Your exploration of Odessa, Ukraine would not be complete without a visit to the maze of catacombs that lace their way under the city and its environment. The catacombs were dug out nearly 200 years ago during mining of building materials that were used to build the city.
The catacombs are particularly important to Odessa’s history, because during World War 2, nearly 2000 Russian partisans lived in these tunnels to hide from the Nazis.
The Odessa catacombs are much younger than catacombs in Rome or Paris, but much longer than both together. The size of Odessa catacombs is more than 2500 km. At present only 1700 km are studied. The average height is 1.5 - 3.5 m, width 2 - 4.5 m. The depth can reach 50 m below sea level.
The entrance is dressed up with giant stairs down from ground level and a wide open entrance, which soon dissolved into tiny narrow passageways and small yellow light bulbs every 50 ft or so lights up the way.
There is a small museum at the exit. The most prized item in the museum’s collection is a handwritten letter by Fidel Castro which he wrote for the catacombs during his visit here in 1986.
In summer, air temperature in Odessa is about 30 degrees C, so the underground walk through these catacombs is refreshing and chilly, as the temperature never grows higher than +14C.
Rumors persist that the occasional unaccompanied visitors have been lost in the tunnels never to be located. So, guided tours to catacombs are preferable. Hotels and local travel agencies also assist visitors in booking a tour of Odessa’s catacombs at a cost of 25 U.S. dollars.
Scroll down for more pictures of Odessa Catacombs.
Source: Gadling
