Bolshaya Oreshnaya Cave

Bolshaya Oreshnaya Cave is the world’s largest conglomerate cave. It is situated in Mansky district, approximately 130 km from Krasnoyarsk. The speleologists discovered the cave in 1964, they have yet thoroughly explored and depicted on the map just about 60 km of the branched labyrinth, going to the depth and to different sides. But each time new and interesting loopholes are revealed to travellers.

In the cave there is a huge number of grottos and trails, sometimes with very amazing names. For example, Penal Servitude  Way, Native School, Insanity, Wolf’s Marsh, Jackdaw’s Lounge, Greaseball, Bakhchisaray Canalization, Kashchey's Kingdom, Acropolis, Fools Country.

Passing grottos and trails is possible without ropes and special equipment and is affordable even for an unexperienced tourist. But remember, Oreshka (speleologists call it so in a tender way) is one big labyrinth, and it’s very easy to get lost in it. So you certainly need to go to this underground kingdom with a guide. For speleologists’ convenience special reference points – marks, helping to understand in what part of the cave you are, are painted on the walls. The map of the cave is also necessary. You can download it here.

In the cave, the temperature remains at the level of +3°C all year round. The experienced cavers say that in summer many trails are full of water and it’s easier to travel in it autumn and winter.

In wintertime in the grottos, you can see bats, but it’s forbidden to interrupt their sleep – they might lose some of their energy, saved for the winter, and they will die.

Due to the lack of light time, you feel time in the cave in another way. It seems as if you are crawling for an hour, while in fact – just 20 minutes.

● It’s very important

to choose the appropriate clothes. Usual clothes are torn, get wet and frozen during moving inside the narrow grottos. A caving suit and thermostat will suit best of all. You also need gloves, a lantern and extra batteries for it.

► How to get there:

Go by car through Narva and Oreshnoye village to the recreation centre Oreshka and from there go on foot to the sign Bolshaya Oreshnaya Cave, them go up along the trail about 500 meters. By the way, you can book an excursion to the cave with a transfer from Krasnoyarsk in the centre or from the Altamira tour operator.

Photo: Elya Bunyat, Sergey Filinin