Travelers’ Choice: 4 mystical places in Russia for those who like to titillate their nerves

Early fall is a time for hiking and adventure. If you are an avid traveler and want to tickle your nerves with mystical stories, then this article is for you. Together with a group of travelers, we tell you about the places where all lovers of wonders should go.

Spirits of the Ural Mountains in the caves of the Perm region

Roman Volkov

cestovateľ

“There are many mystical legends in the Perm region. No one is surprised by glowing objects in the night sky, drawing zigzags in flight. But what happens in caves, rocks and taiga attracts the attention of sophisticated tourists”.

Many facts about these places cannot be found on the Internet, but you can learn about them personally from local old-timers. For example, Mount Krestovaya in Gubakha – the northern point of the Ural mountain range, Rudyansky spoy – is over 300 million years old and you can touch it. According to legends, the Spirit of the Ural Mountains lives here, and these places are guarded by his servant – hurricane wind. It is really very strong and cold here. It is said that in the taiga you can meet Bigfoot. And if you move south along the Ural Ridge, then 15 kilometers away you can find the Stone City, which, according to legend, a local witch turned into a stone in exchange for healing the king’s daughter.

But the real mysticism begins in the caves. If you go 10 kilometers north of Krestovaya Mountain, you can see the cave “Dark”. Its depth is as much as 130 meters, and its length is more than four kilometers! It is considered to be the deepest among 700 caves in the Perm region and consists of five levels.

In its vicinity were found ancient people’s camps, and the entrance is opposite the cemetery, which makes it even more frightening, given that the cave itself has not once become the cause of sad events. To get down to the “Dark”, you will have to overcome a 30-meter well. In this cave there are often problems with electronics, so tourists are often plunged into total darkness. It is said that you can see flashlights, being at a depth where natural light does not get – the first to see this effect speleologists from Yekaterinburg and Perm in 2006.

Another mysterious cave is Kizelovskaya or Viasherskaya (locals call it so in honor of the Viasher River nearby). It is not as deep as the “Dark” – only 40 meters – but it is very long and intricate – it has more than eight kilometers and 90 grottos! There is a very beautiful lake here, which is full of unusual sounds reminiscent of waterfalls and streams.

Kizelovo cave has a master – the locals call him “Cave King”. In fact, it is a bust molded out of clay. According to legend, the master of the cave allows only brave travelers with pure thoughts. To confirm your intentions, you must leave a lit candle at the figure and make a wish. Failure to do so will result in punishment. There is a story about how one group of speleologists neglected this ritual and got lost in the tangled labyrinths, going to the figure of the king three times. They wandered until one of them presented a lit candle as a gift.

From more real facts – in the Kizelovskaya cave you can find pearls, which chemically resemble those from sea shells. Besides, one finds here shells, imprints of mollusks, crustaceans, left from the times when life on Earth was just beginning. By the way, there are many bones of ancient bears in the cave. But there is a chance that soon there will be none left, as travelers often take them as a keepsake.

Skerries in Karelia

Ksenia Veselova

cestovateľ

“Ladoga skerries are a natural attraction in Karelia. They are rocky islands that fill the bays of Lake Ladoga, and their history of existence is more than 1.3 billion years. From the scientific point of view they occurred by exaration – in ancient times a huge glacier, moving from the north and destroying rocks, squeezed out the top layer of the earth. When the complex relief was flooded with water, the skerries familiar to our eyes appeared. Folk hypothesis says that the word “skerries” comes from “skherize”, i.e. “hide, hide”. Ships hid from enemies in such rocks”.

Karelian skerries

One of the popular legends of these places is about a village on the shore of Impilahti Bay, where two lovers lived: a young shepherd and a girl named Impi. Her parents did not see the simple shepherd as a match for their daughter and found a richer groom for her, but the shepherd was chased out of the village. Impy ran away from home and on the rocky shore of the bay began to call for her lover. No one answered her, so she threw herself into the bay and turned into a mermaid. Locals claim that they can still hear Impy’s voice calling for her love during storms.

It’s no wonder that these places have become an inspiration for legends. After all, there are beautiful ancient cliffs towering over the endless lake, the sound of waves and the cry of seagulls. A suitable place for self-reflection alone with nature.

You can get to these places by boat – for example, we made arrangements with a local captain who transports small groups. If you travel by boat, I advise you to use a motor up to 30 horsepower, so as not to disturb the local fauna.

Karelian skerries

First we looked at the cliffs from the water, and later we were dropped off at Honkasalo Island, and it became my most memorable experience of the trip. We climbed up the cliffs to the very top for a view of the endless bay. The wind was crazy. But none of that mattered. After all, it is worth it to see with your own eyes the real power of Karelia’s nature.

5 lakes of Muromtsevsky district, Siberia

Globaldrive PR specialist and traveler

“A famous legend of the Omsk and Novosibirsk regions and an object of attraction for tourists from Siberia and beyond. The myth unites five lakes: Danilovo, Lenevo, Shchuchye, Shaitan lake and secret lake. The lakes are connected by an underground river. Legend and local geologists claim that the reservoirs are of cosmic origin and appeared as a result of the fall of a 30-meter meteorite”.

Due to this, it is believed that the clay of the lakes has healing properties, and the water is so enriched with oxygen that consistent bathing in all five springs can rejuvenate. Reminds me of the fairy tale of The Little Humpbacked Horse.

As for oxygen, it’s really true – at dawn you can see especially well in the clear water of Danilovo. Bubbles rise in smooth chains from the bottom, as in champagne, and resemble boiling, although the water temperature is quite comfortable.

There is a story that the fifth lake has never been found and may be underground. Locals claim that the lakes have a second bottom. However, all scuba divers who have tried to explore it have tragically died for unexplained reasons.

Thoughts about the anomalous zone make you find mysticism everywhere. For example, going by car to Danilovo, my parents and I got lost and eventually got stuck on a swampy road. And at that very moment it was as if all the elements turned against us: a hurricane broke out, the wind began to fell trees, a swarm of horseflies came, it rained unbelievably. We had to spend the night in a tent. I remember dreaming about gadflies.

The Baltic Spit in Kaliningrad

Kristina Yatsenko

cestovateľ

“In the Kaliningrad region everyone knows the Curonian Spit – a protected area with the Dancing Forest under UNESCO protection. But I advise you to take a closer look at its mysterious and less populated by tourists neighbor – the Baltic Spit. Few people come here, and for nothing. This place is full of historical evidence”.

In fact, the Baltic Spit is a narrow piece of land between Russia, near Baltiysk, and Poland, 65 kilometers long and 9 to 300 meters wide. You can only get here by ferry from Baltiysk.

On the spit there is an old German military airfield “Neutiff”, where since 1939 seaplanes, submarines and aircraft with wheeled chassis of Germany, and later the troops of the USSR and Russia were based. In those days it had no equal, but today it has only historical significance.

Baltic Spit

Nevertheless, locals regularly find interesting finds on the Baltic Spit: the sands, crumbling, expose the equipment of World War II, then treasure hunters and local historians find caches with expensive furnishings and other valuables. It is said that Germans in the XX century hid treasures here, and in 1945 some of them were transferred to the Western lands. Now the remnants of former luxury are found by local “black diggers” and sometimes by ordinary tourists.

There is another legend here – locals say that there is an underground passage between the spit and the Baltic Sea, which was partially flooded by the sea. To this day, experts still find strange tunnels. However, it is still unknown where they lead. You may be the next to find the answer. Come here at dawn – the effect of the legends of the Baltic Spit will be even stronger!