I guess most people have heard of the Odessa catacombs by now. I've wanted to visit for probably 10 years now.
Strictly speaking they aren't actually catacombs; they have certainly been home to a good number of corpses over the years, but not by design. They're actually a massive limestone mine. There are still graves of miners to be found, but that's splitting hairs.
The catacombs are still largely unexplored and the average estimates for them are around 2500km; although they are still being mined in places and still growing.The earliest workings are probably from the 17th century but the majority of the system now dates to the 19th when Odessa was expanding and the stone was used to build the city.
As the miners left the tunnels have been used my smugglers and criminals as hideaways and a method of escape or surreptitious movement through the city. During WW2 they were used by the Soviet resistance so effectively that despite the Nazis best efforts they were still down there at the end of the war. People are still finding new camps and caches of weapons.
Obviously a guide is essential for a visit here, and I was lucky enough that Anastasia from Paris had just returned home for the summer, she's been exploring here since she was maybe 15. She's also genuinely passionate and knowledgeable about the catacombs.
The section I saw is under a small village about 30km outside Odessa and being as I had only half a day we didn't have time to see a lot, maybe 4-5 hours under. Enough to know that I'll be back for a proper expedition next time..
The way in and the last of the daylight.
1907
1902/1907 Can't make it out properly
1899 This was the earliest date I saw
The ruts to the right are from the miners carts, you could also see where they had worn the sides of most of the corners. Apparently the horses used to pull these were blinded by the dust within 2 years of working in the mines
CCCP.
This is a well shaft from the village above. In other places there were drains that had been sunk straight into the tunnels from the houses above. Apparently if it gets really bad the cataphiles go round and seal them up with expanding foam.
The drawing above marks the place where a proposal was made. Maybe the prospective groom thought the possibility of being left behind might encourage a positive response. Below is a sign marking a miners grave.
This was a large flooded area which unfortunately I didn't have time to go very far into.
The final section we went into on the way back to the surface was much larger and more open, you can see on the walls that it's been used for paintball at some time. Bet that was great fun!
Strictly speaking they aren't actually catacombs; they have certainly been home to a good number of corpses over the years, but not by design. They're actually a massive limestone mine. There are still graves of miners to be found, but that's splitting hairs.
The catacombs are still largely unexplored and the average estimates for them are around 2500km; although they are still being mined in places and still growing.The earliest workings are probably from the 17th century but the majority of the system now dates to the 19th when Odessa was expanding and the stone was used to build the city.
As the miners left the tunnels have been used my smugglers and criminals as hideaways and a method of escape or surreptitious movement through the city. During WW2 they were used by the Soviet resistance so effectively that despite the Nazis best efforts they were still down there at the end of the war. People are still finding new camps and caches of weapons.
Obviously a guide is essential for a visit here, and I was lucky enough that Anastasia from Paris had just returned home for the summer, she's been exploring here since she was maybe 15. She's also genuinely passionate and knowledgeable about the catacombs.
The section I saw is under a small village about 30km outside Odessa and being as I had only half a day we didn't have time to see a lot, maybe 4-5 hours under. Enough to know that I'll be back for a proper expedition next time..
The way in and the last of the daylight.
1907
1902/1907 Can't make it out properly
1899 This was the earliest date I saw
The ruts to the right are from the miners carts, you could also see where they had worn the sides of most of the corners. Apparently the horses used to pull these were blinded by the dust within 2 years of working in the mines
CCCP.
This is a well shaft from the village above. In other places there were drains that had been sunk straight into the tunnels from the houses above. Apparently if it gets really bad the cataphiles go round and seal them up with expanding foam.
The drawing above marks the place where a proposal was made. Maybe the prospective groom thought the possibility of being left behind might encourage a positive response. Below is a sign marking a miners grave.
This was a large flooded area which unfortunately I didn't have time to go very far into.
The final section we went into on the way back to the surface was much larger and more open, you can see on the walls that it's been used for paintball at some time. Bet that was great fun!
