The second most important and popular tourist attraction after the Christian relics is the underground New Athos Cave . This miracle created by the nature was found in 1961. In spite of its half a century history the New Athos Cave has managed to become the world celebrity since it is the second largest in the world. The cave is located inside Mount Iberia . The reason of its emergence is as follows: for centuries the deposits and subsoil waters washed away the bowels of the limestone mountain. It resulted in the huge underground cavity with underground rivers and grottoes. The cave was found by the explorer Givi Smyru who first came there the early 1960s. After the cave had been carefully surveyed it was opened for tourists.
The tourists go enraptured at visiting this “underground city”. It occupies the space of more than 40 thousand square meters. There are 9 huge halls ( Apsny , Iberia , Narta, Ayukhaa etc.) with deep underground lakes, high stone vaults, stone ravines, amazing stalactites and stalagmites. You can also see a real cave canyon, a hall with unique acoustics, waterfall, a grotto with a a bizarre stone shaped like a deer. The halls are very nicely illuminated. The lights hidden in the crevices create a magic and mysterious atmosphere.
In the seventies for excursion purposes the underground railway, the only one in the world, was built. A little train runs along the 1,360 m tunnel.
|
