The world's largest underwater cave system has recently been found by researchers of the Gran Acuifero Maya project during their exploration of the underwater area in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo.
After 10 months of intense work, the team reached the connecting tunnel of two large flooded cave systems, Sac Actun and Dos Ojos. The fact that these caverns are connected makes them parts of one larger system, measured at a whopping 347 kilometers (216 miles).
But it's not just the size that matters: the newly-discovered maze of caverns is believed to be full of architectural treasures and relics. According to Guillermo de Anda, director and underwater archaeologist on the Gran Acuifero Maya team, the discovery would help to understand the development of the rich culture of the Maya and their descendants.
"It allows us to appreciate much more clearly how the rituals, the pilgrimage sites and ultimately the great pre-Hispanic settlements that we know emerged," he told Reuters.