Attractions of Krym AR region

The Tatar name Shaytan-Koba ("Devil's cave") is given to the grotto, in which the site of an ancient man of the Paleolithic era (100-40 thousand years BC) was discovered.

It is located at the foot of a cliff on the Bodrak River, on the south-eastern edge of the village of Skalyste.

Flint products, animal bones were found.

The Silver Gazebo is a rotunda erected on Mount Pendikyul (865 meters above sea level) in honor of the completion of the construction of the Yalta-Bakhchysarai road, which lasted from 1864 to 1894.

The construction was supervised by military engineer Ivan ​​Shyshko, after whom one of the Ai-Petri rocks is named. The construction was carried out manually by soldiers of engineering units.

The Silver Gazebo offers a magnificent view of Yalta and the surrounding area, a magnificent centuries-old pine forest at the foot of Mount Pendikyul, and the forested peak of Mount Mohabi.

The Skelska stalactite cave in Crimea is located in the tract "Karadah forest" at the foot of Mount Kara-Dah on the slope of Baydary Valley near the village of Rodnykivske.

It was opened and first examined in 1904 by a local teacher, Fedir Kyrylov. The total length of the investigated part is 670 meters.

Skelska Cave was formed in Upper Jurassic marbled limestones by tectonic faulting - as a result of underground water processes in cracked limestone rocks.

The cave has several halls connected by passages. The height of the vault of the largest and most beautiful hall reaches 25 meters. The walls are decorated with numerous hanging curtains and ribs, original niches-baths.

The main attraction of the Skelska cave is a seven-meter stalagmite.

Underground rivers and lakes with a depth of up to 70 meters have formed in the lower narrow galleries, which feed the Baydary Reservoir.

The cave is listed in the Crimean Book of Records as the most inhabited by speleofauna: spiders, crustaceans, arthropods, grasshoppers, millipedes, bats, etc. Basically, these are endemics - creatures that live only in this area. The temperature in the upper halls is +12 degrees, and in the lower one, where the labyrinths of water wells pass, +9 degrees.

The Skelska cave is open for visitors.

Skelsky Menhirs of the Baydary Valley are ancient (III-II millennium BC) megalithic structures of cult (astronomical) purpose.

They are stone blocks of marble limestone placed vertically in the form of obelisks. The height of the largest of them is 2.8 meters, the other is 1.2 meters. The third was excavated in the 1950s during the construction of an aqueduct. In 1989, another fallen menhir with a height of about 2.4 meters was discovered.

The Tatars called this place Tekli-Tash ("placed stone"). The mass of Menhir reaches 6 tons. It is interesting that there are no quarries nearby, and the nearest rocks are located several kilometers from here.

Menhirs are attributed magical healing properties, calling them "the place of Power".

Mountain "Sokil" (Kush-Kaya - "bird rock") rises 474 meters above sea level between Sudak and Novyi Svit.

It is an ancient coral reef, which is considered the largest in the Crimea and even in all of Europe. It was formed 140-165 million years ago at the bottom of the ancient Tethys ocean from colonies of corals and sponges.

Many archaeological monuments of the ancient and Byzantine periods have been preserved in the area of ​​Mount Sokil (Falcon). A breathtaking panorama of the Southern coast of Crimea opens from the top. Climbing the mountain is quite difficult, fans are recommended to be accompanied by professional climbers.

The natural sphinxes of the Karalez Valley are unusual stone figures, the result of weathering of limestone on the ridge of the wooded Uzun-Tarla hill.

Some of the stone figures rise above the ridge by 8-15 meters and bear their own names: the southernmost figure of Yukle-Kai (Pregnant), further Suyuryu-Kaya (Pointed), Chuyun-Kaya, two similar flat-topped Sandik-Kaya (Chest ) and Shapka-Kaya (Hat).

The valley of the Sotera River is a protected tract on the eastern South Bank.

Here, in the process of weathering and water erosion, amazing stone mushrooms up to 7 meters high were formed. The caps of the "mushrooms" are formed by dense slabs of conglomerate, and the "legs" are looser sediments, which were destroyed faster than the "caps", mainly by water flowing from the slopes. There are large mushrooms with a diameter of "caps" up to 2 meters, and smaller mushrooms - about 1 meter high. Over time, mushrooms are destroyed under the influence of erosion, but new ones appear.

At the end of 1893, Professor Mykola Holovkinsky found a complete skeleton of a mammoth here.

Not far from the pond, the remains of the "Shostak" estate of the Borozdiny noble family have been preserved.

The Swan Islands in Portove are a group of 6 islands stretching 8 kilometers along the coast of the Karkinit Bay, where a huge number of migratory birds gather in spring and summer.

The name of the islands was given by the German scientist Brauler, who visited here at the end of the 19th century, saw a huge number of white whooper swans and came to the conclusion that they nest here. In fact, this is the most important part of the migratory path of birds to Africa, Europe, and Asia. At the same time, there are up to 75-100 thousand of them in clusters, and during the day at the height of the flight - up to a million!

An ornithological reserve of international importance "Swan Islands" - a branch of the Crimean state reserve - was created here. Visitation is strictly limited.

The Syuren Caves-Grottoes are located near the road near the village of Tankove.

A Late Paleolithic settlement was found in one of them, and a Mesolithic site in the other.

Grottoes are classic forms of weathering and water erosion of the steep limestone slopes of the transverse Cuesta Valley.

The Syuren tower is part of the medieval fortification of Syuren in the southeastern part of the Kule-Burun mountain on the left bank of the Belbek river near the village of Male Sadove.

From the 8th century there was a Byzantine fortress here, which from the 13th century began to take on the features of a small town. The Syuren fortress was one of the outposts of the ancient principality of Feodoro with its capital in Mangup.

The Syuren Tower has preserved its domed ceiling with traces of fresco painting.

From the top of the plateau there are breathtaking views of the surrounding area.

The Tarkhankut (Karadzhyn) Hillfort in Olenivka is located on the northern shore of the Tarkhankut estuary and is washed by water.

Presumably, in this place, in the 3rd century BC - 2nd century AD, there was a rich ancient settlement of Tamiraka, which in later times lost its polis self-government and later turned into an ordinary coastal fortification.

The area of the Tarkhankut Hillfort is 5 hectares.

The Tarkhankut lighthouse is a well-preserved 200-year-old lighthouse that is still functioning and is located on the western edge of the Crimean peninsula, Cape Tarkhankut.

Presumably, the lighthouse at this dangerous place from the point of view of navigation existed even in ancient times. The current 42-meter-high tower was built of white Inkerman limestone in 1816. Due to the excellent quality of the construction, the building required only cosmetic repairs until now.

In 1851, the Tarkhankut lighthouse had 13 lamps with reflectors, in 1862 the lighting was improved and spread over 12.4 miles. During the fog, the sound of a pneumatic siren was heard or the bell was struck.

All buildings have been preserved. With the permission of the administration, you can climb the tower by climbing 142 steps of a cast iron spiral staircase.

The Hillfort of Tarpanchi is located on a promontory slightly protruding into the sea, on the eastern outskirts of the village of Okunivka (former Tarpanchi), bounded on two sides by beams.

These are the remains of an ancient manor, covered by a late Scythian fortification. In the 4th century BC, colonists founded a settlement here, which was part of the sphere of influence of Chersonesus. In the 2nd century BC, the settlement was captured by the Scythians and a fortress with four towers was built on the site of the manor. The defensive ditch was veneered with stone. Villages adjoined the fortress on two sides: East Tarpanchi and West Tarpanchi.

You can see the remains of primitive stone walls up to 2.8 meters thick, as well as the foundations of towers, residential and commercial buildings.

The ruins of the huge fortified Tash-Khan (Stone Yard) caravanserai, built in the center of Bilohirsk in the 15th century.

Only the gate and a part of the wall adjacent to it have survived.

In ancient times, powerful walls with loopholes surrounded a spacious courtyard, merchants were housed in wooden buildings along the northern and eastern walls. On the outside, there was a slave market, from where slaves were sent to different countries of the world: Turkey, Genoa, Venice, Egypt.

The fortified cave settlement of Tepe-Kermen ("mountain fortress") is located on a mountain plateau above the Kacha River near the Kiz-Kermen plateau near the village of Mashyne.

Probably founded in the early Middle Ages. In the 8th-14th centuries, icon worshipers expelled from Byzantium during the era of iconoclasm lived here. The cave church with columns is located in the northeastern part of the plateau. 250 caves were explored: temples, casemates, granaries, cattle sheds, etc.