Catacombs
Odessa's catacombs stretch more than 2500 km (4000 km according to some records) underground, in a real parallel world.
Underground works in our region have been performed since the 1830s, when stone was used for the construction of the city. Multi-level labyrinths were created at random and, as a result, these stone quarries are a real lost world, only parts of which has ever been explored. An area in Nerubayskoye village is in the vicinity of the oldest of Odessa catacombs. It was there that the Partisan Resistance detachment was stationed under command of V. A. Molodtsov-Badayev during the first months of German occupation of the city. For this reason an excursion to the Museum of Partisan Glory is not just a tour of the land museum (which includes such relics as the death letter of Komsomol member Yasha Gordiyenko, head of youth intelligence group in Molodtsov's detachment).
Almost all of the excursion is occupied by a tour inside the underground labyrinth, accompanied by a guide. 70 steps down and you enter another life. The passages have been restored from the words of partisans who survived the Great Patriotic War and include various items and artifacts found within the catacombs.
There are supermarkets, new housing estates, restaurants and beaches somewhere overhead, while, beneath, with a constant +10-12 degrees Celsius and humidity up to 90%, there are stone beds in the "bedrooms" (real beds are in the "hospital" only), a workshop for the manufacture of homemade weapons, a shooting gallery (take notice of the bullet holes!), a headquarters with the detachment banner, a library, a kitchen with an iron barrel for use as an oven, a bath where barrels played the role of bathroom and clothes dryer....
The most exciting moment of the excursion is when the lights are turned off by the guide, and everybody stands in absolute, impenetrable darkness. Colors of the world become brighter and the common joys of life become more precious after this underground trip.
DANUBE.TRAVEL has no control over the website content generated by users and/or visitors, neither such content represents a statement, opinion, recommendation or rating by DANUBE.TRAVEL. For further information please refer to DANUBE.TRAVEL – General Website Terms and Conditions of Use.