Nuclear scientists have discovered hidden spaces in caves in the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery

Many previously unknown underground streets, huge crypts and other spaces with arches were discovered in the ancient “God-created” Caves of the Assumption Pskov-Pechersky Monastery by Russian scientists. This sensational discovery was made possible thanks to the muonography method – registration of cosmic particle flows, which are then used to create 3D models of underground objects.

The scientific supervisor of the project is the chief researcher of the Physical Institute. Lebedeva RAS Natalya Polukhina told MK about the progress of the study and interesting findings.

The Assumption Pskov-Pechersky Monastery is one of the largest and most famous monasteries in Russia with a long history, located in the city of Pechory (its name comes from the old Russian word “pechery” – caves). It was founded 550 years ago (in 1473) – the cave church of the Assumption of the Virgin, dug out by the Monk Jonah in a sandstone hill, was the first to be consecrated here. The monastery is famous for the fact that it has never been closed in its entire history.

It is believed that these caves were created by God himself, hence their name “created by God.” In different centuries, including modern times, up to 14 thousand people were buried in them. The main mystery of the local crypts – the absence of corruption is called simply a miracle.

According to legend, the caves of the monastery are laid to the city of Izborsk, which is about 20 kilometers from Pechory. In the year of the 550th anniversary of the monastery, it was decided to search for new spaces with the help of … cosmic particles – muons. They allow you to look into the most hidden corners of the shrine without destroying it.

“Muons are particles that, to be more precise, are considered secondary cosmic particles that are formed under the influence of primary cosmic particles already in our earthly atmosphere,” explains Natalya Polukhina, who is also a professor at MEPhI and a leading expert at MISIS. – Muons, whose density reaches 10 thousand pieces per square meter, can fly long distances. The greatest depth they have reached is two kilometers of rocky soil.

– Flying through the human body, they somehow interact with it?

– No. But if some large target is encountered on their way: a volcano, a house, or a mountain with caves, as in our case, then muons, traveling along them, can create their own tracks – lines, by changes in which we can draw conclusions about the internal structure objects. Where the density of the structure is higher, there will be few muons, where it is lower or there is a cavity, there will be a large flux of muons. And it is not necessary to drill wells in order to find out the structure of the object.

– Tell us, what did you find new in the caves of the Dormition Pskov-Caves Monastery?

“Our goal was to explore two places in the caves. This is a crypt, hidden behind a huge, human-sized icon, which meets those entering even at the level of the first floor of the Assumption Cathedral, and one of the underground corridors considered to be a dead end.

So, as for the crypt. The story said that it contained the burial of ancient noble people, but it was walled up, covered with an icon, and no one knows what its true size is. We examined it and found out that its size is quite impressive: 2.5 by 2.5 meters and from it leads an additional passage to other rooms of the caves.

The second task for us was to explore the short Troitskaya street of the underground “city”. In the explored area, it does not even reach the wall of the monastery. We were asked to see if she had a continuation, and we showed that she not only has a continuation, she also hides a previously unknown cavity! We discovered it unexpectedly: the room is located to the right of Troitskaya Street (if you are facing a dead end). Its huge dimensions are amazing: 3 by 6 meters in the horizontal plane and 3 meters in height!

– And what were the dimensions of the corridor behind the explored crypt?

– 12 meters long and 2 meters wide.

– How many detectors did you use in your work?

– We have installed 13 detectors in the caves. Two of them measured the general background, the rest were dispersed around two areas of observation. We determined the sizes of objects at the intersection of 4 detectors for each area.

Who suggested this method?

– The method of using cosmic radiation to “shine” large objects, by analogy with X-rays, was proposed back in 1926 by the Russian academician Lazarev. But muons, the only particles suitable for such work, had not yet been discovered. Therefore, the first muonography appeared only in 1955, when in Australia it was used to measure the depth of the tunnel. Even more famous is the Nobel laureate Luis Alvarez, who, with the help of muons, explored the pyramid of Khafre (the second largest Egyptian pyramid – Auth.) in 1965. But he used the so-called spark chamber, which allowed him to examine only 10% of the volume of the pyramid, and despite this, Alvarez concluded that it had no voids…

The method we use today is the most modern method using nuclear emulsion plate detectors. In fact, the plates are a photographic film, only very, very sensitive: at a distance of 1 kilometer, the emulsion “can see” an object 15 meters long. Film processing is carried out using powerful microscopes with precise mechanics, high-speed cameras. Since 2003, Japanese colleagues have been using similar equipment to explore volcanoes, blast furnaces, and nuclear power plants. In the USA similar researches are also put on stream.

“Does the caves really not smell of rotting?”

– This is so, despite the fact that the coffins are not buried there, but simply placed in wall holes.

– Will the exploration of the secret “streets” of the caves be continued?

“We only explored two sites, but I’m sure that other parts of the caves of the monastery may hide new unexplored cavities that hide ancient history.