New Athos is a popular seaside resort,which is located northwest of Sukhumi (21 km). This is a very picturesque place in Abkhazia. The hills on which the city is located are covered with orange, lemon, olive and tangerine groves.
Throughout the resort stretchedcypress avenues, in the coastal zone delight the eye of laurels and palm trees, bananas and magnolias, eucalyptus and oleanders. Here are the ponds and surrounded by weeping willows. The slopes of the mountains are covered with deciduous trees - beech, hornbeam, oak and others. But most of all tourists are interested in the caves in New Athos.
From the history of the city
In the IV century on the Iverskaya mountain the Abkhaz were builtfortress, which was called Anakopii. After the unification of Georgia in the XI century, Anakopia became one of the largest coastal centers. However, in the XIV-XVII centuries, during the feudal fragmentation of Georgia, Anakopia lost its economic and political importance.
Возрождение города произошло в 1874 году, когда here arrived from Holy Mount Athos (Greece) monks. The tsarist government allowed them to establish a monastery in Abkhazia. After that, at the foot of the Iverskaya mountain, they built the New Athos monastery, which later became one of the largest religious buildings of the Caucasus. And the settlement formed around it with residential houses, churches, cells, parks and gardens was called New Athos. The modern resort city, as we know it, appeared at the beginning of the 20th century on the site of a former monastic settlement.
New Athos Cave
Ancient Abkhazia keeps many secrets.The cave (New Athos), the photo of which you can see below, is one of the largest in the republic. It is located under the slope of the Iveron Mountain. This is a huge karst cavity. Its volume is one million cubic meters. The cave is located near the monastery of the same name. Its length is about 1900 meters, the maximum depth exceeds 180 meters.
History of discovery
Attention locals from antiquityattracted a huge well on the hillside of Iverskaya. They called the well with sheer walls a "bottomless pit". For a long time, brave men who would decide to go down there, was not.
Первым на опасный спуск решился местный житель Givi Smyr. However, without special equipment he could not sink to the bottom. In 1961, an expedition was created to investigate the "bottomless pit". Having overcome the obstacles on their way, the assault four consisting of Arsen Okrodzhanashvili, Zurab Tintilozov, Givi Smyr and Boris Gergedava went down to the bottom.
A huge layer of clay that covered the floor and wallsthe well seemed to be talking about the end of the abyss. In any case, this is how the other caves of New Athos ended. Suddenly, in one of the small holes, the researchers felt a strong draft of air, and the brave men in turn squeezed forward. The darkness consumed the light of the lanterns. This testified to grandiose underground volumes unprecedented in these places. So the cave was opened in New Athos (Abkhazia).
The following expedition followed the first expedition.Cavers mapped the cave, a huge amount of scientific material was collected, the film was shot. Years of intense, and often dangerous work were required to create another unique attraction on the Black Sea coast, created by nature and people.
Tourists coming to New Athos, the cave becameavailable for visits in 1975. Today, nine rooms are open in it, every day one can visit six of them as part of the excursion group. Two more can be seen only once a week. One room is still closed for visits, since it is reserved for research and the work of scientists.
Underground road
Nowadays, thousands of tourists visit each year.New Athos. The cave is necessarily included in their excursion route. Acquaintance with the mysterious failure begins with a special transport system, which was launched before the opening of the cave for visitors.
The assembled group is invited to take wagons.narrow-gauge railway, which will transport them through the halls and make an intermediate stop in the hall "Abkhazia". The road is fully electrified, the rails are at a constant voltage (300 V). After the train arrives at the station, it is necessary to let the tourists come from the opposite side, and then you will be allowed to enter the car.
The doors of the cars of this underground transportopen manually. The length of the road is about two kilometers. The total route of the underground tour is 1.4 kilometers. Metro lowers visitors to a depth of 160 meters.
Excursion
The duration of the tour is an hour and a half. The group must be accompanied by a guide who tells about the history of the discovery of the cave and, of course, separately about each of the halls.
Cave New Athos (photo, even thequality, not able to convey their greatness and power) have a constant, rather low temperature (+11 degrees), so you need to take warm clothes with you. In some places it is damp in a cave, so comfortable shoes with non-slip soles are required.
Halls
Пещера в Новом Афоне (Абхазия), как мы уже mentioned, has eight accessible halls. Almost all of them have names (old and new). In the very first hall where the tourists go (“Anakopia”), there is a small blue lake “Anatolia”.
Hall Cavers
The largest hall in the cave. It used to be called the hall of the mahajirs. It is named after the cavers of the Vakhushti Institute and the first researchers who had long worked in the depths of the mountain.
"Narta"
Previously, it was called clay. In it you can see a lake, clouded by clay rocks, in which small crustaceans live, and around it there are unusual three-pointed bugs that do not have eyes.
"Ayuha" (earlier - "Moscow")
This low and narrow hall, according to scientists, was once a river bed. Its massive vaults are painted in various shades of gray.
"Aphertsa" ("Iberia")
And here tourists are amazed by acoustics. Every sound here becomes amazingly melodic. Sometimes there is a choir of Abkhazia.
Hall "Apsny"
The former hall of “Tbilisi” fascinates with its beauty.The unusual view of the stone waterfall, which seems to fall from a height, makes a huge impression. This is the highest hall. The height of its ceilings reaches one hundred meters. This hall does not sparkle with special cave decorations, but it is truly beautiful. This is noted by all who visited New Athos. The cave here is reminiscent of complete grandeur, calm and mighty giant, who plunged into a thousand-year dream. The dim and simple colors of this hall are brown clay and gray coarse limestone.
Helict Hall
Getting into this room, you feel as if you werein another dimension. Gelaktitov - education, growing from the ceiling, in some incredible way, suddenly curl up or throw in different directions countless shoots-threads. Scientists are still studying the nature of their growth.
To appreciate the beauty of this underground kingdom, you must come to New Athos. The cave, each of the halls of which is beautiful in its own way, can only be appreciated during a personal inspection.
Great value for perception, no doubthas a design of the halls. Here music is playing, stalagmites and stalactites are highlighted in different colors. A visit to the cave leaves the most vivid impressions. On the territory there is a souvenir pavilion in which you can buy fragments of crystals, stalagmites, stalactites, a cave movie disc, beautiful postcards to remember the excursion.
How to get there?
Getting to New Athos is pretty simple.From the nearby cities, regular minibuses go - direct and heading towards Gudauta and Psou. There are buses from the central square of Pitsunda and the railway station of Sukhumi. The road is excellent - in 20 minutes you will find yourself in New Athos. Tourists need to get off at the “Shell” stop and focus on the Novo-Athos monastery visible from any point.
New Athos (cave): work schedule
In summertime (May - October) the cave awaits guests every day, from 9.00 to 18.00. In the autumn-winter period there are excursions on Wednesdays and weekends.
New Athos (caves): reviews of tourists
The vast majority of people who visited the caves,They say that this excursion will be remembered by him for life. Everything here is amazing: from the unusual metro to the majestic cave halls. The whimsically intertwining stone formations, correctly illuminated, amaze the imagination.
Многие отмечают, что интересный рассказ The tour guide, accompanied by music, makes a tremendous impression. Tourists advise everyone who is going on a trip to take a powerful camera with them. Light in the caves is not enough, and the views here are just fabulous.
