Baskunchakskaya Cave

Baskunchakskaya Cave is the largest gypsum cave in the Caspian Depression karst area. It lies in the Akhtubinsky district of Astrakhan Oblast, within the Baskunchak Nature Park, near Lake Baskunchak and the village of Verkhny Baskunchak. The passages stretch for about 1,480 metres, the maximum depth is around 32 metres, and the total volume of the cavities is roughly 9,400 cubic metres.

What to see

The cave is horizontal and formed in gypsum rock. It has three main entrances and one hard-to-reach one. Inside is an underground freshwater lake of about 10 square metres. The temperature stays around +8 degrees Celsius year-round, with humidity of 95-98 percent. Visitors and cavers call one chamber the "Sleeping Hall", since it was traditionally used as a camp during underground expeditions. Next to the second entrance is another small cavity, the Devyat Dyr (Nine Holes) cave, about 70 metres long.

History

The cave took its present form in the early 1980s, when speleologists from Saratov connected three separate cavities — Bolshaya Baskunchakskaya, Malaya Baskunchakskaya and Sukhaya — into a single system. Before that, students called it the "Student Cave", since geography students came here for field practice. Old inscriptions dated 1874, 1909 and 1912 survive on the walls, left by visitors long before any speleological surveys.

In 1993 a tragedy happened in the cave: a group of tourists was cut off from the exit by water, and one of them died after hitting his head on a low ceiling. Cavers still recall the case as a warning that entering the cave without preparation and equipment is dangerous.

According to one version, the Kalmyk name "Baskunchak" translates as "dog's head".

Getting there

The cave can be reached by car, for example from Astrakhan, or by train to Verkhny Baskunchak station, then on foot or by local transport. It lies within the Baskunchak Nature Park, so it is worth checking the rules for visiting the protected area beforehand. Entering the cave on your own, without equipment and an experienced guide, is not advisable: it is dark and damp inside, and it is easy to lose orientation among the passages.