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Topic: The Catacombs of Odessa

Ks !KansasxqvM started this discussion 14 years ago #22,150

The city of Odessa in the Ukraine is home to the world's largest catacombs. So large in fact, they've never been fully mapped. The catacombs started out as sandstone and limestone mines. Mining began in the 1700's and continued until the 1980's, the stone being used to gradually build the city above.

Due to the nature of mining practices (following veins of material), and a total lack of central organization the mines grew into a twisted, multi-level-maze spanning an estimated 1,553 miles (2500km). No one actually knows the true size. Many of the passageways are simply dead-ends, some lead to natural caves, while other passages simply drop off into natural chasms hundreds of feet deep.


(to be continued)

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Anonymous B joined in and replied with this 14 years ago, 2 minutes later[^] [v] #349,308

On January 1st 2005, some Odessa teens decided to spend New Years night partying in the catacombs. However, in the drunken revelry a member of the group, a girl named Masha, became separated and lost in the catacombs. She spent three days wandering in the freezing cold and pitch black before she died of dehydration. It took two years before the police were able to locate her body and retrieve it from the catacombs.

http://atlasobscura.com/place/odessa-catacombs

Pic related: her body.

Anonymous B double-posted this 14 years ago, 3 minutes later, 6 minutes after the original post[^] [v] #349,310

Anonymous B triple-posted this 14 years ago, 35 seconds later, 6 minutes after the original post[^] [v] #349,311

also i didn't know you were a redditor, Ks

Ks !KansasxqvM (OP) replied with this 14 years ago, 8 minutes later, 15 minutes after the original post[^] [v] #349,316

Existing 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.

Over the years the catacombs have been used for sewer systems, WWII soldier hideout, bootlegging, commercial wine cellar, drug manufacturing and people have even lived down there. Although it is forbidden to entire the catacombs there are over 1,000 known entrances and it's really impossible to stop people from going down there. Many have sought adventure in the catacombs, only to be never seen again. When kids go missing in the area it's often assumed they entered the catacombs. Explorers have found bodies and bones of many such victims, though many are likely never to be found due to sporadic, unpredictable flooding of the catacombs. Next I'll tell the story of one such victim.

(to be continued)

Ks !KansasxqvM (OP) double-posted this 14 years ago, 1 minute later, 17 minutes after the original post[^] [v] #349,319

@349,311 (B)
@349,310 (B)
@349,308 (B)
Fuck it, I won't finish the story. Her name wasn't Masha btw.

Anonymous C joined in and replied with this 14 years ago, 17 minutes later, 34 minutes after the original post[^] [v] #349,330

Anonymous D joined in and replied with this 14 years ago, 1 hour later, 1 hour after the original post[^] [v] #349,354

Anonymous E joined in and replied with this 14 years ago, 10 hours later, 12 hours after the original post[^] [v] #349,467

Falco !VYDDrUD3gc joined in and replied with this 14 years ago, 2 hours later, 15 hours after the original post[^] [v] #349,475

Anonymous D replied with this 14 years ago, 59 minutes later, 16 hours after the original post[^] [v] #349,476

Anonymous G joined in and replied with this 14 years ago, 44 seconds later, 16 hours after the original post[^] [v] #349,477

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