Caves of the Carpathians

1. Home
2. Speleology
3. Caves of the Carpathians

The Eastern, or Wooded Carpathians, located in Ukraine, are distinguished as a speleological area, which is subdivided into three provinces.

The Carpathian karst caves and mines are most widely studied in the Central Carpathian speleological province, which covers a mountain range extending in a southeastern direction for 250 km. The caves are best studied in the southern foothills of the Carpathians, in the area of Mount Dragovsky Menchul. Here, in the upper reaches of the Malaya and Velika Uholka rivers, 23 caves, richly decorated with fouling formations, have been discovered in high cliffs composed of grey dense marbleized limestones of the Upper Jurassic (more information: Cave Formation).

Of particular interest is a vertical karst mine known as the Druzhba Cave. It begins with a 21-meter-deep sinkhole that leads to a complex system of vertical and horizontal passages. The total length of the horizontal galleries of the cave exceeds 220 meters, and its depth is 46 meters.

Among the other caves are:

• White Wall Caves (101 m long),
• Milk Stone (92 m),
• Ridge (71 m).