Subterranean Pastoral

There runs, under Kiev, a vast network of tunnels. Built over a century ago, they provide water drainage for this hilly city and thus protect against landslides. It isn’t entirely illegal to enter them, but neither is it quite legal. It is, as the guide intones before guiding you down through a manhole at the edge of a wood, unlegal.

You’ll leave this gray area and pass on into one entirely black. The tunnels are utterly sunless and dark, but with a little resourceful lighting, they give up their secrets.

Into the dark

A regression

Hunched, slouched, and at times on hands and knees, you’ll make your way down tight passageways.

Limestone path

Passage

Tunnels branch off in all  directions. Some openings may be dead ends; others are too, in their own way.

Option one

Option two

Next: the exclusion zone.