The Vorontsovskaya Cave System (Воронцовская система пещер) is a long chain of

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

s in the Khosta and Adler districts of

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. It is part of a range of

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceo ...

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

s that runs parallel to the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

coast for 400 km. and contains the Voronya Cave, the world's deepest cave. The Vorontsovskaya Cave (Воронцовская пещера) was the first cave to be surveyed. It may be accessed through a dozen entrances dotting the slopes of the Kudepsta River valley, at heights ranging from 419 to 720 meters above sea level. The Prometheus Grotto, with a length of over 120 meters, is developed as a tourist destination. The cave takes its name from the nearest settlement,

Vorontsovka Tashir ( hy, Տաշիր) is a town and urban municipal community located in Lori Province at the north of Armenia, near the border with Georgia. It is located 42 km north of the provincial centre Vanadzor and 154 north of the capital Yerevan. ...

. It is known to contain bones of

cave bear The cave bear (''Ursus spelaeus'') is a prehistoric species of bear that lived in Europe and Asia during the Pleistocene and became extinct about 24,000 years ago during the Last Glacial Maximum. Both the word "cave" and the scientific name ' ...

s and early humans. In the late 20th century, it was discovered that the Vorontsovskaya Cave is connected to the Labyrinth Cave, the Kabany Proval, and the Dolgaya Cave by a network of

sump A sump is a low space that collects often undesirable liquids such as water or chemicals. A sump can also be an infiltration basin used to manage surface runoff water and recharge underground aquifers. Sump can also refer to an area in a cave ...

s, or siphons. Some cave chambers lie 240 meters higher than the others. This cave system has been mapped to about 12 kilometers. It is ranked as the longest in

Krasnodar Krai Krasnodar Krai (russian: Краснода́рский край, r=Krasnodarsky kray, p=krəsnɐˈdarskʲɪj kraj) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai), located in the North Caucasus region in Southern Russia and administratively a part of t ...

and the 6th longest in the

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

.Литвинская С. А., Лозовой С. П. Памятники природы Краснодарского края. Краснодар: Периодика Кубани, 2005. File:Воронцовская пещера (18).JPG, File:Воронцовская пещера (19).JPG, File:Воронцовская пещера (08).JPG, File:Воронцовская пещера (12).JPG,

References

{{Reflist Caves of Russia Landforms of Krasnodar Krai Sochi Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Krasnodar Krai