Leningrad region. Sablinskie caves
For a long time, the Sablinskie Caves remained one of the most secret objects in the country. In the late 70s, the CPSU Central Committee discussed the state of affairs in Sablino almost every month. And although there was no sentry at each cave entrance and exit, Sablino was considered a semi-closed territory. Foreigners were not allowed there, and the locals knew that the appearance in the area threatened with trouble. They did not talk about Sablino on the radio, did not write newspapers, did not talk about television.
At that time, escaped prisoners and other irresponsible elements were hiding in the catacombs. Every year, law enforcement agencies reported about a dozen disappearances in these places. Naturally, the blame was placed on the cave bandits. But almost all operations to neutralize them, capture or eliminate them ended in nothing. Sablinskie caves are tangled labyrinths with lakes and vast halls stretching for tens of kilometers. The length of the Beregovaya catacomb alone is currently over 7 km (ceiling height - 160–180 cm, in the halls - over 5 m). So finding someone there is an almost impossible task.
However, the children of the dungeon themselves believed that the real reason for the disappearance of people was the influence of some otherworldly force. There was a legend that the planet thus protects itself - it forms attractive underground corridors and caves for visiting, and then simply swallows representatives of the hated human race. The cavemen considered themselves to be the suffering part of this very race. And therefore they assumed that the planet treats them favorably - in the caves they felt safe.
There was some truth in this. Scientists claim that the branched cave system arose as a result of quartz sand mining that took place in the area from the late 17th to the early 20th century. In 1922, the last worker left here, and the caves took on a life of their own. For two to three decades, active groundwater has changed the structure of the sandy soil. Many speleologists who have visited Sablino speak of the phenomenon of underground "quicksand" or "sandy swamps" as the main danger lurking here. They suggest that a mixture of water and sand could have caused the disappearance of people: curious travelers were simply sucked in. And the "victims" who settled here remained alive due to the fact that they initially chose inaccessible, but already studied places. After all, they came here at the invitation of this or that community,whose members used only proven moves.
Alexey Gurevich, member of the "Pilgrims" group:
- Few people remember those times now. Although it was something completely amazing. Several dozen people lived in the dungeon, read philosophical treatises, pondered the prospects of a new revolution …
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Sometimes someone disappeared without a trace. At first, everything was blamed on the police or special services, but it soon became clear that this was not the case. When one of the leaders of the group disappeared, rumors spread about some kind of force that supposedly destroys all living things in its path. What it was - I don't know. Some talked about the creatures living underground, others about the coming cataclysms and "planetary self-defense." As if the Earth is reacting to human activity …
This was the main factor that almost all "dungeons" left there …
In the 80s, about 200 people lived in the underground labyrinths of Sablin. They called themselves dissidents or "political" and formed troops that communicated with each other underground. Here are just some of the names of the teams: "Byaki", "Grande", "Edelweiss", "Atases", "Sadists", "Shafts", "Pilgrims", "Bats", "Kamikaze".
Currently, nothing is known about the operating underground groups. But people continue to disappear here almost as often as before … By the way, a guided walk through the catacombs (in their safe part) will cost you only 550 rubles.
How to get there
By train - from the Moscow railway station in St. Petersburg to the Sablino station located in the village of Ulyanovka (40 km from St. Petersburg). Then take a bus or minibus to the Sablinskiye Caves.