Underground world secrets: 5 most fascinating and mysterious caves in Ukraine

Optymistychna Cave

This cave is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest gypsum cave and the second-longest in terms of total length of cave passages. It is located on the western outskirts of the village of Korolivka, Ternopil region.

The total length of the passages is more than 267 km and this cave has not yet been fully explored. It covers an area of about two square kilometers, due to the number and winding of the passages. The cave is heavily silted with clay, but there are stalactites, helictites, and other natural formations.

There are also underground lakes in this cave - Mriia, Chastynka Boha, Piatkytkytne, Permske, Frike, Mistyk, Kyshenka, and Mikron. Mikron claims to be the largest underground lake in Ukraine, with a depth of 5-6 meters, an area of 500 square meters, and an average temperature of 7 degrees. The cave also houses Ukraine's first museum of sculptures made from clay found at the bottom.

Optymistychna Cave (photo: bestguide.com.ua)

Atlantyda Cave

Atlantyda Cave is called one of the most beautiful caves in the world. It is located near the village of Zavallia in the Khmelnytskyi region. This cave consists of three floors, inside you can see stalactites and stalagmites, as well as bizarre patterns of different colors.

The karst cave has separate halls, galleries, grottoes, corridors, and bats can be found in it. Each hall has its name - Poppies, Golden Autumn, Joy, Laughter. The length of this cave is almost 7500 meters and the area is 3120 square meters.

Atlantyda Cave (photo: Wikipedia)

Atlantyda Cave (photo: Wikipedia)

Cryshtaleva Cave

This is one of the largest gypsum caves not only in Ukraine but also in Europe. It is located in the village of Kryvche, Ternopil region. The peculiarity of this cave is that it has high ionization of air and water and absolutely no pathogenic organisms. It is believed that the Crystal Cave is a good place for medical and recreational purposes.

This cave was first mentioned in 1721, in the book of the Jesuit monk Gabriel Żanzhynsky. The explored length is 28 km and the average height is 3 meters. It is practically dry and easy to pass. The temperature inside is about +10 degrees.

Kryshtaleva Cave (photo: Wikipedia)

Kryshtaleva Cave (photo: Wikipedia)

Mlynky Cave

Another gypsum cave is located near the village of Zalissia, Ternopil region. Mlynky is a standard of gypsum karst, this cave is a subhorizontal cavity of a labyrinth type. Most of the long galleries and halls were formed in the cracks.

Mlynky Cave is almost 48 kilometers long. Despite 100% humidity, the temperature inside is 9 degrees Celsius. In most of the galleries, the walls are abundantly covered with gypsum crystals of various sizes, painted in white, yellow, black, and red, crystalline snow, and occasionally helictites.

This cave is for real extremists and adrenaline junkies because moving around there will not be easy, you need to squeeze through cracks, crawl on your stomach, climb over boulders, and overcome obstacles.

It is said that the land where this cave is now located used to be the Sarmatian Sea, and that is why the labyrinths were formed through cracks in the seabed. The sea has dried up, but the gypsum labyrinthine bottom has remained.

Mlynky Cave (photo: Wikipedia)

Mlynky Cave (photo: Wikipedia)

Skytska Cave

The second name of this cave is Hostri Hovdy. It is located near the village of Zveniachyn in the Chernivtsi region. The length of the passages in this cave is over 3.5 kilometers, and they mostly resemble cracks. The height is from 3 to 5 meters, and the width is 1-2 meters.

The passages of the cave have received different names from speleologists - the Spiral Twisted Passage, the most difficult place - the Oven, Conchita Passage, Throat, and many others.

The peculiarity of this cave is gypsum crystals of various shapes and colors. But the most spectacular is the Crystal Hall.

Skytska Cave (photo: Ihor Magnovskyi)