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Is it easy to get access to the catacombs? An Unbreakable Story: The Lost Roman Invention of Flexible Glass, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Unleashing the End of the World, Alleged Sighting of the Mythical Manananggal in the Philippines Causes Public Anxiety, What is Shambhala? But at some point in the night Masha decided to explore the catacombs. And the size is further reflected in the fact that the entirety of the catacombs has never been explored. Part of the tunnels, only under the city, were turned into bomb shelters in the Cold War. After three days in total darkness without food or water, Masha collapsed and died from dehydration. The Tiara of Saitaphernes is certainly one of these priceless objects and its story is long and surprising. Odesskiy. Megalithic Sites Are More than Just Stone, Library in Stone: The Ica Stones of Professor Cabrera Part I, Two Sides to Every Story: The North American Martyrs Shrines and Indigenous/ Roman Catholic Relations, The Origins of the Faeries: Encoded in our Cultures Part I, Curse of the Buried Pearl: The Hunt for Ancient Treasures Part I, The Enigma of the Shugborough Inscription, The Znojmo Catacombs: A Maze of Tunnels Where No Enemies Escaped Alive. Inside the mine, the catacombs turned, forked, and led Masha further from the entrance. We'll make more! Every story is true, and each one is a real place you can visit. Disturbing Tales of the Mysterious Catacombs Beneath Odessa. ", "That's why I really beg you not to try to walk underground in Odessa itself. A man named KostyaPugovkinclaims he was one of the people that carried the body out, but it was never originally thought to be someone named Masha. The sheer size of the catacombs meant a refuge for all walks of life that sought to hide. Any chamber used as a burial place is a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman Empire. Today there is an entire Ukrainian subculture of catacomb explorers with dozens of semiprofessional groups, often quite competitive, exploring the catacombs. Follow us on social media to add even more wonder to your day. Situated in the very south of Ukraine, nestled at the shores of the Black Sea , Odessa is the sprawling and third most populous town in the country. While most of the time the bodies found are from long ago, stumbling across old bones of soldiers and smugglers from more recent accidents has been known to happen. A nation whose foundations stand on centuries of struggle and fighting for independence. Even if they managed to find an entrance that was accessible, they were not to venture inside. The Bohemian Blog. They admitted that they had gone to the Stone Mines, and maybe, just maybe Masha had gone inside. Every story is true, and each one is a real place you can visit. The tunnels have been cited as the reason why such a subway system has never been built in Odesa. Fine Art? The catacombs are not easy to navigate, especially when you're drunk like Masha might have been that night. However, one thing agreed upon is that there was a fresh body found in the catacombs, and that it was removed at some point around 2004 or 2005. Two years passed, and no one retrieved the body, Lata claims. But some like to say that the earliest form of the catacombs dates to centuries before that, to 1600s or possibly before and thats plausible. An underground paleo-Christian burial site composed of the remains of several cemeteries and Basilicas. Murderer never found, the body ever identified. The official Odesa Catacombs website, however, calls the story a hoax. These catacombs are the result of stone mining, particularly coquina (a soft limestone of broken shells), and consist of a network of basements, bunkers, drainage tunnels and storm drains. On January 1st 2005, a young Ukranian teenage girl named Masha put on her make-up, packed up some champagne, and headed out for her New Years Eve nights party. Her parents called the authorities who went to the site and began to search. It`s a dead body of the 19-years old girl, who has lost the right way in the maze. When I was a teenager I was a tour guide at a local cave and at the end of the day someone had to walk to the back of the cave (45 minutes one way!) And what awaits is a journey that comes so eerily close to something from the pages of Metro 2033 or the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. The group supposedly went to the police, but they were still reluctant to go in to retrieve the body because it was literally miles from the entrance. A massive search effort was launched but they werent able to find her among the 2,500 kilometers of often unmapped tunnels. It's not known if they were former students of Odessa's School Number 56, but according to references to the story in Russian news, that's where they found the entrance to the mines. But one thing that this city of one million citizens hides, and a fact that many who visit it are totally unaware of, are the sprawling catacombs beneath its streets. A wrong turn can mean death in these tunnels and every step might reveal some unseen horror. His recollection is different from Lata's. Go to the left, go to the right, Youll only meet the darkness of the night, Another poem tells of the loneliness inside the tunnels: Sing not, oh nightingale, against my cell, and dont interrupt my prayer, oh, nightingale.. In World War II, Odessa was besieged in August of 1941 by the Axis forces. Odessas catacombs quickly became the preferred hideout of rebels, criminals, and eccentrics. Hiding in the catacombs for as much as 13 months, literally below the noses and feet of the Nazis above, the rebels waited for a chance to strike or relay information. Our story begins sometime early in 2005, when a party (possibly for New Years) was allegedly held within the catacombs by a group of young adults. The Odessa Catacombs underwent further construction through the vagrants' illegal widening and creation of even more tunnel systems. A subreddit dedicated to the unresolved mysteries of the world. ( Artem Merzlenko /Adobe Stock). Actually, the walls of the Odessa catacombs are inscribed with thousands of writings, ranging from names to slogans to caricatures and even poems. [Online] Available at: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/mind-boggling-catacomb-maps, Thuras, D. Odessa Catacombs. As I said earlier, a lot of people lost and even dead under Odessa. View all photos. Such bomb shelters supposed to be refuge for civilians in case of nuclear strike or gas attack. Some are simple, but still informative: Fedor Troyanenko earned 10 rubles and 99 kopeks year 1907. Others are simple dates Written in 1842. There are some that are enigmatic and biblical, macabre and ominous: I die for your sins. ; Blood for blood; Death for death. or God will never save our souls.. [1] However, professionals can be hired at the cost of 250 hryvnia per person, depending on the time spent underground, the complexity and length of the route, the number of tourists, and options for delivery to the site entrance to the underground area. Offer available only in the U.S. (including Puerto Rico). It is one of the world's largest urban labyrinths, running up to 2,500 kilometres (1,600mi). Were heading underground to find out whether the tunnels are truly empty. Come for the severed heads, stay for the book bound in human skin. What are you a professional corpsologist? Layer by Layer: A Mexico City Culinary Adventure, Sacred Granaries, Kasbahs and Feasts in Morocco, Monster of the Month: The Hopkinsville Goblins, Writing the Food Memoir: A Workshop With Gina Rae La Cerva, Reading the Urban Landscape With Annie Novak, How to Grow a Dye Garden With Aaron Sanders Head, Making Scents: Experimental Perfumery With Saskia Wilson-Brown, Indigenous Desserts of Turtle Island With Mariah Gladstone, University of Massachusetts Entomology Collection, The Frozen Banana Stands of Balboa Island, The Paratethys Sea Was the Largest Lake in Earths History, How Communities Are Uncovering Untold Black Histories, The Medieval Thieves Who Used Cats, Apes, and Turtles as Accomplices, 10 of the World's Most Disorienting Places, http://odessitclub.org/en/archives/dallin/chapter_6.html#Catacombs. But most importantly, the Odessa catacombs are an incredible testament, an entire in-situ museum of incredible proportions filled with various relics of the past. According to the 2009 forum post on Urban Explorer's Resource (UER) by a catacombs explorer named Eugene Lata, who brought Masha's story to the English-speaking world, the tale begins late on New Year's Day (or possibly New Year's Eve) in 2005. She ventured farther down the tunnels and quickly got turned around. It was cold, near freezing, and foggy on New Years Eve 2005. He recalls that a piece of writing by a friend he says is a "famous journalist" was delivered to government officials. Especially when you consider the fact that the distance between Odessa and Paris is roughly 2138 km (1328.49 miles). Nor were her friends able to locate her. Norimitsu Odachi: Who Could Have Possibly Wielded This Enormous 15th Century Japanese Sword? The group snapped a photo, in which three young boys pose with the body as if they have just identified it. Instead, it belonged to a girl who was never identified. Thats when they learned that she had never returned home her parents had assumed she was with them. [1] Parts were used as air-raid shelters during World War II. Worse, she didnt know where she was, or how to get out. However, it's not te only creepy story - in 2012 group of students went below and one was lost. Shortly after this the mapping of a huge unexplored area of the catacombs known as K-29 was begun. After the communists came to power, this man hid both himself and the golden Titanic in the catacombs below, never to be discovered. She made the decision to venture down into the mine for privacy sake. The post featured a graphic photo of what appeared to be a decaying corpse in the catacombs, which Lata claimed was Masha's body. The Odesa Catacombs are a labyrinth-like network of tunnels (subterranean cavities) located under the city of Odesa and its outskirts in Ukraine, that are mostly (over 90%) the result of stone mining, particularly coquina. There is, however, a portion of the catacombs that is open to the public within the Museum of Partisan Glory in Nerubayskoye, north of Odessa. With his heart set on a possible reward, Pugovkin says he crawled into the depths and eventually stumbled upon what he called "bone soup." But some places just arent meant to be explored. Sign up for our newsletter and enter to win the second edition of our book. The complete length of the Odessa catacombs comes up to around astonishing 2500 km (1553.43 miles)! This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. The Dark Underworld of the Paris Catacombs. By that point the body was mostly a skeleton, so there were not many more details. What followed for Masha was a three day trek from hell. -, Press J to jump to the feed. They look like my hiking boots, and I'm a woman. Since its creation, it has expanded understanding of the catacombs, and provided information to expand mapping of the tunnels. But in their foggy states, they absentmindedlyor maliciouslyleft Masha in the catacombs. Many of the partisan groups lived in the catacombs for the entirety of the rest of the war, and on occasion the partisan groups even managed to blow up German facilities. The earliest of the graffiti dates to the 18th century. Some proof for the long existence of this myth are the countless graffiti ships that can be spotted in the tunnels. Find Out. Every weekday we compile our most wondrous stories and deliver them straight to you. In 2011, a body was found in the catacombs that had been dead for several months. These groups have even rescued a number of children who have wandered into the catacombs and gotten lost. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Someone died. Sign up for our newsletter and enter to win the second edition of our book. Padlocks cover this rickety footbridge with love. Assuming Masha brought a battery-powered flashlight or lantern down into the depths, it would have died after a few hours, making it harder to continue the search for warmth and water. There are stories of industrious winemakers and mushroom growers who go down there regularly to leave their product to age or grow, confident no one will find it and interfere. It does seem to be a urban legend but it's still creepy as hell! But being murdered and having your body dumped in the catacombs is a vacation compared to what is rumored to have happened to Masha. Aside from the TV episode which aired the segment (which you can find on YouTube), I've been unable to locate the supposed full video, nor can I find any footage of the video which wasn't taken from that TV show. The catacombs once served as the preferred hideout for rebels, criminals, and during World War II, air-raid shelters. Last month, a guy in his 20s was sentenced for reportedly murdering his teenage girlfriend in the catacombs with an ax. See. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. Bedroom of a Partisan living in the tunnels. I remember seeing that on tv as a teenager and it still freaks me out today to even think about it. Though Masha wasnt particularly interested in going to the mine, she went anyway, wanting to be with her friends more. More photos surfaced, including additional shots of the tunnels and even bones. [3] Many of the tunnels have been filled up with earth, concrete or sand by construction companies, and are no longer accessible. Replies analysing and speculating over the mystery and possible explanations are encouraged. Always pursuing my passions for writing, history and literature, I strive to deliver a thrilling and captivating read that touches upon history's most Read More. Believing this to be the best explanation for her absence, the group agreed and they left. They go on expeditions into the mines that can last several days, and document and map the area. One of them recalled hearing her say she had to use the bathroom, and assumed, since she wasnt there, that she had gone home. The approximate topography of the Odesa underground labyrinth is unknown as the catacombs have not been fully mapped. There's no way any one person could ever witness the true scale of the Odessa Catacombs; explore all 2,500km of tunnel. [citation needed], In 1961 the "Search" (Poisk) club was created in order to explore the history of partisan movement among the catacombs. Drinking and debauchery went on that night, and for reasons unknown a young woman named Masha got separated from her friends and disappeared into the abyss. However, when the body was removed, it was in terrible condition, with no good identifying factors. Based on what was later found, it is believed that Masha stumbled around in the catacombs for at least three days, starving, thirsty, alone, and in the dark. On Wikipedia, catacombs are described as man-made subterranean passageways for religious practice. This goes to show that the Odessa catacombs can be very grim. Partisan weapon caches such as rifles and grenades are occasionally still found within the tunnels, and about once every five years a body is found. But according to the official Odessa Catacombs website, the whole story of Masha is a lie. They're not the safest places to be either. Initially, police believed that he had simply gotten lost and died, as Mashahad supposedly done. With over 1,000 known entrances, exploration is exceptionally dangerous. Even though they never managed to explore the tunnels fully, the maps that these urban explorers managed to create are simply on the verge of being impossible. The image, it's said, is of a girl who went missing in the catacombs of Odessa, Ukraine a girl, it's said, named Masha or Mashenka, who went down into the twisting tunnels beneath the city in which she lived for a party, but got lost while she was down there. [Online] Available at: http://odesskiy.com/chisto-fakti-iz-zhizni-i-istorii/istorija-vozniknovenija-odesskih-katakomb.html, Richter, D. 2013. Like Atlas Obscura and get our latest and greatest stories in your Facebook feed. Every weekday we compile our most wondrous stories and deliver them straight to you. I used to go caving for fun and turning off your lights for a minute when you're with friends is kind of neat but walking out of a cave alone with that absolute blackness behind you nope nope nope. She appeared to be on her hands and knees, in a crawling position. On a more historical basis, it is also believed that the catacombs were used to murder and store Jewish people during World War II. Rebuilt remains of a temple to Roman god Mithras. [citation needed], During World War II the catacombs served as a hiding place for Soviet partisans, in particular the squad of Vladimir Molodtsov. No one is exactly sure how she died, but it could have been dehydration or hypothermia. Like us on Facebook to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders. She quickly became separated from her party, and unable to find her way back. The catacombs are on three levels, and reach a depth of 200ft (60 meters) below sea level. After 73 days of vicious fighting, the town fell and was annexed to become a part of newly formed Transnistria Governorate under Romanian administration. The post featured a graphic photo of what appeared to be a decaying corpse in the catacombs, which Lata claimed was Masha's body. The group of friends, he wrote, had all stayed there overnight, then left the next morning, but abandoned Masha, either accidentally or on purpose, and she was unable to find her way out. Just beware, even professionals can get lost. Either way, the main portion of these catacombs was begun in earnest in the 19th century and onwards, with stone being quarried to be used in the building of the houses of the city above. ( eliosdnepr /Adobe Stock). There also would have been nowhere to stay warm, since that area is also not deep enough for it to have been much warmer than the chilly surface weather that night. Many regions (such as the notorious 'K-29' network) remain largely unexplored to this day. Murderer never found, the body ever identified. Even if it's just a myth, there's no denying that the other tales of the catacombs are creepy enough to keep anyone out Or so one would think. The Odessa catacombs are a very complicated system of natural tunnels, mines, bunkers, and caves that are predominantly a result of mining with the earliest excavations beginning in the 19th century. Some sections regularly flood with groundwater, others have ceilings precariously propped up with ad-hoc support beams, or they've had their ventilation systems completely dismantled. Irish Urban Explorations. No doubt, many bodies remain hidden in the mines. On rare occasions these bodies are almost perfectly mummified, freeze dried by the cold, dry air of the tunnels. Descending into the darkness below the world, you are thrust headfirst into a deeply disturbing realm. Built in the Soviet era, this cableway system still runs gondolas from Odessa down to Otrada Beach. A little less than six months after the incident is said to have occurred, news began to spread among local cave explorers near Odessa that someone had spotted a body. By the age of 10, most children in the United States have been taught all 50 states that make up the country. Relics of the past in the Odessa catacombs, Ukraine. She was headed . They began to drink, and occasionally worked up the courage to go inside the mine, taking a few steps in before turning around and running back out. [citation needed], The group of friends, he wrote, had all stayed there overnight, then left the next morning, but abandoned Masha, either accidentally or on purpose, and she was unable to find her way out. (Had they walked in a straight line the journey would only have been 9.5 kilometers.) A photo showing Marsha's deceased body, mummified, found years after her gruesome death. [1] The system of Odesa Catacombs consists of a network of basements, bunkers, drainage tunnels and storm drains as well as natural caves. Mind boggling isnt it? In the decades after the war, the tunnels became a safe haven for smugglers and criminals and they made more tunnels. However, in the drunken revelry a member of the group, a girl named Masha, became separated and lost in the catacombs. [citation needed] Perhaps the most famous story dates back to claims made in 2009 by Ukrainian catacombs explorer Eugene Lata. Enjoy.". [citation needed], The first underground stone mines started to appear in the 19th century, while vigorous construction took place in Odesa. In WWII, Soviet partisans hid in the Odessa Catacombs, which stretch for thousands of miles below the city. Atlas Obscura. A group of urban explorers were pushing deeper into the mines, into one of the most unexplored areas, when they came across the body of a woman. Throughout the history of civilization, the concept of the apocalypse has been ever present, in one way or another. It would be a strange, unfunnny practical joke. The post featured a graphic photo of what appeared to be a decaying corpse in the catacombs, which Lata claimed was Masha's body. The Museum of Partisan Glory is located in a part of the catacombs north of Odessa, and it is the only underground museum in Ukraine. 2014. Authorities have also suggested that the photo is a prank, and that the corpse is a fake. Green Tour. Sad mother monument, made in stone in the Odessa catacombs . Nefer Say Nefer - Was Nefertiti Buried in the Valley of the Queens? But he claims that when Armand Stendzenieks ordered a DNA test, it wasn't a match. "During the time she was inside, her 'friends' didn't try to take her body out," Lata wrote, guessing that they were "frightened.". However, in the drunken revelry a member of the group, a girl named Masha, became. While you may have never heard of the Odessa catacombs, they are filled with legends and dark tales that you'll never forget. There are still hundreds of kilometers of tunnels that no one has been able to see all of we can only speculate about what kind of gruesome secrets still dwell deep within. There is little to no record of a girl named Masha ever disappearing into the catacombs, and there are those that refute Lata'saccounts. Every culture has an explanation about how we got here. Were theonlyPop Archaeology site combining scientific research with out-of-the-box perspectives. [citation needed], The city has a large population of over 1 million people, which some believe would benefit from the introduction of a subway system. Perhaps they will never be. Some time later, when the group was ready to call it a night and head home, they noticed Masha was missing. I know you said he was never identified, but was there an investigation you can share with us? Makeshift rooms, quarters, tables, and all manner of carvings and writings are all preserved and the entire museum serves as a strikingly unaltered glimpse into the urban warfare of the second world war. The most famous photoone that Lata told VICE in an email that he was involved in takingshows three blank-faced boys who look like they're in their early teens, posing like they've just stumbled upon the body in a narrow, curved section of the cavern. Stop by the blog every day this month for true tales of the unquiet dead. ( CC BY SA 4.0 ). [5], Only one small portion of the catacombs is open to the public, within the "Museum of Partisan Glory" in Nerubayskoye, north of Odesa. "The diggers determined it was a Satanist who got lost.". We dare you. As modern urban explorers tend to do, individuals from the group who found the body decided to share their exploits online. Clearly, this was a bad idea. Such tours are not officially sanctioned[4] because the catacombs have not been fully mapped and the tunnels themselves are unsafe. masha odessa catacombs photolet us break bread together meaning peaky blinderslet us break bread together meaning peaky blinders An entrance into the catacombs. - BACKSTORY - The story goes like thisMasha or Mashenka, depending on t. We dare you. Shiver. However, the catacombs began to truly grow into their astonishing, labyrinthine form in the early 1800s, when the limestone quarried from them was used to build much of the city. During WWII, although the Soviets had been forced out of the city, they left behind dozens of soviet-organized Ukrainian rebel groups hidden below the city in the expansive catacombs. It would be extremely dangerous to try and explore the catacombs on ones own.