Attractions of Krym AR region

Cape Zyuk is the northern point of the Kerch Peninsula.

On the edge of a rocky promontory with picturesque accumulations of stones are the ruins of the ancient manor "Chokrakskyi Mys".

This area has been inhabited since ancient times. Fragments of the first stone fortifications date back to the 3rd century BC, although the base dates back to the 5th century BC.

Archaeologists have explored a large ancient settlement known as Zenonov Chersonesus.

The Chaban-Kale tower (Choban-Kule) is the ruins of the Genoese castle of Tasili, which was owned by three brothers from the Guasco family: Andreolo, Teodoro and Demetrio. The brothers became famous for their cruelty, waywardness and conflicts with the Genoese authorities of neighboring Soldai (Sudak).

The ruins of one of the towers of the castle, which the Tatars nicknamed Chaban-Kale ("shepherd's tower" in Tatar) have been preserved on Cape Bashtovy. The remains of defensive walls can be seen on the eastern side.

The cape offers a wonderful view of Meganom and Ayudag.

Cape Chameleon, which separates Tykha Bay from Koktebel Bay, got its name not so much because of its shape, but because of its ability to change color depending on the position of the sun, weather, lighting and season.

On modern maps, the cape is often called Tabirnyi, although there are no camps nearby. The original name of the cape is Toprak-Kaya or Toprakh-Kaya, which in Turkic means "mud rock" or "earthen rock".

Cape Chameleon has been known for a long time: its image is on many Italian sea maps of the 14th - 15th centuries, and there are descriptions of it in old Russian lotions.

Fortifications on Mount Kastron above the entrance to Balaklava Bay were built in the 14th century the Genoese who settled here.

On the mountain was the administrative part of the Chembalo fortress - the City of Saint Nicholas (Upper City or Citadel), below was the City of Saint George surrounded by three lines of walls (Lower or Outer City), where ordinary townspeople lived.

In 1475, the city was captured by the Turks, who renamed it Balak-Yuva. They remained the masters of Balaklava for three centuries before the conquest of Crimea by Russia. During the Crimean War, the British garrison was stationed here.

To our time, the Chembalo fortress has survived in ruins, but the silhouette of its towers on the slopes of the fortress has become a business card of Balaklava. Restoration work is underway, and the creation of a museum is planned. Visiting is free.

Chokurcha Cave is a Paleolithic settlement, one of the oldest monuments of human life in Crimea.

It is located on the eastern outskirts of Simferopol, in the valley of the Maly Salhir river.

The depth of the grotto is up to 15 meters, the width is about 7 meters.

In 1927, scientists discovered the site of ancient people who lived here 50,000 years ago in the Chokurcha cave. Among the archaeological finds of the Chokurcha Cave are flint tools, mammoth bones and tusks, drawings carved into limestone.

The medieval fortress town of Chufut-Kale is located 3.5 kilometers east of Bakhchysarai.

It arose on a mountain plateau around the V-VI centuries as a fortified settlement on the border of Byzantine possessions. The main population consisted of Alans, then Kipchaks.

Since the 13th century, taken by the Tatars after a long siege and named Kirk-Or, the city was part of the Crimean Khanate (it was the residence of the khan). In the 15th century, Karaites settled here, giving the city the name Chufut-Kale ("Jewish fortress").

Left by residents until the beginning of the 20th century. In the 20th century, Chufut-Kale became a popular tourist center. Three fortress walls with a gate and towers, the mausoleum of the daughter of the Golden Horde Khan Tokhtamysh Dzhanyke-khanym (year 1437), two Karaim kenas, the estate of the historian Avraham Firkovych, and other buildings have been preserved. Near the entrance is a unique siege well.

The cave monastery of Chylter-Marmara stretched with a gallery along the cornice of Mount Chylter-Kaya ("lattice rock") above Ternivka.

More than fifty caves are located in 5 tiers: cells, a refectory, utility rooms, as well as a gallery with five columns and a large Christian temple. The complex is surrounded on all sides by impregnable rocks and cliffs.

The Chylter-Marmara Monastery operated from the XII-XIII to the end of the XV century, but some researchers date it to the VI-IX centuries.

The epithet "Marmara" comes from the name of a medieval village, the ruins of which are located on the slopes of the mountain. The plateau offers a wonderful view of the surrounding nature.

The largest and only preserved (reconstructed) city gate of the five that existed in medieval Gezlev (Kezlev).

Odun-bazar-kapusu (Gate of the Wood Bazaar) is located on the eastern side of the old city. Immediately behind them was the Wood Bazaar, hence the name.

The width of the gate is more than 12 meters, the length of the passage is 13.5 meters, and the height together with the gate tower is about 20 meters.

In 1959, the gate was demolished under the pretext that it obstructed traffic. The city gate was restored in 2003 based on the remains of the foundation, ancient images and descriptions. On the first floor you can see the preserved original masonry, on the second floor there is a Crimean Tatar cafe-museum "Kezlev Kavesi", on the third - the museum "Kezlev Gate" with a model of the medieval city. It is convenient to start a tour of the old town from here.

In 1993, the conserved unfinished complex of the Crimean nuclear power plant became the arena for the international dance music festival "Kazantip" (later moved to the village of Popivka in the western part of Crimea).

The construction of the Crimean NPP began in 1978 on the shores of the Aktash Salt Lake near the Kazantip protected cape. The construction was stopped by the efforts of the "greens".

Mount Demerdzhi is a mountain massif (yayla) north of Alushta, one of the most beautiful peaks of the Crimean Mountains.

It rises 1240 meters above sea level. Translated from Crimean Tatar, Demerdzhi means "blacksmith". There is an ancient legend about an evil blacksmith who set up a giant blacksmith's furnace on the top of the "smoky" Mount Funa, where enslaved local residents worked. When the blacksmith killed the girl who came to ask him to free the captives, the mountain swallowed him along with the forge.

As a result of weathering, a unique stone chaos was formed on the top - a complex of rocks "Valley of Ghosts", consisting of stone pillars, towers, mushrooms, etc. The "Head of Catherine" rock stands out, resembling the profile of the queen. Walking and horseback excursions are held.

A sarcophagus with the remains of a noble Bosporan woman of the 1st century AD was found on the territory of Kerch in the 19th century.

The burial chamber is frescoed with scenes of the abduction of Persephone, daughter of the fertility goddess Demeter. The Crypt of Demeter is considered a vivid and unique example of decorative painting on mythological subjects, executed in the so-called floral style, most characteristic of Bosporan painting of the 1st-2nd centuries AD.

Due to constant flooding, the crypt is preserved, the technological model is installed on the first tier of the Great Mithridatic Stairs. The 1:1 scale model is created with exact adherence to all dimensions, proportions, frescoes and painting.

The Diva Rock is a high 70-meter cliff that juts out into the sea for several tens of meters, its silhouette vaguely resembles a girl with loose hair.

There used to be Monk Rock between Diva Rock and the shore, which looks like a hooded monk, but it was broken by a storm in 1931.

You can climb the stairs to the top of the Diva Rock, having overcome the stone chaos at the place of the ruined Monk.

On the shore, just above the Diva, there is the 80-meter Panea rapid, at the foot of which are preserved the remains of the fortified medieval Panea-Isar monastery of the 8th-15th centuries, which was used by the Genoese as a fortress. The remains of the 10th-century basilica with a mosaic floor and a stone crypt with thirty Byzantine burials from the 8th-10th centuries were discovered.

Donuzlav is a salt lake in the western part of Crimea, unique in its size, configuration and ecosystem.

The medicinal composition of the water is a mixture of estuary oil, sea and spring waters. The northwestern part of Lake Donuzlav has been declared a reserve.

In 1962, the lake was connected to the sea by a narrow entrance channel, effectively becoming a bay of the Black Sea.

Until 1994, the Crimean naval base of the Black Sea Fleet was located in the port of "Donuzlav", which included units of anti-submarine naval aviation and fighter ships. The base of fighting dolphins has been transformed into a rehabilitation center of the Yevpatoriia Dolphinarium, dolphin therapy sessions (swimming with dolphins) are held.

Dzhur-Dzhur waterfall is the most powerful and one of the most beautiful waterfalls in Crimea.

It is formed by the Eastern Ulu-Uzen River, which flows through the difficult-to-pass wooded Khaphal gorge. The mountain stream empties from a 15-meter ledge into a deep pit and flows further down the gorge.

The name is translated from Crimean Tatar as "forever murmuring".

Dzhur-Dzhur waterfall is the most abundant Crimean waterfall, it does not run out even in dry years.

Upstream you can see a whole series of picturesque rapids-cascades. Nearby is the 750-meter-long Dzhur-Dzhur cave.

Many hiking routes cross here. Entrance to the territory of the reserve is paid.

The Emine-Bayir-Khosar cave is located one kilometer from the Marble cave, near the village of Mramorne.

For the first time, geologists got to it in 1927. Later, about 1.5 kilometers of halls and galleries covered with colorful calcite crystals - "cave flowers" - were opened.

In 1994, the Emine-Bayir-Khosar cave was equipped for a guided tour. The excursion along the 500-meter route lasts 1 hour.