5 BREATHTAKING Russian ice caves (PHOTOS)
Some even feature entire underground halls adorned with millennia-old ice. Let’s take a look into the world of ice caves!
1. Kungur Ice Cave, Perm Krai
Not far from the city of Kungur lies Russia’s most famous ice cave. Inside, there are about 70 lakes of varying depths and dozens of grottoes. Kilometers of underground passages are strewn with stalactites and stalagmites. It stays cool there year-round, with temperatures ranging from -2°C to +5°C.
The cave is, however, currently closed to tourists.
2. Caves of Pinega, Arkhangelsk Region
Pinega District is home to around 100 karst caves with ice formations. In the mid-1970s, the ‘Pinezhsky Nature Reserve’ was created to study them. The underground landscape changes over time – entrances appear and disappear, while new sinkholes open up. Visitors can explore the Pevcheskaya Estrada (‘Singing Stage’) cave, which consists of two grottoes with a stream flowing through them. In winter, stalactites and stalagmites form there in the ice. The temperature inside, meanwhile, hovers around freezing.
3. Botovskaya Cave, Irkutsk Region
This is the longest cave in Russia, with underground labyrinths stretching over 70 km. You’ll find both spacious galleries and narrow passages where you can only move by crawling. Inside, it is covered in numerous stalactites and stalagmites. Additionally, two pristine lakes were discovered there, simply named ‘morye’ (‘Sea’) and ‘okean’ (‘Ocean’).
Entry is, unfortunately, prohibited for tourists – only scientific teams are allowed to descend into it.
4. Vorontsovskaya caves, Krasnodar Krai
This 11-kilometer cave system unites four large caves connected by passages, with a total of 14 exits. Inside, scientists have discovered ancient human settlements, as well as fossilized shells and traces of underwater inhabitants – millions of years ago, this area was part of the Tethys Ocean. The underground galleries stay cool and visitors can see many stalactites.
These caves are equipped for tourists.
5. Ice cave of Mutnovsky volcano, Kamchatka Krai
One of Kamchatka’s most amazing places is the ice cave of the active Mutnovsky Volcano (about 80 km from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky). After its eruptions, tunnels formed from meltwater, later turning into ice formations. When sunlight hits, the cave’s vaults look absolutely magical.
