Since the end of the 18th century, the descendants of the first settlers have been living in a special way in the Old Believer village of Serpievka. It's on Southern Urals, in Katav-Ivanovsky district.

Out of habit, local residents are wary of strangers and keep memories of those times when services were held away from prying eyes in one of the many caves here - Kolokolnaya. The entrance to the cave really looks like a bell. Underground services were held until the 30s of the 20th century. Natural shelter helped the locals to keep a secret in order to avoid repressions of which there were many against the Old Believers at all times. Local residents invented a whole system of conditional signals. A special cord was disguised at the entrance to the cave.

It connected with a bell in one of the distant halls. Only the Old Believers were privy to this secret. Entering the cave, they rang the bell. If steps were heard, but the bell was silent at the same time, then a stranger had come and an urgent need to hide.

Length caves Kolokolnaya 190 meters. In addition to the main passage, there are several branches and secret manholes hidden from random people. No one conducted special experiments, but the old-timers say that fifty people could well hide in the back streets and go unnoticed here. One of the small halls of the cave is called a cell. Washed in the rock with water, and then processed by human hands, there are a bench and a sofa here. They lived in this room, hiding from the royal authorities. However, the Old Believers were far from the first people to appreciate the space Bell Cave. Washing away the soot and soot left by the torches, the scientists found drawings made with red ocher on the stones. It was determined by radiocarbon method that the age of these drawings is 14.5 thousand years. Here was the preparation for the initiation rite. The boys had to pass tests of courage and courage and prove that they were worthy to bear the title of a man. This was an important stage in the life of every member of the tribe.

At the same time, entering the cave, the boys could not use a torch or a torch, but remain in complete darkness. They moved, finding by touch apparently some kind of signs set for them. Each boy had to take out a stone with a sign, as proof of his courage, and show it to the leader.

Ancient runes were found in the Kolokolnaya.

It is considered one of the most beautiful in the Southern Urals. Through the thickness of the earth, water enriched with minerals penetrates here, flows along the walls and forms amazingly beautiful drawings, bizarre lines, graceful curves. Experts call this natural phenomenon calcite rivers. People with a rich imagination will be able to see a panther in the cave. She seemed to freeze, listening to what was happening. And you will go from the other side and the panther will turn into a cobra. There is also a rhinoceros and guards and a bull's head. These are all calcite formations.

Shouldn't we go to the underground cities? See the unseen halls hidden from strangers, dip your palms into the icy water of the lakes, admire the fantastic pattern of calcite deposits and bizarre limestone sculptures created over the centuries.

Yes, they are caves! Dark, mysterious, alluring unique beauty, ancient secrets and treasures hidden in the depths.

In the coming weekend, frosty and invigorating, you should not sit at home, but rather rush to natural Park"Serpievsky cave city" and become a conqueror underworld. Especially the winter best time to visit the caves!

Just a warning, the caves are not for the neat. The stone walls and floor are wet and dirty, but beautiful and... unusual. In them, it is not always possible to move while standing, and often even squat or crawl on bark. Sometimes you have to lie down on your belly and crawl. Crawl, crawl and crawl...

But today the story will be about two caves, where the skills of plastun movement are not needed for new impressions.

cave city

The valley of the Sim River is famous for the abundance of a wide variety of caves. There are over 150 of them! But the most popular and easily accessible are located near the village of Serpievka, Chelyabinsk region. It is these caves that are called "Serpievsky Cave City". underground city stretched along the river bank for 15 kilometers! Karst caves are located here one after the other. Among them there are funnels, and failures, and niches, and arches, and grottoes. Underground rivers flow in large caves, forming lakes.

Serpievsky castle is not only famous a tourist route, but also a unique archaeological monument of world importance, as in many caves and grottoes traces of the stay of primitive people were found and many bones of prehistoric animals were found.

For ordinary, not accustomed to cramped skins and manholes, but very curious tourists, caves are ideal Bell tower, Mayskaya and world famous Ignatievskaya.

Conquer the underworld

The trail to the caves starts from a steep cliff on the banks of the Sim, from where a picturesque view of the pine forest and the river valley opens.

The first cave that you will meet on the way - Mayskaya. The entrance to it is wide, but you need to go bent over. But the kids are just the right size.

Inside, at a distance of about one meter from the floor to the ceiling, there is constantly fog, which settles with moisture on the ceiling and walls and immediately turns into a snow cover, similar to large white moss.

The clay floor of the cave is decorated for the winter with unusual decoration. Water, dripping from the ceiling, gradually creates transparent ice columns that dot the entire floor. Ice stalagmites look like rock crystals that shimmer and shimmer under the rays of lanterns. A very unusual sight! At other times of the year you will not see such beauty!

The whole cave is essentially one big corridor. The exception is the hole at the end, through which you need to go on all fours or crawl. It leads to another large hall. The May Cave is easy, it is impossible to get lost in it.

On the way to the next cave Bell tower, we will meet a couple of small grottoes in the rock, unremarkable, but nevertheless you need to look at them with one eye and be surprised at the beauty of your native land.

The second cave is quite spacious, with a high ceiling. It is unrealistic to get lost in it, because the cave has only one main passage.

The entire floor of the cave, as in Maiskaya, is dotted with ice columns. But there are many more calcium deposits and limestone figures, which turned the smooth, torch-smoked walls into incredible paintings.

People with a good imagination see petrified echoes of the distant past of our planet in the rock carvings: the ridges and bones of dinosaurs and prehistoric animals, the trunks and branches of giant trees and ferns, the shells of prehistoric mollusks, and even the imprints of unprecedented paws and claws.

However, who exactly lives in the cave is bats! Small brown creatures hanging from the ceiling can be easily spotted by looking up and lighting up the upper walls. Mice hibernate during the winter, so be careful not to disturb their long sleep.

Once in the Kolokolnaya, in its very bowels, there was an Old Believer church and divine services were held. According to one version, the cave got its name because of the bell that hung in the back room. In order for it to ring, it was necessary to pull the rope hidden at the entrance. Only the initiated could know about it. Thus, the caller warned the others that "one of his own" was going into the cave. On one of the rocky ledges, a bell was hoisted, which rang during a church service.

There is also a hole in the cave, about eight meters long, which can only be overcome by crawling. The guides say that this tunnel was one of the elements of ritual initiations, through which they crawled through pitch darkness the boys, symbolically passing through the birth canal, said goodbye to childhood and were already becoming adults.

In our times, the Kolokolnaya cave has not lost its mystical appeal either. And it still serves as a place of worship for higher powers, judging by the candles placed in the hall, and the symbol of the sun-svarog on a stone in the cave.

It is said that scientists have found drawings of primitive people here. Now they are all hidden under a layer of soot and inscriptions of contemporaries.

Near the cave Kolokolnaya there is a small rocky arch, called Ring rock, and under the arch are two stones carved in the shape of hearts, which bring happiness to lovers if a certain ritual is performed.

A lot of legends and legends are connected with caves, mountains and rocks in the Urals. They intertwined and legends about the Old Believers-hermits, and faith in magic stones and wonderful places. In the same Belfry there are stones, according to beliefs, that give male strength, treat female problems, help with infertility, and cleanse the body, heart and soul. Believe it or not, it's a personal matter. But the locals sincerely believe.

And finally

There is a beauty to underground travel. You enjoy an adventure in pitch darkness, (dim lights don't count), from unusual place and atmosphere and go to the surface realizing yourself as a dungeon conqueror, because everything here is REAL. Here, as in the replicated tourist caves (Kungurskaya, for example), there is no foppish concrete path, no electricity that goes out right behind the backs of the tourists, no annoying screams organized groups, delivered by Ikarus every 15 minutes - only authentic caves, as they were hundreds of thousands of years ago and YOU.

By the way, not far from these two caves, there is a very famous Ignatievskaya cave. A whole art gallery of the Paleolithic era was found in it - there are only two similar caves with so many ancient paintings in the world - one is in Spain, the other in France. And, besides, here is the greatest treasure of the Ignatievskaya cave - the miraculous Ignatievskaya Mother of God, created by nature itself. But that story is for the next article.

How to get there?

From Ufa we leave for the Chelyabinsk highway, past the city of Sim, to the fork in Kropacheva. We turn right at the sign Serpievka and drive to the village. We pass it, and right behind the "ancient" ruins of the farm, which the cheerful tourists dubbed the local "Stonehenge", there will be an exit from the road to the pine forest. We leave the cars and go deeper into the forest. After 200-300 meters there will be a rocky cliff and several equipped pavilions and bonfires. You're at the place.

This place has a whole cave city. In some guidebooks, this place is called "Serpievsky Cave City".
Most of those who visited this place were shown only two large caves (Mayskaya and Kolokolnaya), a couple of grottoes and the Ring Rock and that’s all! And I'll tell you how to find all the other objects. There are at least 2 more caves worth visiting.

The order of the objects here is as follows (from right to left on the map):
Maiskaya Cave (Serpievskaya-1), "Small Serpievskiy Grotto", Kolokolnaya Cave (Serpievskaya-2), Rock-Ring, "Big Serpievskiy Grotto", Water Cave, White Queen Cave (Serpievskaya-3). On the opposite side of the road there is another cave - Solomennaya. I don't recommend even trying to go there. She collapses due to highway. In addition, I heard that in Solomennaya there were cases of the appearance of gas unsuitable for breathing.

2. Map of the location of the caves. Please note that the "White Queen" cave is located at a distance from the main complex. They usually cannot find it precisely because they do not know that they have to go quite far.

From the picture where the caves are marked, it can be seen that a dirt road approaches the caves. Friends, let's not drive into the clearing by car! There is convenient parking next to the highway. Everyone has alarms, no one will touch your car without you noticing.

3. Forest on a rock, in the depths of which there are caves.

4. 200 meters from the road, and you are standing on a rock, located in the middle of the ridges overgrown with taiga.

5. View of the Sim River in early spring. The ridge that runs on the other side of the river is called the Comb.

6. If you look to the left while standing on a rock, you can see a straight line of the highway.

In the middle of the rocks, there is a steep descent to the river. From the descent to the right there will be Mayskaya and Kolokolnaya caves. Don't confuse them with others. Below I will give photos of the entrances to all the caves.

7. Entrance to the Maiskaya Cave (Serpievskaya-1).

8. View from the cave.

9. Immediately after entering Mayskaya, a long and rather low move begins. It is more convenient to move here the way chimpanzees move. Speleologists call this way of moving "crustacean".

10. Until April, stalagmites of ice remain in the entrance part of the cave.

11. In the far part of the passage leading from the beginning of the cave, the ceilings are covered with mondmilch. This is a special state of calcium - crystals in the form of plates. To the touch, the substance is similar to cottage cheese and water can be squeezed out of it. Unfortunately, the visitors spoiled everything.

After a small, but unpleasant skinning, we find ourselves in a huge hall covered with white streaks.
This is the only place in the cave where you can stand up to your full height!

12. Great Hall.

In the hall there is a huge mountain of stone blocks. Over the centuries, they have become numb with a calcite crust, making them slippery. The most convenient way to climb to the top is on the right side of the mountain.

13. View from the top of the mountain. See how much the blocks are overgrown with streaks.

14. Ceiling slabs hang overhead. They are so even that it is hard to believe that this is a creation of nature, and not of man. There are many white stains on the walls.

15. In the wall of the grotto opposite from the skinner, a piece of wall fell out. The destruction in this place continues. Every time I see fresh stones and clay under the hole. One day, a second entrance to the cave will open here.

Between the Mayskaya and Kolokolnaya caves there is a recess in the rock, the vault of which is covered with soot from fires. This is the "Small Serpievsky Grotto". Primitive people lived here and burned fires, and modern savages are not averse to smoking ancient stones.

16. "Small Serpievsky Grotto".

Cave Kolokolnaya (or Serpievskaya-2) is famous for the fact that divine services were held here and the cave was used as a temple. They say that scientists have found drawings of primitive people here. Now they are all hidden under a layer of soot and inscriptions of contemporaries. There is a lot of soot in the cave. The soot is left by torches that travelers used to light their way.

17. Entrance to the Kolokolnaya cave.

There is a legend that a large bell used to hang in the cave. Allegedly, that's why it was called the Bell. Personally, I think this is not true. The entrance to the cave, if you look from the inside, is very much like a bell. Look at the next photo.

18. View from the Kolokolnaya cave.

Not far from the entrance, the cave is divided into two passages. You can go for anyone. They connect in 15..20 meters. At the junction is a large hall.
In the right wall of this hall there is a passage leading to the second floor.

19. Move to the second floor.

Nothing to see on the second floor. It's dangerous to climb there. You can easily fall down from a decent height. But if you climb to the level of the second floor, then you get good photos from below.

20. Moves.

The floors of the cave are covered with dense clay. She was pressed down over many years of intensive visitation. There are many fragments of bottles and cigarette butts in the clay. The villains are not appeased, unfortunately.

21. In the place shown in the photo, there are mysterious artificial notches on the ceiling slab. They say that in the grotto where this plate is located, there used to be an altar.

By the way, they walk with torches and modern people, which puts me in a state of complete misunderstanding! Flashlights cost a penny. But people stubbornly continue to breathe fumes and smoke the walls of the caves.
Nature does not give up. In places, on top of the soot, fresh sinter formations began to appear. The cave hides injuries received from people.

23. White stains on the wall.

A narrow smoky passage leads to a small crack, from which we get into the ruined gur baths.

24. Once upon a time, water overflowed from one snow-white bathroom to another. At the bottom of the baths lay cave pearls. Now everything is smoked and broken.

25. Those who did not give up and climbed through a narrow hole to the very end, a huge swell awaits, similar to a woman's breasts.

26. Plan of the cave.

In the second part I will talk about the caves Vodyanaya and "White Queen". And also, about the Rock-Ring and the "Big Serpievsky Grotto".

Continuation

Official information
Country Israel
Biblical city of the period of the Forefathers.

General information about the biblical city of Adulam

Adulam is an area in Central Israel between Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, west and northwest of the Hebron Mountains. Its name repeats the name of the one located here ancient city Adulam (Adullam, Odullom, Eglon).
The first mention of Adulam falls on the period of the Forefathers (Genesis 38:1; Joshua 15:35). The name Adulam is also found as the name of a fortified city in the land of Canaanite, which even served as the capital of the Canaanite kings. This city was one of the oldest Canaanite settlements and lay in a lowland known as Shephelah. The city was captured by Joshua during his capture of Canaan and was included in the possession of the tribe of Judah (Jehovah) (Joshua 12:15). Moreover, its coordinates are given quite accurately: 15-20 miles southeast of Jerusalem. Subsequently, the city was fortified by Rehoboam (2 Chronicles 11:7) and is called by the prophet Micah (1:15): the glory of Israel. " It will pass to Odollam, the glory of Israel ".
This place is also connected with the story of King David and the war with the Philistines. Adulam is repeatedly mentioned as an example of an impregnable and strong fortress. Adulam existed in IV century, as mentioned in the books of the Maccabees and as reported by Eusebius in the Onomasticon. Adulam ceased to exist in the middle VI V. after the Arab conquest of the country. Adullam is identified with Tel ash-Sheikh Mazkur, 15 km to km northeast of Bet Gavrin.
IN national park Adulam today you can see two archaeological complexes - the body of the ancient city Hurvat ("ruins", "ruins") And three and the area of ​​the settlement, ancient burials and columbariums Hurvat Midras. In Hurvat Itri, many wineries, columbariums, residential and industrial premises have been preserved. Apparently, in the period before the destruction of the Second Temple in the 1st century AD, this settlement was very large, its area exceeded 12 hectares.
"Midras" in translation means "insole" or "sole". A settlement existed here from the Late Bronze Age (according to other sources, from the beginning of the Iron Age, ca. 1000 BC) during the periods of the First ( X-VI centuries BC) and the Second(VI century BC -I c.) temples and during the time of Byzantium (according to other sources, until the end of the Period of Roman rule, IV century AD). Some scholars believe that Hurvat Midras was one of the strongholds of King Assa (2 Chronicles 14:7). The area of ​​the settlement, together with the burials adjacent to it from the west, south and east, as well as underground water collectors, various caves and other structures, is 25 hectares. The settlement itself occupied northern slope hill. Here - a number of columbarium caves for growing pigeons, both for food and as a temple sacrifice, water collectors, a huge necropolis, which includes several different types burials and caves. The largest is the “Bell” cave (Mearat a-Paamon), in the wall of which begins a magnificent network of secluded shelter caves in which Bar Kokhba warriors hid (the uprising led by Bar Kokhba took place in the period 132-135 AD. e.).
“Mearat a-Paamon” owes its name to the bell-shaped (paamon) shape. Ancient builders punched it (as well as other bell caves) from top to bottom. The upper entrance opening to such caves with a depth of about 3 m was made in the form of a narrow neck in hard limestone "nari". After passing through the hard layers and entering the softer layer of chalk, the builders expanded the dungeons. The digging of numerous bell-shaped caves characteristic of this area, apparently, was carried out for the extraction of limestone, which served as a building material. But these dungeons had other uses as well: housing and storage. In our time, the ceiling of Mearat a-Paamon around the entrance has collapsed heavily.
An extensive network of secret dungeons from the period of the Bar-Kokhba uprising was carved into the wall of Mearat a-Paamon. They are a system of multi-purpose rooms connected by underground manholes. Most of the dungeons can be found standing up, but from one to another you need to make your way on all fours. A network of secret dungeons served as a refuge for the rebels. In the Hurwata Midras region there are a large number of secret dungeons with places discovered there for storing food, oil and water.

General information about Lusit Caves (from published sources)

The system of bell-shaped caves Luzit is located about a kilometer from the settlement of the same name, near the city of Beit Shemesh in Central Israel. It includes two complexes of man-made caves - the Bell and Columbarium (the latter may have served as a dovecote). It is believed that these are the remains of a quarry from the Hellenistic period. First, building stone was mined in the Lusit caves, then the caves were used for housing, storage of supplies and burial of the dead. Some caves are connected by manholes.

Bell Caves located in the center of Israel. These caves are a man-made wonder of the world. In total, there are about 80 large caves similar to a bell. These caves are located in Beit Guvrin National Park. Bell caves appeared as a result of limestone mining in the III-II centuries BC. This extensive network of caves is similar to miracle city underground with amazingly clean air and amazing acoustics.

Such an amazing shape was formed due to the mining method, in which first a hole with a diameter of about a meter was drilled from above, and then the channel was widened, approaching soft rocks. Such forms have survived to this day. This mining method was well thought out. With this technology, the necessary moisture was maintained to facilitate extraction.

Now the sunlight enters through the upper openings and illuminates everything inside with amazing light. There is information that these caves used to be used for congregations of early Christians. In some caves, images of crosses were found on the rocks, reminiscent of templar symbols. Currently, chamber orchestras give concerts in the caves. Most often, such performances are organized during Easter week. The halls of these caves not only look like bells. They also took from them the properties of energy storage and acoustic preservation.

caves located near Jerusalem. If you go by car, then the road will take 20-30 minutes. These caves are concentrated in small areas in huge numbers. The number of holes in the ground is sometimes up to a hundred pieces. When expanding, such channels merge into one large cave.

The caves are remarkable in that traces of several eras of human development have been preserved in them. After the quarries, the caves began to be used as columbarium. This is a room where pigeons were bred, both postal and for food and sacrifices. There are inscriptions from different times on the walls. Currently, rock climbers have chosen the caves.