Ice mountain and pearl of the Urals - Kungur cave

Sometimes, in order to plunge into the pristine magnificence of nature, you do not need to go to the end of the world. In her native country there are many wonderful places, where she keeps for us her amazing beauty.

One of them is the Ice Mountain with the Kungur cave, which hides in its bowels underground lakes, mysterious caves, frozen in bizarre forms ice blocks. Since 2001, they together constitute a historical and natural complex.

Location and description of Mount Ice

In the north-east of the city of Kungur in the Perm region is Mount Ice. Its height is small, just over 90 m above the bottoms of the two rivers - Shakva and Sylva, the watershed between which it occupies. The mountain is a plateau-like elevation, cut by karst formations in the form of funnels of round or conical shape. Some have gentle slopes covered with turf, others - steep edges. The largest of them reach 15 m in depth, and in diameter exceed 50 m. Some funnels are filled with water and form karst lakes.

Sometimes on the surface there are foundations up to 1 km wide, mostly shallow. Quite a lot of karst dips , the overwhelming majority of which do not exceed 5 m in diameter, the rest - 10 m. Some are joined together in group collapse valleys of different sizes. Karst formations are distributed unevenly: in places their density is 1 sq. Km. Km. Comes up to 3000 pieces, and next door may not be a single one. A large cluster of depressions is located in the Baidarashka tract, on the outskirts of the northwestern slope of the mountain. The crater funnels are rugged and its top. Ice Mountain is a unique geological object. This is the most visited tourist attraction.

Mountain vegetation

Mount Ice, where the diversity of vegetation and soil cover is explained by an extremely uneven terrain, is included in the Kungur island forest-steppe, in the subzone of the southern taiga. The mountain range is covered with vegetation of three types: forest, meadow and steppe. Here there are plants uncharacteristic for the flora of the Perm region. The southern slope is covered with relic steppe and mountain-steppe plants, adapted to the gypsum soil.

On its surface are spreading silvery threads of a feathery feather grass, and in the middle of summer the blue balls of the mordant blossom. On Frost Mountain there are protected plant species: red pollen head, thyme Talieva, sunflower monotonous, Astragalus Danish and others. In this area it is forbidden to collect medicinal herbs, tear flowers, build bonfires.

Kungur Cave

The ice mountain is closely connected with the pearl of the Urals hidden in its depths - the Kungur ice cave that breathes through organ pipes and funnels on its surface, and the steppe plants at the top grow thanks to easily permeable cave rocks. Formed 260 million years ago, they consist of gypsum and anhydrite with dolomite and limestone layers. Breeds belong to the Permian period of the geological history of our planet. The uniqueness of the cave lies in an unusual appearance created by quaint ice stalagmites and stalactites, numerous lakes and picturesque grottoes. The length of this kingdom of frozen ice and stone is almost 6 km, it is the seventh largest in the world in size, but, undoubtedly, the first in beauty.

According to scientists, the cave is not less than 10 thousand years old. Over the past millennia, as a result of countless landslides, most of the arches in the grottoes took a dome shape. The purest air, galactic silence, the greatness of the ice decoration make the Kungur cave a rare natural wonder. It is located low, only 120 m above sea level, so there are no mountain glaciers, no permafrost, and there is a reference for the caves microcirculation of air by the type of furnace traction, which determines the features of the intra-cavernous climate.

Every year, ice sculptures change their shape under the influence of the temperature of incoming air, the cave is constantly changing. In most of the central grottoes, due to the heat of the Earth, "eternal spring" reigns (+ 6 ° C). The state of the ice in the cave is affected by the temperature on the surface: the lower it is, the more cold is stored inside.

From the history of cave development

Kungur cave is known to people since a long time. Who and when it opened - it is unknown. There is a suggestion that the Ice Mountain served as the winter camp site for the Ermak squad in 1578, before his campaign to Siberia. Now at the top is Ermakovo ancient settlement - an archaeological monument.

The first scientific information about the Kungur cave was collected by Semyon Remezov in 1703. He made up her plan. Later it was studied and described by many travelers and geographers-scientists, therefore in Russia it is the most explored cave. Her first custodian was Alexander Khlebnikov, an enthusiastic and romantic, a patriot who dedicated the cave all his life. Since 1914 and almost 40 years he studied the cave, arranged, led numerous excursions. Currently, the main route for tourists is electrified. The artfully illuminated cave looks magical.

Cave excursions

A unique ice cave in Kungur attracts a lot of tourists. Visitors can not only admire this beautiful creativity of nature, but also learn a lot of interesting things. Excursions are held every day. Their duration is 1 hour and 20 minutes, during which tourists will be able to visit in three seasons of the year. It's winter, spring, autumn and winter again. They will visit 20 grottos, learn many facts related to the discovery and study of the cave, hear legends and curious stories.
For the convenience of tourists, the Stalagmit complex with a hotel, car parks and a restaurant is nearby.