Comments on: Odessa Catacombs

Odessa Catacombs

Ouisch — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 20:23:59 -0800

"Hello. I`d like to tell you about Odessa katakombs. [Warning: disturbing images.] Odessa is not far from the capital of Ukraine - Kiev. Under Odessa consists the biggest katakombs in the world. Their total length is more than 2500 km, so this katakombs are much more bigger than Paris katakombs...During the World War II a lot of citizens were hiding in catacombs. A lot of them used to live there for a year and more. So even today it is possible to find weapons, equipment and even dead bodies. Every year a lot of explorers lost and even die there."

By: dunkadunc

dunkadunc — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 20:44:43 -0800

Someone needs to archive these photos before they disappear.

By: Ouisch

Ouisch — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 20:47:02 -0800

Here's his Picasa album of more photos. Should have included it.

By: mwhybark

mwhybark — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 21:03:53 -0800

the forum discussion of the dead girl is remarkable. tl;dr summary: a bit under a sequence of tunnel/spelunking pics the original OP posts a shot of a small group of tunnel explorers standing over a decayed body. OP goes on to explain the body belonged to a 'girl' who was left behind in 2005 and eventually removed in 2007. In the interim, like Green Boots on Everest, she was a known landmark to the tunnel explorers but regarded as offlimits by the Odessa authorities. Fascinating.

By: mwhybark

mwhybark — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 21:10:16 -0800

the forum continues with updates to 2012; op updates the total number of lost as the thread continues.

By: stbalbach

stbalbach — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 22:28:21 -0800

You are in a maze of twisty passages, all alike.

By: astrobiophysican

astrobiophysican — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 22:43:25 -0800

What is the likelihood that this girl 'got lost' vs. murdered or something else? What does this say about the state of the state and the value of life in Odessa that a body could lay there for two years? Yikes. A dark, mysterious and no doubt myth filled labyrinth. From the third link "The maps of the Odessa Catacombs look like some fractal Borgesian nightmare, like something an autistic Dungeons and Dragons player who got high on meth drew." I saw an artist in a donut shop once doing exactly these kind of wall sized elaborate diagrams. Fantastic post filling the gaps where National Geographic dares not (but really should!) go.

By: Katjusa Roquette

Katjusa Roquette — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 22:44:08 -0800

Creepy! How did I never hear of them?

By: CRESTA

CRESTA — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 22:59:18 -0800

This is absolutely amazing! incredible. how many people was used to construct such weird place. One of the best links I have seen here. I still have to look into the whole information, there is so much to see... Surprising!

By: rh

rh — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 23:13:32 -0800

"Catacombs" is a bit of a misnomer here. The majority of the huge network system is abandoned mine shafts and some sewers.

By: MeghanC

MeghanC — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 23:15:37 -0800

What does this say about the state of the state and the value of life in Odessa that a body could lay there for two years? He mentions that the body was three miles from the entrance, and given how much of a tangle the katakombs seem to be, it doesn't sound like it would've been easy to get her out without a either a good guide (which didn't seem to be forthcoming) or a lot of manpower. Given the (presumable) difficult in locating the body, it doesn't seem unreasonable to me that she was left there. These pictures are amazing--thank you so much for sharing.

By: astrobiophysican

astrobiophysican — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 23:35:02 -0800

MeghanC, are you kidding? Kids with flashlights can find it (they refer to it as a well known landmark in the comments); but the local cops either a) can't be bothered b) are afraid to tread where kids with flashlights go or c) what? Paint me unimpressed. If you think it's excusable for authorities to leave the body of a dead girl lying in a tunnel for years then, I'm sorry you missed growing up in a place where human life has a bit more value than is evidenced here.

By: Segundus

Segundus — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 23:40:19 -0800

"Catacombs" is a bit of a misnomer here. I think we might possibly be in at the birth of a new word, where 'catacomb' continues to mean primarily a place where you put corpses, and 'katakomb', originally just an error, gets used for the extended sense of a load of tunnels.

By: variella

variella — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 23:41:50 -0800

fractal Borgesian nightmare Invokes all the senses in case you hadn't gotten it yet- lost in a maze would be nothing compared to being lost in a fractal *shivers*

By: longbaugh

longbaugh — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 23:52:01 -0800

I totally used these in a game of Night's Black Agents - one of those locations that just works perfectly for putting the fear into folks.

By: homunculus

homunculus — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 00:33:08 -0800

These are amazing. Thanks, Ouisch. I just wish my Ukrainian Grandfather were still alive so I could share this with him. I know I'm going to dream about this tonight. I'll have to remember to bring a Gravity Gun, just in case.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 00:38:47 -0800

If I should happen to eat at my beloved old Odessa Restaurant next time I'm back in NYC, I'll be reminded of this. Thanks a lot.

By: maxim0512

maxim0512 — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 05:05:32 -0800

My Elven magic user casts a spell of Continual Light, while the Halfling thief remains in the shadows up ahead, scouting for danger...

By: availablelight

availablelight — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 05:49:24 -0800

The pic/imagined back story of the dead girl, plus this, gave me a mini panic attack. Buried alive, indeed.

By: pyro979

pyro979 — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 07:23:39 -0800

My home town. I've heard a lot about these, but never seen them. Great find (even if half the images are not coming up).

By: languagehat

languagehat — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 07:47:33 -0800

Anyone interested in Odessa (and other historically multicultural cities in that part of the world) should bookmark Poemas del río Wang, which has put online amazing photos and thoughful analyses and meditations over the last few years; here are some posts to get you started: Odessa, ghost city; Odessa, the city of marvels; New Year in Odessa; Odessa Tales; Together in Odessa (a report on a río Wang-sponsored trip to the city; if you wish you'd been there, don't despair, he's leading another one in April).

By: markkraft

markkraft — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 10:46:07 -0800

Interesting... watching videos of the catacombs here on Youtube. I would love to build a nightclub down there!

By: IAmBroom

IAmBroom — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 14:32:21 -0800

rh: "Catacombs" is a bit of a misnomer here. The majority of the huge network system is abandoned mine shafts and some sewers.

Someone tell Thorin we found another entrance.

By: IAmBroom

IAmBroom — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 14:34:42 -0800

astrobiophysican: If you think it's excusable for authorities to leave the body of a dead girl lying in a tunnel for years then, I'm sorry you missed growing up in a place where human life has a bit more value than is evidenced here.

A corpse != human life. Odessa may (or may not) be a cesspool of murder and lawlessness, but I really can't say this factoid sways my opinion of the city proper at all.

By: Slarty Bartfast

Slarty Bartfast — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 12:31:02 -0800

2 days later, I just can't get the story of the dead girl out of my head. What a horrific way to die. It must have taken days. You wake up from the drunken revelry in total darkness, in the middle of an underground maze. Do you start feeling your way around systematically on the slim chance you might find away out? Do you stay put hoping someone remembers where they last saw you? Do any of those people you were hanging out with notice you were missing? Is help coming? Or are you locked into an ever ascending panic attack until total insanity rapidly overcomes you? The most merciful thing to contemplate is that maybe she died of hypothermia while passed out drunk.