Италия
Wind Cave - Grotta del Vento
Caves · 5/6/2011 · Original language: Russian
The cave was a little out of the way, but we were very glad that we decided to go there anyway. Near the cave there is a large paid parking lot for cars, and several free spaces. Three types of tours are offered in the cave. The simplest tour lasts 1 hour and costs 9 euros. The second option lasts 2 hours and costs 14 euros, and the third, accordingly, lasts 3 hours and costs 20 euros.
We chose the third option and did not regret it one bit. In principle, the main beauties are also available in the simplest option... But let me tell you everything in order.
The longest tour started at 2 o’clock, which we learned from the brochure we took at the campsite and, alas, misplaced somewhere, so I won’t be able to post the full schedule of tours for those interested. Just in case, I’ll include the cave’s website; it has some information in different languages - English, Italian, French.
What surprised us was that a tour was held just for the two of us. Even more surprising was that they gave us an audio guide to the cave in Russian! That was great because we were told a lot of interesting things.
The entrance to the cave is closed by a heavy iron door that holds back the wind.
In the first chamber of the cave stands a Siberian bear skeleton over 2 meters tall.
If you choose the third option, like we did, you’ll have to climb a narrow staircase very, very high up.
Another type of tour offered by this cave begins here, the so-called adventure tour. During it, you will climb ladders and ropes like these. But it costs more; for two hours you will have to pay about 30 euros.
The second route (which is part of the third) will take you deep into the cave, to the underground river. Here there are no longer those beautiful formations on the walls, stalactites, or stalagmites. Along the way, we passed an interesting place, the Hall of Voices. It is said that speleologists heard voices in this place, often even making out individual words. They even tried to record these "noises" on tape, but when they listened back, it turned out that the noises carried absolutely no meaning. The noise was created by the underground river, and people perceived it on a psychological level as voices.
People suffering from respiratory diseases were treated here. For treatment to be effective, the balance of humidity and beneficial minerals in the air is very important. There are many cases where this treatment method has cured chronic asthma and other diseases.
Down below, as I said, there are no beautiful formations on the walls. There are these little muddy formations. They are very fragile and rare. We saw such ones for the first time.