The largest karst cave of Moldova can possibly be included in the international tourist circuit. The Ministry of Environment said it will make all the necessary approaches in this regard, IPN reports.

The Government of Romania could offer about €1 million for the works to rehabilitate and lay out the cave.  There is enough will and readiness on the part of the Ministry of Environment for the veritable potential of this natural monument to be fully developed, it is said in a communique of the Ministry.

The entrance to the cave is now located in an abandoned part of the sand quarry, being at a depth of 27 meters under the natural ground level, and was closed for security reasons. The lack of an alternative access makes the cave inaccessible to tourists.

The karst cave “Emil Racovita”, especially the underground system, can be seriously affected by the extractions at the gypsum quarry, which can provoke the flooding of galleries, and by natural or artificial opening of new entries (non- protected by gates, hermetic) and the appearance of accelerated ventilation.

The cave in Criva village of Briceni district is the 13th longest in Europe and the 26th longest in the world.  The cave’s enormous halls with rock columns that are over 2 million years old, the crystalline water lakes and the unique mineral formations that include rare and big selenite crystals hold an increased interest. The cave includes the largest gypsum crystal in Europe, which is over 3 cubic meters in in size.