There are many tourism anchors in Sochi and some of them are truly unique. The Akhshtyrskaya Cave is among these attractions. What is it so famous for?
About 120 years ago, it was a real sensation in the scientific world in September 1903 when Édouard Martel, the famous scientist, founder of speleology, presented a report on the discovery of the Akhshtyrskaya Cave in the Caucasus to the European public. His general conclusion was clear: there is no another unique underground object like this one anywhere in the world; Russia can rightfully be proud of it.
How did it all happen? In the late 19th century, Édouard Martel, a young geologist from Paris, took an interest in the surface studies and the hydrogeology of the caves in the Alps. In 1983, he published his first fundamental work on practical speleology, the book Abysses. Queen Victoria invited the scientist to conduct similar research in Great Britain. Édouard Martel made several expeditions in the Thames River valley. He practically founded the speleological services of France and Great Britain, became the head of the Geographical Society of Paris, started publishing the world’s first speleological magazine Spelunca, and also received the Order of the Legion of Honor and the Grand Prix of the British Academy of Sciences.
Mountain hikers and scientists in Russia closely followed the results of his expeditions. Soon, Édouard Martel arrived in the Caucasus at the invitation of the Russian Geographical Society. Early in the morning on September 28, 1903, Gavriil Revenko, a villager from Kazachiy Brod, showed the renowned scientist the entrance to a mysterious cave in the vicinity of Sochi, and a narrow path leading to it among huge boulders. The discovery turned out to be very interesting; Édouard Martel examined the cave in detail and recorded the information about it in his scientific diary. The cave was located on the high bank of the Mzymta River, 120 meters above the water level, on the western slope of the giant Akhshtyr Gorge. Soon, it was listed in all international catalogs as the Karst Akhshtyrskaya Cave.
The Akhshtyrskaya Cave stretches 160 meters deep into the rock, first forming a long corridor that ends in two halls. The halls are eight meters wide and 10 meters high each. Then, there is a steep clayey rise and a narrow passage leading to a dead end. Travelers can see stone formations everywhere like stalactites and stalagmites. At the entrance to the Akhshtyrskaya cave, there are two platforms where tourists can enjoy a stunning view of the Mzymta River valley.
The first excavations carried out there showed that the Akhshtyrskaya Cave was inhabited in the Stone Age. Ancient people lived there during the Paleolithic period, about 70 to 30 thousand years ago. At first, they were the Neanderthals, and then the Cro-Magnons, the ancestors of modern Europeans. Over the years, at the site of an ancient encampment, a powerful cultural layer has formed, about five meters thick. Gradually opening it up, the scientists found stone tools made of siliceous schist, including points, knives, and scrapers. Excavations lasted more than 40 years, from 1936 to 1978. The most interesting artefacts eventually ended up in the collections of the St. Petersburg Hermitage, the State Museum of History on the Moscow’s Red Square, and the Museum of the History in the resort city of Sochi. All these archaeological finds indicated that the main occupations of the ancient people living in the Akhshtyrskaya Cave were hunting and picking of berries, plants, etc. It was possible to find the bones of animals in this cave that were hunted. Most of all, the bones of ancient giants - cave bears weighing up to 900 kilograms - were found. In total, over the years of excavations, the scientists found about 6,000 bones. In addition, the remains of bisons, deer, and wild boars were discovered. There has never been such a huge number of traces of the ancient human presence in Russia before.
Undoubtedly, in ancient times, the Greek colonists visited the Akhshtyrskaya Cave, making voyages to the sea coast in the Caucasus. The stories they told often became the basis of literary works, so the story about the bears of the Akhshtyrskaya Cave, perhaps, inspired Homer to create the myth of Odysseus who defeated the one-eyed Cyclops Polyphemus in a huge stone grotto.
Since 1999, the famous Akhshtyrskaya Cave in Sochi has become an attraction visited by guided tourists, and wooden paths, stairs, railings, and artificial lighting have been made there. The most important discovery made 120 years ago by Édouard Martel, the founder of speleology, is still of great interest to many tourists.
It is quite easy to visit the unique Akhshtyrskaya Cave. You just need to get to the Trout Farm stop by bus (No. 105, 105C or 135) that goes to Krasnaya Polyana. Opening hours are from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
