We don't know for sure what Masha was looking for when she went into the catacombs with her friends. It can be really dangerous," he wrote, adding "here are some new pictures of our catacombs. Pacific coastline of the continuous United States. But he claims that when Armand Stendzenieks ordered a DNA test, it wasn't a match. In the decades after the war, the tunnels became a safe haven for smugglers and criminals and they made more tunnels. 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. In a post from 2010, he claimed that he used to take trips that lasted over a week, and that he'd fill his "catacombs bag" with food, camping equipment, diving gear, and mapmaking tools to prepare for long trips. After the incident, Lata said that the group had continued to explore the catacombs, and that they would sometimes go down there for days at a time. Green Tour. Shortly after this, the mapping of a large unexplored area known as K-29 began. The Tiara of Saitaphernes is certainly one of these priceless objects and its story is long and surprising. Everyone was having a good time, drinking and having fun. If she was lucky, she died quickly from the cold . The next-largest network of catacombs is in Paris, and that's only one-fifth the length of Odessa's. Sacred Marvels: 17 Cathedrals That Will Take Your Breath Away, In Pictures, From Ancient Mystery School to Culture Capital: Eleusis Secret Past is Recognized, Restormel Castle, What the English Call A Romantic Scene, Egyptologists Reveal a Lost Chamber in the Great Pyramid With Cosmic Rays, Mother and Child Reunion Of Thetis And Achilles, Seductive Sirens of Greek Mythology and How Heroes Resisted Them, Celestial Goddess Selene: The Ancient Greek Goddess of the Moon, Pegasus of Greek Mythology: Majestic Winged Horse of Mount Olympus, Dreams of Human-Powered Flight: Daedalus and the Story of Icarus, The Warriors Who Shaped African History: The Horsemen of Oyo, Royal Mistress Jane Shore Walked Streets of London in her Underwear, Leonardo Da Vincis Notes Show He Understood Gravity Long Before Newton, Talks Begin on Repatriating Remains of Patrick Sarsfield, Irish War Hero, The Ramessid Dynasty: A Golden Era in Ancient Egypt, Demonic Possession and the Ancient Practice of Exorcism on the Rise, Unraveling the Mystery of the Carnac Stones: An Ancient Puzzle of Epic Proportions, Unraveling the Enigma of Aramu Muru, The Mysterious Gate of the Gods. Maybe this photo will shock you. The teens are said to have stayed down there all night. One of these stories inevitably brings us to Masha, a student who should have known better than to venture inside the tunnels. The mining operations would soon spiral almost out of control, causing some issues for the town itself, until they would be temporarily banned after 1917. "Besides the original photographer," a post says, "there isn't one person, civilian or law enforcement, that can confirm the story. 2017. Mauritius Square, Ukraine: What is this Giant Crab-like Earthworks? But despite being passed around the internet as fact, there is little documentation to support the legend of Masha. Fine Art? They are so incredibly extensive that someone who dies within can simply never be found. Like us on Facebook to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders. 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. [6] Other caves attract extreme tourists, who explore the tunnels despite the dangers involved. Thegoal of Ancient Origins is to highlight recent archaeological discoveries, peer-reviewed academic research and evidence, as well as offering alternative viewpoints and explanations of science, archaeology, mythology, religion and history around the globe. For those interested in exploring the catacombs, with less risk, you can hire a professional to take you down. dinnington high school alumni. 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. We seek to retell the story of our beginnings. Understanding the Mysterious Kingdom of Shambhala, The Green Children of Woolpit: Legendary Visitors from Another World, Medieval Sea Monster Was Likely a Whale, New Research Reveals, Adventist Adventurer Claimed to Have Found Ark of the Covenant Beneath Crucifixion Site, Iron Age Comb Made from Human Skull Discovered Near Cambridge, Caesars Savage Human Skewers Unearthed In German Fort, The Evidence is Cut in Stone: A Compelling Argument for Lost High Technology in Ancient Egypt, A Blazing Weapon: Unraveling the Mystery of Greek Fire. The remaining catacombs (3-5%) are either natural cavities or were excavated for other purposes such as sewerage. But without knowing the mind boggling extent of these catacombs, their efforts proved largely fruitless. Like us on Facebook to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders. In 2009, a post was made on the urban exploration website UER which first brought forth Masha's story, and a photo of the purported body (warning: graphic) was posted in which three (possibly four) young urban explorers appear to have discovered her remains. There's no way any one person could ever witness the true scale of the Odessa Catacombs; explore all 2,500km of tunnel. Come for the severed heads, stay for the book bound in human skin. 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. And while some people may seem content with the story as it stands, our view is that there existcountless mysteries, scientific anomalies and surprising artifacts thathave yet to be discovered and explained. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. A vast country that prides itself on a history rich with heroes and artists. No way that picture was faked. Which Animated Disney Movie Should Get A Horror Adaptation Next? Any chamber used as a burial place is a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman Empire. The rumors said it was deep underground, but from what they had seen, the body appeared to be fresh. One of them decided to give it a try, they turned the handle and the door swung open. The group ventured deep inside and soon enough they got lost. Though Masha wasnt particularly interested in going to the mine, she went anyway, wanting to be with her friends more. Like Atlas Obscura and get our latest and greatest stories in your Facebook feed. Over the years there have been numerous reports of people venturing into the catacombs, getting lost, and eventually dying of dehydration never to be seen again. The final resting place for the remains of 143 Habsburg royalty. The catacombs are on three levels, and reach a depth of 200ft (60 meters) below sea level. Besides Masha and the missing boy, there have been other stories of people who have died in the catacombs, and not just from getting lost. These men and women remained hidden, living in the catacombs. Local here (finally, after years of reading, something got me to register). They were even known to blow up German facilities. [4] It is thought that most (9597%) of the catacombs are former coquina multilevel mines from which stone was extracted to construct the city above. He recalls that a piece of writing by a friend he says is a "famous journalist" was delivered to government officials. But even though the city fell, its citizens didnt give up the fight. Masha always struck me as an urban legend. Beneath the city of Odessa, and also its outskirts, lie a labyrinth-like network of tunnels, known as the Odessa Catacombs. Mind boggling isnt it? But Masha had not gone home. When we think of catacombs, we think of underground tunnels and chambers, locations where bodies were stored in lieu of a cemetery. It was brought to a police medical examiner's office, and everyone found that, shockingly, the DNA didn't match the missing boy. If she'd wandered into isolation, maybe to find a secluded spot to relieve herself, it's easy to imagine she was beyond screaming distance. The Bohemian Blog. The Stone Mines, part of the Odessa Catacombs, were closed and sealed off in 1917. 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!) What are you a professional corpsologist? And some are full-fledged poems, written in the delicate Cyrillic cursive script, their authors lost to time. Instead, it belonged to a girl who was never identified. 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. Offer subject to change without notice. It wasnt until six months later that Masha was found. Were heading underground to find out whether the tunnels are truly empty. But catacombs can be more than religious passageways or burial grounds. It does seem to be a urban legend but it's still creepy as hell! Some sources claim that roughly five amateurs that descend into the tunnels never come out again and this really gives us an incentive to truly grasp the size of these tunnels. And the size is further reflected in the fact that the entirety of the catacombs has never been explored. An eye-opening journey through the history, culture, and places of the culinary world. No doubt, many bodies remain hidden in the mines. 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. The Odessa Catacombs underwent further construction through the vagrants' illegal widening and creation of even more tunnel systems. ( CC BY SA 4.0 ). This was only aimed at the portions beneath the town center though, and the rest of the catacombs continued to develop some time after. masha who died in the catacombs. Various message boards shared the tale, and websites began to present the details as fact. Those daring few that decide to explore the endless depths below Odessa are often surprised by a gruesome find. -, Press J to jump to the feed. 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 weekday we compile our most wondrous stories and deliver them straight to you. ( eliosdnepr /Adobe Stock). Every story is true, and each one is a real place you can visit. 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. Approximately 32 members were sent to the catacombs in 1941 to sabotage the Romanian allies of German Nazis who occupied Odessa during World War II, when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union. She was headed into the Odessa catacombs, the 2,500 kilometers of dark rocky tunnels which run underneath the city. In the 19th century, most houses in Odesa were built of limestone that was mined nearby. 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. All rights reserved. So it's a photo of a body that willit seemsnever be positively identified, and it immortalizes the last moment of someone's life. But when cause of death was found, they identified him as someone who had been murdered. As the result of contemporary mining, the catacombs continue to expand. We believe it is just a practical joke and the corpse is fake." After a while, the group was quite intoxicated, Masha included. Old Odessa catacombs . They go on expeditions into the mines that can last several days, and document and map the area. An underground paleo-Christian burial site composed of the remains of several cemeteries and Basilicas. Descending into the darkness below the world, you are thrust headfirst into a deeply disturbing realm. The legend goes a little something like this: In 2005, a group of teenagers headed out on New Year's Eve (or New Year's Day, depending on the source) to have a little party. Two years passed, and no one retrieved the body, Lata claims. The earliest of the graffiti dates to the 18th century. 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. Adventures in Ukraine: Odessa Catacombs. Pugovkin told us the elder Stendzenieks was offering a reward to anyone who could find his son, and some people he called "diggers"manual laborershad tipped off the authorities about a body two to three miles from an entrance to the catacombs. Shiver. Just one look at the maps will show you exactly why the Odessa catacombs were never fully explored the sheer size prevents it. [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. Actually, the walls of the Odessa catacombs are inscribed with thousands of writings, ranging from names to slogans to caricatures and even poems. But that has not stopped outsiders, or even local, daring, teenagers who are curious about, or even set on finding, the legendary treasures they contain. Despite very extensive searches neither his body, nor any clues about his fate were found. aeries parent portal madera. 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. The catacombs also contain natural caves and span over 1,500 miles. After the war, the tunnels remained active with smugglers and criminal groups who went so far as to widen or even create their own tunnels. 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. Winner will be selected at random on 04/01/2023. 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. However, in the drunken revelry a member of the group, a girl named Masha, became separated and lost in the catacombs. Rifles, machine guns, equipment and personal items all were discovered lost or abandoned in virtually pristine condition. Lata wrote a widely circulated online post stating that he and other explorers had found the body of a local student named Masha, who on New Year's Eve in 2005 had wandered into the catacombs with her friends after drinking. In 2011, a male murder victim was found by chance in the catacombs after he had been dead for three to six months. 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. Even with all that, humans are resilient, and can survive several days without food and water. The complete length of these catacombs is more than half of the width of the North American continent. Several attempts at thorough exploration were made over the years. 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. The longest single expedition to date was just 40km, completed over a 27-hour period in 1995. He claimed that his best friend had led the expedition, and that he had been there when the infamous photo was taken. They were a popular location for murderers to hide bodies, and on at least three occasions, were a location where area kids had ventured inside, never to be seen again. Of course parents saying not to do something usually encourages kids to do that very thing. https://irishurbanexplorations.wordpress.com/2014/05/07/odessa-catacombs-day-1-odessa-ukraine/, https://thinkofthetriangle.wordpress.com/2016/09/25/adventures-in-ukraine-odessa-catacombs/, http://www.the13thfloor.tv/2017/04/11/183661/, http://odesskiy.com/chisto-fakti-iz-zhizni-i-istorii/istorija-vozniknovenija-odesskih-katakomb.html, http://www.thebohemianblog.com/2013/10/urban-exploration-odessa-catacombs_20.html, https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/mind-boggling-catacomb-maps, https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/odessa-catacombs, https://greentourua.com/the-lost-world-of-odessa-catacombs/, The Tiara of Saitaphernes: Wow Antique? Then, two things happened: either Chaos or Gaia created the universe as we know it, or Ouranos and Tethys gave birth to the first beings. With tunnels that run up to 2,500 kilometers, the Odessa Catacombs are considered the world's largest urban labyrinth, significantly larger than the one in Paris, among others. Masha story is an urban legend. 2023 Atlas Obscura. They're also a pretty good place to stage a murder. Another urban legend, far more popular, is the story of the lost treasure. In another instance, a little more information was brought to light: in 2015, a man was sentenced to 13 years in prison for killing a girl in the 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. They look like my hiking boots, and I'm a woman. Or maybe they were looking for bodies. Find Out. The next day, Mashas friends went to her house to see how she was doing. Instead, he brandished an axe, and hacked the girl to death before leaving her there. According to rumors, a wealthy aristocrat from Odessa that survived the sinking of the Titanic decided to commemorate this event by ordering the creation of a solid gold model of the ship. [Online] Available at: https://irishurbanexplorations.wordpress.com/2014/05/07/odessa-catacombs-day-1-odessa-ukraine/, Author Unknown. Drunk and needing to urinate, she left the group, seeking a place to relieve herself. Try not to get lost. After the communists came to power, this man hid both himself and the golden Titanic in the catacombs below, never to be discovered. They became a hiding place for Soviet partisans. Shortly after this the mapping of a huge unexplored area of the catacombs known as K-29 was begun. Some proof for the long existence of this myth are the countless graffiti ships that can be spotted in the tunnels. The Soviets suffered malnutrition, and even malaria. But one such find could not remain a secret. He then threw the axe into the sea. The Odesa Catacombs are a labyrinth-like network of tunnels located under the city of Odesa and its outskirts in Ukraine, that are mostly the result of stone mining, particularly coquina.
Similarities Of Traditional Media And New Media,
Why Did The Skeleton Visit A Butcher Shop Answer Key,
Coccydynia Orthobullets,
Used Ice Castle For Sale By Owner,
Articles M
