Researchers from the Committee for the Study of the Kola Lands (KIKZ) from Murmansk shared with us amazing facts. In mid-March 2019, their group made a perilous descent into an ancient system of dungeons located under the city. And these tunnels are located right under the streets and houses of Murmansk.
It is not easy to get in here. In winter, the descent into the tunnels becomes icy and covered with huge stalagmites. You have to go down the rope. Any careless step and you can fall down heavily injured on stones and ice ledges. But there is another complication. Currently, the entire tunnel system is flooded to a height of about two meters. You can only get into the ancient labyrinths on rubber boats.
Nobody knows exactly how long they are. Many passages are now sealed or filled up, they are partially flooded or used for the needs of the Ministry of Emergencies. According to the recollections of old-timers, the catacombs near Murmansk stretch for tens of kilometers, consisting of large tunnels and halls with a ceiling height of up to 12 meters and having several tiers. Disputes about their creation have been going on for a long time. Some of them were first mentioned in the 16th century.
Despite the fact that in different historical periods they were actively used - for warehouses during the intervention, as shelters during the Great Patriotic War, and even for civil defense objects in the post-war period, general information about them was practically absent. Despite the fact that in one of the parts of the catacombs the headquarters of the 14th army was located and in fact is a historical place - many even Muramans do not know about their existence.
Promotional video:
There are many legends about the origin of these tunnels. One of the versions attributes these mysterious dungeons to the ancient mystical people of Chakli, who once lived on the Kola Peninsula. Chakli, according to Sami legends, possessed knowledge of magic and spells. They knew the bowels and knew how to extract minerals and minerals, which they exchanged with the Sami for the things they needed. They often helped the Sami in the fight against the conquerors (Chudyu) - this is how the Sami were usually called the Finns and Swedes. According to legend, without adopting new laws (during the baptism of Lapland), they went underground forever. According to legends, their places of stay were all over the Kola Peninsula. Especially many of them were met by legends in the Petsamo (Pechenga) region in the caves of the coastal rocks.
But it still remains a mystery with what tools these tunnels were created and huge grottoes were cut down! The height of the tunnels reaches 12 meters! This is not like an ordinary quarry. Most of all, it resembles an ancient abandoned city.
In one of the halls in the 80s of the last century, they tried to build an underground garage. We began to explore caves, build hangars, but accidentally damaged one of the walled up entrances. Water began to flow from there, and quite quickly the entire system of tunnels was flooded.
Within the walls of the tunnels, you can see many of these clogged passages to other parts of this ancient underground complex. Where they lead, and what is hidden behind them - no one knows. By the way, the length of all these dark labyrinths is still not known exactly.
No one has yet dared to sail this entire system and draw up a detailed map of it. Perhaps it is there, in the farthest corners of these ancient tunnels, that there is a secret passage to the underground kingdom of the mysterious people of Chakli, who have kept the secrets of the Kola Peninsula from time immemorial.