Nature

The Emil Racoviță Cave lies near the village of Criva in Briceni district, in the far north of Moldova. It is a gypsum cave formed by the dissolving of the rock, with mapped passages running for tens of kilometres, large halls held up by columns, clay walls in several colours and more than 20 underground lakes. It lies 5 to 50 metres below the surface and the air inside stays between 8 and 11 °C. It has one entrance on Moldovan territory and has been a protected geological monument since 1991. A nearby gypsum quarry administers the cave; visiting conditions are not published, so access has to be arranged beforehand.