Caves Pridonya: Gorokhovskaya (St. Andrew's) Cave

One frosty January author of days now gone to the very south of the Voronezh region in search of another chalk caves.
Today, your attention is invited to a photo report on the trip and throw in Gorokhovsky cave. She is also known as St. Andrew's. However, we are starting.




From the beginning.
This village near Rossosh, where we stopped to stretch his stiff not a short path from the trunk.



The hope is that over 180 km from Voronezh situation more like winter than we have, melted with every kilometer.
Snow-covered landscape we see today is not. Off the asphalt - about 9 km ahead quite beautiful coats.



And here is the Don's father. So we're getting somewhere very close.





we will begin preparing for the descent into the cave study plan diagram composed B. Stёpkinym in 1999.



At home, after the trip, I found later scheme, dating back to 2004 and make certain group Berkut. If you carefully compare both Surveying, the largest and most obvious difference is noticeable in privhodovoy part of the cave. On the face of a serious collapse and the loss of part of the underground cavities. At the same time, "berkutovtsy" painted many additional sites that have no Stepkina, but they are marked as filled up. I was very puzzled by this fact, and I tried to find the network contacts of these comrades to clarify how "firewood».



Artem first down to the entrance to the cave and said that climb so narrow that in order for him to squeeze through, need to remove outer clothing.



Well, we drove.
Every time I think that we should make a habit to take a change of clothes to climb, but every time I go back home as the White Bear.



So, after a three-meter begins rakohod of crawls, and then you can straighten up and in full view. It should be noted that this cave, unlike many others in the area, described in some detail and studied literally since its creation. Moreover, there is even a literary work, which focuses on Gorokhovskaya cave on behalf of one of the witnesses of its creation. This is a story VK Agapov "Terentich" from the book "On average, Don," published in 1971. The most interesting moments, with your permission, I will quote. I'll note also that the network is not in this book - I had to find its libraries.



So Gorokhovskaya this cave is called the nearest to her village Gorokhovka Verkhnemamonsky District. However, the village is located on the opposite bank of the Don, keep this in mind when thinking of a sudden to go on our tracks. Correctly oriented in the town New Kalitva Rossoshansky area. Quotes From the icon below it becomes clear why the second name of the cave "Andrew", when she appeared and who was its first builders. "Over there, behind Bald Mountain, the steep Jarama, our kalitvyane always graze sheep, cows, oxen, and then, with the ravines - Andrew Heath, Kostevka. There, in the steep chalk hills, the Don, the shepherds saw the cave. And it was in the spring, in the difficult year of the Crimean War. (1853-1856 yy, but according to other sources the cave began digging in 1859 - approx. Aut.) The rumor swept through the caves throughout the county. Tolkien was a lot. Home amazing - no one could see pescherokopateley. In those days, and came to the shepherds wanderer with a knapsack on his shoulders and said: "There is a de us a holy place where the grace of God is always in hand and acts invisibly" - and pointed to the cave. This news quickly departed for settlement. A terrible commotion do the next day. And that day was a holiday. People gathered to the caves in abundance. Here and announced pescherokopateli. They explained to people the holiness of the place and talked about miracles and visions. For example, one of them insisted: "I have terrible headaches, I took a piece of land here, attached to the top of the head, and his head stopped hurting immediately, as if it had fallen from her." People listened to him tenderly, devoutly crossed themselves ...
And who dug? - I tried to find out.
Digging Gorokhovsky man Gregory Vedernikov a brother ... Wait a minute and tell you about it. Listen further: people from the neighborhood poured into the cave, carrying the money, flour, lard, web icons ... There were hunters and help dig a cave. Pioneers caves barely had time to take the offering and dispose of assistants, to work for the salvation of the soul. For Vedernikov it was made a special cell. It is through the window to receive visitors and explained that the offering he divides into three equal parts: one part for the poor, the other - for the digging of the brethren, and the third - the most cave ... There pious old women, monks, nuns, pilgrims, cripples, vendors of candles, incense, bubbles with a tear of the Virgin ... »



Let me once again to go back to the top of the cave - Vasily and landscapes. Great was no description of the area and the weather like in the novel V. Barabashova "White Blade." Why am I not a writer, and so I am not able to paint? "From the Old Kalitva scattered houses along the steep chalky hillocks, Don takes a wide loop to the left, to the New Kalitva rolls gloomy cold waves to the south. Kalitvyanskoe left bank - in dense thickets of oak and hazel; forest, powdered with the first snow, is sullen and silent. In the settlement, on the right bank, stretches a spacious floodplain meadow, cut one side deep, with jelly keys rechonkoy, Black Kalitva, and on the other - red Chillmere road. By Don she was already a slush frozen shallows and backwaters, freezing in the ice reeds. But the middle of the river is still free of ice; the Don raised whitish mist and the fog is difficult to see the floating upside down punt, the body of a horse, the Red Army fur cap ... Wesley over the districts low paunchy clouds rained down from the sky light, timid even snow dragged along the bottom of the wind, predatory whistling in the bare branches of the coastal willow, leaning dashing ripples on the sleepy, slow wave Don. »



But back to the cave. & quot; ... the cave began to speak every day. Only the clergy were silent one kalitvyanskoy church. Anticipating damage to their income, the priests demanded from the authorities to ban unauthorized worship and the sanctity of the cave closed. But then there were experienced people, they all began to ask the counter polls: why close? It's God's work? Police measures and the exhortations of priests were powerless. About the caves began to speak in public gatherings. But here there were clever people. They threatened the world of the Lord's punishment for negligence to save his soul. They gave an example that fifty years ago, that's just as difficult to conceive of the cave now glorified Belogorevskogo monastery, which is founder of the caves - the nun Maria Sherstyukova - were persecuted superiors. She pulled Ostrogozhsk County Court. When it learned Emperor Alexander I, then commanded to open the cave and give to the treasury of the money for the construction of little churches in the caves with iron iconostasis. After this gathering would not listen to any foreman or priests, he demanded not mute the work of God. For the future monastery gathering decided to cut the picturesque St. Andrew wedge that under cold mountain forty dessiatines. It was supposed to give the forest for the construction of a small temple on a house church refectory and build a house for pilgrims. And in the caves were service. In prayer burning lamps and candles, people sang hymns ...



Terentich shook his head:
- The people there pounded by the thousand. Frankly, I also went to dig these caves. Sometimes, in the great post party people gather forty or fifty, with shovels, pickaxes, crowbars, axes, and are working three days for the salvation of souls. This went on for three years. And then ... - Terentich disgust pursed his lips and said nothing for a long time.
Well, what happened then? - I asked impatiently. - Grandpa, tell me what happened then.
- And then the guy turned out that one spinning head. This is the main initiator of the caves began to drink vodka Vedernikov and keep an eye on the widows who lived in caves and nuns. "Sisters in Christ" began to whisper among themselves. One of them, kalitvyanskaya Chernichko Praskovja Losevskaya became increasingly appear Gregory eyes. And one day he said to her, with the ingenuous craftiness:
- I'm so lonely!
Chernichko, shaking his head, said:
- Our sins ...
He took her hand and lowered his voice to a whisper:
- Come to me this evening, Pasha, bored together, mourn. I'll be waiting.
At dusk, when the faithful departed for the night, she came to Gregory and stayed the night in his cell. After she was carrying he was of his fried fish and honey cakes. A year later, in the caves near the nuns Paraskevi baby ... A rural municipality authorities reported to the Voronezh governor. Soon rode a police constable in the cave, corporal, sergeant Pavel Reznikov, constables arrested Gregory Vedernikov, dispersed all the inhabitants and filled up the entrance to the cave & quot ;.



It is worth to make a reservation, that so vividly painted in his story, the story of the cave Gorokhovskaya Vasily Agapov Ksenofontovich first name pescherokopatelya changed. It is based in his story he picked up an article authored by a local resident Paul Kochergina published in 1863 in the "Voronezh province news" in which the author describes the cave and describes the history of its creation. And in the tenth issue of "Voronezh Diocesan Gazette" for 1884 it was published another article, from which we learn the real names of the founders. They were residents of the village Gorokhovka Maxim Kurasov, Philemon Kondratyev and Mitrofan Zimin. Just a few different looks and purpose of their work: no enrichment, and the salvation of themselves and others in the construction of the caves. For this purpose, "so the peasants brought & lt; ... & gt; some Mitrofan Liski from the village, the elder years under a hundred, who went on fees and then died a hermit like in Zadonsk. "



An interesting article in the description of the dungeon, and the information that one of the branches of the cave out in the steppe, which is correlated with the scheme Berkut group. In their report, which I miraculously found in vebarhive, have the following information is useful for us to explain, for example, the presence of the well and the cells on the chart: "In the winter there is a war hiding from the cold at first the Germans, then the division of the Italian Alpini. So, when we began to advance, they do not have time to jump out and went deep into the system. Our without clogging their brains search, just leave the grenades coming in to the course, causing the collapse of the ceiling, and the Italians did not come from there. When we arrived at the entrance had collapsed and filled with stones - chalk mountains are destroyed. It seems every spring such a surprise happening so close to the hour that the system itself will cover everything. In the same collapse, according to local residents, was covered passage to the inside of the well - almost vertical move down to the river (Don). In the diagram it is drawn from the words of local residents, as well as the cell to which the path is filled up long ago, but it is exactly. »



Just report the guys, in my opinion, somewhat clarifies the question that I suffered while in the system: this is why the cave floor is uneven, if the ceiling shows no trace of the collapse? "We found and the ill-fated move deeper into the mountains, and began to dig. Breakthrough 3 meters, and realized that one of our shovel with limited time not much Otro - bury themselves. Therefore we stopped. In addition, there is more room there, too, exploded from the inside, which will require a great effort. "I think that rock pile is not pulled and piled between columns.



"By the way, the place collapses visible on the surface, in the form of specific failures. But you have to dig, and one, I think. »



Speaking of the ceiling. Perhaps this is the highest vaults in the Cretaceous church I've ever seen. I think the meter 4-5.



But this did not prevent cave visitors leave their autographs even at the very top.
I can not imagine how they could do it! Look at the top. Really stepladder dragged ?!



In this picture, you should pay attention to the old paint of ocher, which is decorated with arches, that Artyom suddenly split in two, and Arthur and Anna, suffering gigantomania.



In general, judging by the number of inscriptions on the walls and ceiling, the people here have visited pretty.
Something about Serdyukov unreadable ...



The earliest "modern" label in 1932. But one column shows two unusual ship (see. Plan diagram 1).



According to V. and N. Pisarevsky Stepkina, these ships in their design and style of the image can be attributed to a period no later than the XVII - early. XVIII centuries., That may mean that Kurasov and associates found existing ancient caves and impersonating organizers. So, despite all the detailed historical information, may be that the fate of the St. Andrew's cave, we only know a very little.



Well, we did not bother more than skylight sweet snuffle bats, and finally stained with chalk, to get out. And on the way home was visited by a couple of interest, which I will discuss next time.



Additional information about Gorokhovskaya cave from a man who, according to him, it was just 40 and was originally supposed to join the expedition of the day, but it did not happen. It Vladislav. I quote from the correspondence with him verbatim: "Advanced: I was in this cave before the Golden Eagle (in total - just 40)))) - were still not only a hole (entrance), as the last 10 years, the normal entrance, 3 inputs more precisely - left - down to the river, the center - today, right - cell. What is interesting - it is nowhere described - before the floor was perfectly flat, in the center - such as the well was covered with a stone slab. The slab was massive and powerful - no lift. The most interesting - a barrel of cold cracks.
Rossosh I myself was in the childhood house in New Kalitva elders told me, in confidence, or dementia that the current part - it's just a "vent cap", the cave itself - in the mountain at the Don. The entrance was (who in the depths of the mountain to the steppe) so healthy that call in the cart. 2nd entrance - on the other side of the forest. Accordingly, it was held, and under the river. (Legend of the underground passage under Don Don chase almost every cave. - Approx. Aut.)
15 years ago pundits once again blew up the entrance - to get a vertical crack rocks and a hole today. The creatures, I can not find another word. Still can not - in 2012 for unknown reasons already broken temperature in it - in the summer was hot 20 - apparently soon it comes Khan ... very sorry, in dreams - all of it to dig, to restore and put guards) »

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Source: muph.livejournal.com

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