Freak, you are right. Last photos are from machine mine that was closed in 1976. It wasn`t attend since that year. In the mine were even left all stuff: rail, trucks, fire extinguishers, gas lamps and other equipment. Machine mines constitute a small % of our catacombs and they are even in the worst condition than handmade 100-years old mines.

Is the situation simillar in Odessa? Are the tunnels shown on the maps inspection galleries, or are they the original mine tunnels?

No. We haven`t got any inspection or underground police, because it`s absolutely legal employment. The tunnels on the maps are the original mine tunnels near the city and on the map #5 is catacombs under city.

this has become one of my all time fav threads, keep posting !!! the pix are amazing

Posted by Freak I'm curious about the history of these, maybe it's been covered beofore and I missed it. I'm also curious about the origin of the layout on your maps. In Paris the present-day catacombs are a tiny fraction of what was originally there, originally they were large room-and pillar mines with lots of open space. After collapses started happening, the large areas were mostly walled off and backfilled with inspection tunnels (galleries) running around the perimeter to allow inspection of the backfill and supporting walls. Thus the present Paris catacomb network is mostly just inspection tunnels built within mostly backfilled space. Is the situation simillar in Odessa? Are the tunnels shown on the maps inspection galleries, or are they the original mine tunnels? It looks like you have various ages of mine/tunnel as well, the machine-cut blocks in your last set of photos definitely appear to be newer.

Hey Freak - Eugene can correct me if I'm wrong about any of the following, which I might be.

Odessa catas are both way rawer and way newer than Paris or Naples. They're essentially one small step removed from decomissioned mines. From what I remember, the oldest are in the 100-200 year-old range, while the newest are still being dug, or at most 20-30 years old.

The newer tunnels seemed much larger, straighter, and more solid and probably have engineers and inspections and such, while the older tunnels kind of resemble the Val de Grace area of the Paris catacombs - maybe not "unstable," but not professionally gone through and stabilized in a coordinated way, and a complete spaghetti bowl.

The sheer amount of tunnels the amazing thing about Odessa, as well as the some of WWII history - there's bunkers and a few old partisan bases. I think if you wanted to you could walk something like 20 kilometers from the outskirts of the city to the central part of town. Most of the huge networks are located in the small towns on the outskirts of the city. There's at least one really old network under the city itself that's amazing, becuase it connects through all the old WWI bunkers under the city (well, at least two old bunkers that we went to).

I'm fairly sure the maps are all the result of explorers. From what I could gather they enjoy a relationship with the official authorities somewhere between that of the Cataphiles and the Sottosuolo guys.

Anyway, hope you guys are doing well - maybe we'll find outselves in a tunnel together again someday.

Do you have any photo's of those bunkers Moe14? I'm very curious now.

http://www.faceboo...45029&l=994921c3ee

Don't expect anything mind-blowing. I'm not a photographer - these are all just crappy point-and-shoots. It's mostly underground, but you're getting a couple of me at the beach in there also ;)

Amazing thread. That's quite a story about the missing girl. But its exciting to see a place left in the world where there's REAL exploration. A wine cellar! lol! Too much craziness to put into words.


I was shocked that there were places in those catacombs that could even be 5km from an exit.That's mind boggling to me and very claustrophobic. Then I saw the map....
How in the hell is that place ventilated? Nobody ever suffocates? Do they have collapses? Where are the entrances usually located?

I have something for fans of speleology - natural cave just under the main street of Odessa in catacombs.
Awesome place with a lot of stalactites and stalagmites.

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Some more pics:

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Better than Tv- as you can tune in next day- month or week- to see what other marvels Eugene has plumbed. This really is one of the better thread of all time. Have you ever been lost? What do you take with you? How many people each time? Any strange finds besides what we have seen already? Also one thing i am not clear on- are the catacombs entirely man made? or did it begin as a large natural type of thing?

I check this thread at least once a day now just to see. Amazing as always.

Posted by Garrett I check this thread at least once a day now just to see. Amazing as always.

Me too. I periodically check this thread just to see what cool stuff Eugene has explored recently. It gets better every time.

Wow, this story is very captivating, what else can I say, there are many feelings for such a place. It seems like the Odessa catacombs never runs out of surprises for you guys!

This is why I'm proud to be Ukrainian. That, and the food is really good.
I can't wait to visit the catacombs myself soon.

Thanks for your comments. Odessa catacombs are really joy us with new interesting places.

Posted by Garrett Have you ever been lost?

No, never. But a lot of times involved in rescue operations of lost explorers. In difficult areas of catacombs the chance of successful rescue is very low. It’s because of big maze and a lot of meltdowns.

Posted by Garrett What do you take with you?

It depends on the aims of being underground. When we go to the expedition for a week or more we take a lot of equipment. Of course, you must have 2-3 flashlights + spare batteries for them, candles and matches. For sleeping we take sleeping bags and sleeping mats. For mapping always take pencils, rulers, protractors, compass, graph paper and much more. If we explore flooding mines we take wetsuits and rarely aqualungs. Then we take food, water and a lot of other stuff. For example, my catacombs` bag before 3-days exploring weighs 40-45 kg.

Posted by Garrett How many people each time?

It also depends on the aims of being underground. As usual it can be 3-6 people, but I usually go underground alone for a few hours or a day just for relaxing )

Posted by Garrett are the catacombs entirely man made?

Yes, absolutely. But there are also some natural caves in catacombs. They are small, but very beautiful!

Great place for a party^^

Great place for a party^^

Afraid that it can be the last party if you will do it there))

Just found this thread. Just finished reading it. Incredible. I can't wait to see more. The world is an amazing place.

Posted by The Crowing The world is an amazing place.

Hehe, you are right, it is, both above and below

From now on whenever I travel abroad I am only going to the countries with underground worlds.

This is the most amazing thing I have ever seen on UER. . . or concerning UE in general. Thank you SO MUCH for sharing this with us. The fact that you go on multi-day excursions down there, sleeping down there, is INCREDIBLE beyond words.

You truly are the Chuck Norris of UE.

I would LOVE to go with you on an over nighter there. . . lots of money to make for that to be possible, but WOW would I love to make it happen. Happy exploring, and thanks again.

Posted by ActionSatisfaction Esq. Imagine the sheer terror she must've felt as she wandered around lost. Especially after her flashlight went out. She probably screamed until her throat bled. Desperately searching for a way out, believing she heard or felt a gust of wind..or perhaps mistaking a hypnogognic flash for light. I wonder at what point she gave up, sat down and died. Or if maybe she never gave up at all, and died there crawling across the floor, fighting in vain towards the possibility of an exit. I wonder what she saw when the hallucinations set in, as her organs failed from dehydration there in the darkness. Very thought provoking picture and story.

YEah , and obviously a Very thought provoking way to describe the thing !!!