Vorontsov cave system
In the Khostinsky district there is an amazing cave system named Vorontsovskaya after the name of the mountain range in which it is located. For many years, it was believed that the Labyrinthine, Vorontsovskaya, Long and Kabaniy caves were not connected in any way, but it gradually became clear that they were connected by siphons.
The length of the Vorontsovskaya cave system is 11,720 km, which puts it on the 6th position among the longest caves in Russia. The cave system can be entered through 14 entrances located in the valleys of the Psakho, Kudepsta and Vostochnaya Khosta rivers. Vorontsovskaya cave system is located in limestone rocks, so there are many stalactites, stalagmites, columns and other sediments. In numerous passages, researchers have discovered sites of ancient people, a huge number of bones belonging mainly to cave bears.
In Vorontsovskaya cave, there are a large number of cracks in the halls, which cause huge layers of rock to fall off. So in the hall of the Underground River, you can see blocks of 50 m3 in volume. It is believed that the Variety Hall is the most beautiful in the cave with a large number of unusual flow formations. Prometheus Grotto is the longest with a length of more than 120 meters. There is an excursion route through this cave and anyone can walk along it for a fee.
In the Labyrinthine Cave, narrow galleries up to 15 meters high are common, in which water usually accumulates, and then flows into the Kudepsta riverbed. This cave is connected through a siphon to the Boar Hole cave, so named because of the boar skeleton found at the bottom. You can also get into the cave through a funnel in the ground with a diameter of 1 meter, then you have to go down a 43-meter-high shaft and you will see many halls, many of which are dead ends due to rubble. The halls of the cave are covered with numerous stalactites and the so-called "moon milk", a jelly-like mass whose origin is still not fully understood.
The Long Cave is also part of the Vorontsov Cave system. The entrance to it is located in a sinkhole, followed by a small manhole partially filled with water and half a meter high. Then the cave expands into a huge hall with a length of 1,476 meters through which clear water flows. The water from the Long Cave goes through narrow holes into the cave of Kabaniy failure.
