Orda Cave (Ординская, ''Ordinskaya'') is a

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard or sidewalk chalk, and drywal ...

crystal cave found underneath the western

Ural Mountains The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...

. The mouth is near the shore of the Kungur River just outside Orda,

Perm Krai Perm Krai (russian: Пе́рмский край, r=Permsky kray, p=ˈpʲɛrmskʲɪj ˈkraj, ''Permsky krai'', , ''Perem lador'') is a federal subject of Russia (a krai) that came into existence on December 1, 2005 as a result of the 2004 re ...

in Russia. The cave system stretches over with around over the overall length being under water. This makes it one of the longest underwater caves and the largest underwater gypsum cave in the world. It contains the longest siphon in the former

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

(935 meters). The mineral-rich area surrounding the cave filters the water and makes it very clear. Divers have a visibility of over making it an ideal location for photographic expeditions. Victor Lyagushkin, a journalist and underwater photographer, led around 150 expeditions into the caves over a six-month period in 2011. The photographs taken by his team were published in the ''Orda Cave Awareness Project'' alongside stories from other divers who had visited the cave system. The diving team were also the first people to produce a spherical panorama of an underwater cave. A local myth tells of the "Lady of the Orda Cave" who is said to live in the caves. The cave has also been visited during dives by

Martyn Farr Martyn Farr (born Crickhowell, Wales, March 3, 1951) is a leading exploratory cave diver and caver, known for his record-breaking cave dives and the exploration of many miles of previously undiscovered underground passages (e.g. in Ogof y Daren C ...

, Lamar Hires, Pascal Bernabé, and Reggie Ross.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite web , url=http://cavingnews.com/20130226-worlds-first-underwater-cave-spherical-photo-panorama-russia-orda-cave-gypsum , title=World's First Underwater Cave Spherical Photo Panorama , publisher=Caving News , date=26 February 2013 , accessdate=19 September 2013 {{cite web , url=http://www.ibtimes.com/worlds-longest-underwater-crystal-cave-deep-russian-waters-revealed-photos-707479 , title=World's longest underwater 'crystal' cave in deep Russian waters revealed (PHOTOS) , publisher=International Business Times , date=28 June 2011 , author=Sinha, Sanskrity , accessdate=19 September 2013 {{cite web , url = http://www.diving-industry.com/2011/08/17/orda-cave-russia/ , title = Orda Cave, Russia , work = Diving-Industry.com , publisher = International Diving Industry Directory , date = 17 August 2011 , accessdate = 19 September 2013 , url-status = dead , archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20130921061548/http://www.diving-industry.com/2011/08/17/orda-cave-russia/ , archivedate = 21 September 2013 {{cite web , url=http://ordacave.ru/en/ , title=Orda Cave Awareness Project , work=OrdaCave.ru , accessdate=19 September 2013 {{cite web , url=http://www.pxleyes.com/blog/2012/07/underwater-cave-photography/ , title=Interview with NGC Photographer and Cave Diver Viktor Lyagushkin (+BreathTaking Underwater Photos) , work=pxleyes , accessdate=19 September 2013 Caves of Russia Landforms of Perm Krai Gypsum caves