Deepest cave in the world to get new name in Abkhazia
Officials in Abkhazia want to rename the deepest cave in the world located on the territory of the republic because caver Alexander Verevkin, whose name it currently bears, has nothing to do with it and has never been to Abkhazia at all. It is planned that the cave will be named after the most famous Abkhaz, writer Fazil Iskander. But the public does not like the idea of renaming.
Tourism Minister Teimuraz Khishba announced the plan to rename the deepest of all known caves in the world (recorded depth – 2212 meters) located in the western part of Abkhazia.
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The cave was discovered more than half a century ago and until 1986 it was called “S-117” or “P-1-7”. Speleologist Alexander Verevkin died in 1983 while passing the siphon of the Su-Akan cave in Kabardino-Balkaria. Three years later his friends went on an expedition to Abkhazia, where a cave was named in his memory. At that time it was under study and was not yet considered the deepest.
Complaints about the name appeared after an international expedition studying the cave in 2017 was able to descend to a record depth of 2212 meters, an achievement recorded by the Guinness Book of Records. It was decided to give it a new name tied to Abkhazia.
“I believe that the largest cave in the world, which is located on the territory of our country, should have an Abkhazian name. In my opinion, one of the best writers of the 20th century, Fazil Iskander, deserves this cave to be officially named after him, since it was he who discovered the very depth of the Abkhazian soul,” Teimuraz Khishba said during a speech at the round table “The current state and potential of tourism development in Abkhazia”.
In order to avoid accusations of Russophobia or disrespect for the world of researchers, the minister immediately added that he has nothing against the names of three more Abkhazian caves, which, along with Verevkin’s cave, are officially among the four deepest in the world. One of them is named after the founder of speleology, Eduard-Alfred Martel, the other is named after the founder of Russian and Soviet karst studies, Alexander Kruber, and the third is called Moskovskaya.
However, Abkhaz users of social networks found the minister’s argument unconvincing, and were not enthusiastic about the potential renaming of the cave.
Here are some comments:
“All the problems of Abkhazian tourism have already been successfully resolved. It remains only to rename the Verevkina cave”;
“Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary has never been to the Arctic, including the archipelago named after him”;
“The world of speleology lives by its own rules. And just as it was Verevkin’s cave among those who explore caves, discover them, descend into the depths, measure records, so it will remain Verevkin’s cave”;
“Against the Great Fazil. Of course, I have nothing against blessed memory of an outstanding writer, but what does he have to do with speleology?
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