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- Tourist Objects
- Australia
- Jenolan Caves
- Jenolan Caves
Jenolan Caves, the oldest karst cave in the world, formed 340 million years ago, are located in Australia, in New South Wales, 175 kilometers from Sydney, in the Great Blue Mountains region. Jenolan Caves are declared a protected area and are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Europeans discovered them in 1838 thanks to local Aborigines who have known about them for many millennia. They called them “binumea,” which literally means “dark places.” Indeed, limestone caves go underground for many kilometers, where even a random ray of sunlight does not penetrate. All underground areas are interconnected by large and small tunnels, which make the network of caves look like a cheese head. Over the years, bottomless chasms, gigantic halls and underground lakes have formed inside the caves, underground rivers laid their winding channels, and stalactites and stalagmites formed columns, sculptures and other "figures" of the most incredible shapes, sizes and shades. Of the three hundred caves, only eleven are open to visitors. The main halls are easily accessible even for unprepared tourists, and color lighting makes the spectacle even more vivid and fabulous. Today Jenolan Caves attract more than 250 thousand tourists annually. The most popular route passes through nine main halls:
- Lucas Cave, opened in 1861, has several magnificent arches at once, the highest of which is 50 meters and is called the “Cathedral”.
- The river cave is the most spacious. It is here that the most famous sights of the Jenolan complex are located - the Minaret stalactite, the Corona and Queen's Canopy complex stalactates. But the most interesting is the river itself, nicknamed in honor of the ancient Greek river of the dead - Styx.
- Chifley Cave, also known as the "Left Imperial Cave"
- Imperial cave with ancient fossils and the skeleton of an ancient Tasmanian devil
- Eastern cave with the largest rock formations "Temple of Baal"
- The tape cave is the most remote and impassable for tourists. It is a long winding tunnel, the walls of which are richly decorated with nature itself - crystals and minerals.
