The mystery of Longyu caves: why the Chinese built huge grottoes, and then flooded them

Longyu Grottoes are 24 separate rooms, each of which has its own entrance. All this magnificence appeared before the eyes of astonished scientists not so long ago, only in the 90s of the last century. Until that time, a huge underground space was hidden from prying eyes under the waters of ponds. Workers cleaned the ponds and decided to pump out all the water. By the way, local residents claim that these reservoirs have no bottom, and in a sense they were right. Despite the fact that residents of this area in Zhejiang province have knowledge of strange reservoirs, no reliable information about mysterious grottoes has yet been discovered.

After all the water was pumped out, at first the workers, and after them the scientists, saw a striking picture. The caves have a significant area, and their height reaches 30 meters. The walls and ceilings of the grottoes are dotted with parallel grooves, as if some gigantic mechanism was involved in the work on their construction. The arches are supported by supporting pillars, on which there are also horizontal grooves characteristic of all grottoes.

Scientists still have not come to a consensus on the purpose of these caves cut down in the middle of the rock mass. Initially, it was assumed that the grottoes could be used as the palace of the emperor or his family, or these premises could be prepared as the tomb of the emperor. Despite careful research, no objects were found in the Longyu Grottoes indicating the presence of a burial. The version with the underground imperial palace also did not find its confirmation.

As for the date of the construction of mysterious caves, historians have not been able to advance far in this matter either. Based on the analysis of stalactites, which were also manually processed during construction, scientists suggested that the grottoes were built more than 2 thousand years ago, during the reign of emperors from the Qin Dynasty.

Today, several Longyu Grottoes are open to the public. It is equipped with lighting, even concerts are held. The audience appreciates such events, because thanks to the unique acoustics, musical compositions acquire a unique sound. In the meantime, visitors enjoy the view of the ancient walls with mysterious furrows, scientists continue to puzzle over the origin of the grottoes, which replenished the collection of the most mysterious objects of our planet.