experience and means for securing and supporting the vaults. In winter, the ground froze from severe frosts, and moving areas froze.

Stones were mined in these adits until the 20th century. Work underground completely ceased in 1917. In the thirties of the last century, a number of stones were removed from the caves in order to strengthen the runway at Domodedovo Airport. From that time on, limestone rocks were no longer removed from Syan. During the Great Patriotic War a hospital was set up in the dungeon for wounded soldiers.

14 years of silence

Already in the 1960s, speleologists became interested in these caves. And a lot of them began to appear here. The caves began to live a second life. A few years later, the government decided to wall up all entrances and exits for security reasons. The dungeons were empty for 14 years, after which activists opened one of the exits. In 2007, it was brought back to normal, concrete rings were lowered and a staircase was built. This did not diminish the extremeness.

The Syana Caves are not considered a sanitized place for tourists. Visitors are required to follow guidelines for behavior in the caves; excursions are regularly held here, and some even celebrate holidays. For example, celebrating the arrival of the New Year in a dungeon is not so commonplace.

Life underground

Making fires is strictly prohibited by established rules of conduct, because other speleologists may suffer from the carbon monoxide released. Some visitors stay in the cave for more than one day and are forced to cook food and boil water using gas and alcohol. These features of being underground give a certain zest to such trips. This may surprise you, but there are people who may not come to the surface at all for a number of days. You can lie down and sleep in special extensions of the passages. Artist performances and dances are sometimes organized underground.

Many tourists are attracted by Syana's cave. Unfortunately, not all fans know how to get there. extreme type rest.

Conditions in the dungeon

Conditions in the cave do not change all year round. Constantly 7 to 10 degrees above zero, and humidity - about 80 percent. If you have warm and comfortable clothes, then you will not experience any discomfort. This is the case if you do not have claustrophobia. Ceiling heights can range from 0.3 to 2.5 meters. The width of the passage is about 1.5 meters.

All passages studied by speleologists are located in special maps, which will help tourists not to get lost. All the passages and halls in the cave are named. In addition, when traveling through the adits, you can meet professional speleologists who are always ready to help or give advice. Every tourist will be enchanted by the caves of Syana. The photos in these places look mysterious and mystical.

As soon as you go down to Sjany through the active entrance (there is only one for now) called “Cat Hole”, you will notice a notebook. This is an improvised visitor log. Everyone who enters and exits must make an appropriate entry in this notebook. It was created to help rescue teams in the event of an emergency, quickly and accurately have data on how many people are currently in the dungeon.

It is worth keeping in mind that when meeting underground, regular guests of the dungeons greet each other with the phrase: “Good day.” Without the usual ending in the form of time of day, because there is no way to determine what really is now. There is still no need to shine a light in each other's faces, especially strangers. This is unpleasant, so in Syany it is accepted as a rule.

The underworld looks like another reality. While walking, you can get into the hall called “Aristarchus”. A human skeleton was found in this place long ago. Now Aristarchus, considered a local deity, is hanged in metal shackles. There is a legend that in order to receive protection from a deity, one should leave gifts. For this reason, the entire hall is littered with the belongings of guests and worshipers of the deity. In Syany you cannot throw away or leave behind any garbage. This simple rule is strictly observed by everyone without exception, even though its implementation is not monitored.

In the passage system of the Syan caves you can stumble upon interesting grotto, called "Milky Way". For simplicity, it is called briefly: “Millery”. The vault is formed by amazing rocks that play with millions of lights in response to the lantern's beam. Reminds me of a starry sky. When the light is turned off, it will continue to glow with phosphorescent lights for some time. What you saw will be remembered for a lifetime.

There is one more thing in the system interesting place- “Pike hole.” It has a very small height and width, but it is quite long. “Pike” will give you an adrenaline rush, if, of course, you overcome your natural fear of confined spaces.

How to get to the cave?

Six kilometers away from Gorki Leninskikh you need to go along the main road towards Yam. After the bridge, turn left to the village of Novlyanskoye. At the end of this settlement you need to cross the Pakhra river, there is a platinum there. Further we keep the path along the river to the left. The entrance to the caves is located in the second ravine on the right, nearby

Change. Dear participants! If you need change, please notify the guide in advance. Another option is that you can pay for the excursion with 100% prepayment, then there will be no need for on-site calculations. Thank you! If you warned the guide, but he didn’t have change - .

What they say about us

Marina Pavlova ( https://vk.com/id329545733): On October 17, we went to Syany with a 13-year-old child, everything went just great! This is not our first descent underground; we visited both the Crimean caves and the Kerch quarries. Very interesting, but fairly standard excursions. Here everything was perceived completely differently. One entrance is worth it :)! We prepared in advance: we looked on the Internet for information and reviews, but we received no less pleasure and unexpected impressions. Many thanks to the organizer Nikita and the guide Sergei (especially for Shchuchka :)))).

Vadim Ivanov ( https://vk.com/id137661753): They offer great excursions. I was in the quarry in Syany and in the Neglinka collector. I really liked it. In fact, it is difficult to realize that you are “crawling” like a “savage” right under the very center of the capital: under Tsvetnoy Boulevard, under Red Square. Well, in the quarries you are amazed that not so long ago, civilian peasants in bast shoes were loading stone for the construction of Moscow, and now you are wandering here.

Yuri Okunev: Went today 11/15. A very original place and a unique atmosphere. During the excursion we crawled on our bellies and climbed into such narrow places that I would never have climbed myself. At the same time, there was no obligation - everyone climbed of their own free will. Special thanks to the young but professional guide who made it easy to find common language. I'm happy with the excursion. Thank you!

My husband (35 years old) and my nephew (25 years old) visited this delightful excursion on 02/16/13. Everyone is delighted. We lead a very active lifestyle, we go somewhere every weekend, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that this is our best weekend in several years.
On the Kashirskoye Highway, 15 km from the Moscow Ring Road, there are old quarries from the era of Ivan the Terrible - the Syana Caves. I found out about them by reading in the Orange Guide. The author of the guidebook puts these caves in the TOP13 main attractions of the Moscow region as an alternative route. White stone was mined here for the construction of the Kremlin, cathedrals and monasteries in Moscow. The last batches of mined stone were used to strengthen the runways of the Domodedovo airfield. During the war there was a hospital there. After the war, the caves began to be actively visited, and the authorities decided to ban this and closed the caves. The caves were rediscovered only in 1988. Now the caves are completely safe, there is a flow of excursions there. The caves are a series of passages and holes with a total length of 27 (!!!) km.
To go for a walk in the cave you need 2 flashlights (plus a set of batteries just in case) and a guide. You should find a guide before you get lost in the cave, and it’s better to do this at home, on the Internet. We went with Dagon (vk.com/egordagon). The cave has its own community of people who go there all the time, they have their own Syanov names, and also have their own slang. Dagon is a great guide, a guide from God, and also a smart guy, thorough. Will find a common language with any company. The guide will create a route for you that is optimal for a particular company, guide you, and tell you real stories and cave tales.
The cave is constantly +10 degrees. Season: winter, from November. The fact is that in the summer there are a lot of interesting things outside, although in the summer they also go, no one locks the cave. It’s worth dressing in your very old clothes, because you’ll have to make your way leaning against the walls, sometimes crawling, and there’s a little wet mud at the entrance.
I’ll say right away that all my phobias are inflamed to the limit - both confined spaces and darkness. At home, if I'm alone, I sleep with the light on. I felt completely comfortable in the cave, even in the narrow passages.
The worst thing is the entry and exit. When I climbed into the cave, I had the thought: “Yes, I suspected that I had gone crazy, now I know it for sure!”))) You must climb right away with the flashlight on. A minute later I came to my senses and there were no further fears.
A cave is not just manholes, grottoes and everything. Many grottoes are adapted not only for spending time, but also for living. Some spend the night there. Eat concert venue(Rozhdestvensky Grotto), a temple with paintings worthy of a real temple, there are sculptures carved into the rock, as well as inscriptions with sparkling humor. There is a map of the caves on the Internet, but I strongly advise you to take a guide and grab the map just for fun.
We spent 4 hours in the cave and even ate. An interesting matter, but despite the serious physical activity, I don’t want to eat in the cave. Almost everything was brought home. The cave is worth visiting for those who want to conquer their appetite.)) Despite the fact that polluted Moscow is nearby, the air in the cave is amazing. I feel this in my gut, and yesterday I felt like a newborn baby.
The cave has very high humidity. In the grottoes, it seems that there is smoke in front of you, and even in the photographs the camera is reflected, like from a window on a bus.
The contingent of visitors is very different. Of course, the excursion has age restrictions. We met 2-3 groups of professionals - men 40-45 years old, 3-4 companies of teenagers, and one family with three children. When meeting, everyone says “good” to each other, since it is not clear exactly what is good now – either morning or evening..
The husband said that after communicating with the guide and the community in the cave, he felt what was meant by the words “Russian soulfulness.” This is not the ability to drink a bucket of water and not daring foolishness, it is the ability to rally in the face of difficulties and help a friend. In the cave, everyone exchanges things as if it were already communism. And on all corners they leave everything that could be useful to others - batteries, cigarettes... It seems that Moscow is nearby, but there is no malice in people.
I recommend the excursion to both Moscow residents and tourists. If I choose where to go - somewhere to a museum, where evil witch servants consider the goal of their lives to bark at visitors, or to a cave with its new emotions and nice people, then my choice is the cave. Happy travels everyone!
PS. One person who accuses me of writing custom reviews will not calm down here... I wonder who ordered this review of mine - the manufacturers of sausages for my sandwiches or Ivan the Terrible himself... So that there are no questions - all the photos this time have all the members companies.