Attractions of Evpatoriia district

The Dzhanhul tract is a picturesque rock formation that stretches for 5 kilometers along the northwestern coast of Cape Tarkhankut.

The relief of the coast with clusters of characteristic layered rock chaos is formed by landslides, a large number of bizarre limestone figures are created by weathering and abrasion.

The largest landslide massif of Dzhanhul is located near Ternivska Balka: its length is about 500 meters, width - 200 meters. Cormorants, pelicans, starlings, partridges, flycatchers, nightingales and other birds nest among the stones, in the niches and crevices of the rocks.

The ruins of the ancient Greek customs house have been preserved in the Velykiy Kastel (Big Kastel) bay.

Since 1980, Dzhanhul has been a protected landscape reserve of local importance. In 2010, it became part of the "Charivna Havan" (Magic Harbor) nature park.

Its cozy terraces are popular among lovers of secluded relaxation in the company of nature.

A monument to Ashyk Omer was erected in 2004 in his homeland in Yevpatoriia(former Hezlov).

Ashyk Omer (Umer) is an outstanding Crimean-Tatar poet of the Middle Ages. Traveling through the Ottoman Empire, he created works that entered the treasury of Crimean Tatar and world literature. During his life, he visited the territories of present-day Ukraine, Poland, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Bosnia, and Greece. The poet died in 1707 in Hezlov, where he was buried.

A monument to the work of the sculptor Oleksiy Shmakov was installed near the Dzhuma-Dzhami (Khan-Dzhami). Ashyk is depicted playing the saz, a folk Tatar instrument.

The ruins of the ancient settlement of Belyaus are located on the seashore near the western end of the Donuzlav Pass, near the village of Znamyanske.

The fortified Greek settlement of Belaus arose here in the second half of the 4th century BC. The main fortification element was a powerful multi-story tower, the impressive ruins of which have survived to this day. After several Scythian attacks, the base of the tower was strengthened with an additional anti-ram belt. The belt, made of huge blocks, was about 5 meters high and gave the building the appearance of a pyramid. Inside the tower, a well was preserved, as well as a large grain pit with the remains of wheat, millet and rye.

In addition, the foundations of economic, residential and religious complexes were discovered, in particular, a sanctuary dedicated to the cult of the dolphin, which has no analogues in the Northern Black Sea region.

In Late Antiquity, the Scythians lived here, then, until the 10th century, the Khazars.

Archaeological research is being conducted.

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.

The monastery of wandering dervish monks (from the Turkic - "beggar") of the Sufi order "Mevlevi" (whirling dervishes) is the only monument in Crimea that represents the Sufi movement in Islam.

Sufism (from the Arabic "suf" - coarse woolen fabric, a sign of an ascetic) is a religious and philosophical doctrine about merging with the Almighty in ecstatic enlightenments. Dervishes hold their meetings with chants and dances, during which they fall into mystical ecstasy.

The Monastery is a domed hall with tiny cells located around it. Nearby is the Shukulay-Efendi mosque with a minaret (17th-19th centuries), as well as the former building of a madrasah (theological seminary), which now houses a cultural and ethnographic center and a museum of Crimean Tatar culture.

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.

Donuzlav Wind Power Plant (WPP) is the first wind power plant in Ukraine, the largest in the CIS at the time of its creation.

On a large area in the middle of the Crimean steppe, a geometric forest of tall masts with propellers of electric generators is located.

Built in 1993 under a joint agreement between Ukraine and the USA on the basis of licensed USW56/100 wind turbines. In total, more than 100 windmills with a total capacity of 11 MW have been installed, which is enough to provide electricity to the villages of Myrnyi and Novoozerne.

Nearby is the Myrnyi Wind Power Plant with 177 wind turbines with a total capacity of 21 MW.

Khan's Mosque Dzhuma-Dzhami (Khan-Dzhami, Kezlev Mosque) - the largest and most magnificent Muslim temple in Crimea.

Founded in 1552 under Khan Devlet I Geray. The project of the mosque was commissioned by the khan in Istanbul to the outstanding Greek architect Khodzha Sinan, who built the Blue Mosque in Istanbul and many other magnificent temples.

Dzhuma-Dzhami (Friday Mosque) was named in honor of Good Friday as a cathedral temple in which all Crimean khans announced a firman - obtaining the right to the Crimean Khanate from the Turkish Sultan.

Over the years, the mosque has undergone repeated alterations, but still resembles the silhouette of Istanbul's Hagia Sophia. In 1962-1985, restoration was carried out and two minarets were restored, which collapsed at the beginning of the 19th century as a result of an earthquake.

During the Soviet era, the Dzhuma-Dzhami Mosque housed a museum of atheism. After Ukraine gained independence in 1990, the temple was returned to believers.

The ruins of the fortified ancient city of Kalos-Limen are located on the shore of the present-day Narrow Bay in the Chornomorske.

The settlement of Kalos Limen (in Greek - "Beautiful Harbor") was founded during the period of Greek colonization of the Black Sea region around the 4th century BC. As a result of the constant military threat from the Scythians and Sarmatians, the city was significantly fortified. It was surrounded by a fortress wall with quadrangular towers, and near the bay itself was a 16-meter multi-towered citadel, resembling a pyramid in shape. In the basements, food supplies were stored in case of a siege, and on the upper floors there was a command post and throwing cannons were installed. The building also served as a lighthouse.

Having passed several times from the hands of the Greeks, Scythians and Romans, in the 1st century AD the city fell under the blows of the Sarmatians.

Now this is the territory of the national historical and archaeological reserve "Kalos-Limen". Archaeologists discovered the foundation of the citadel (a modern lighthouse is installed on it) and many other buildings. Access to the territory is free.

A complex of surprisingly beautiful prayer houses - kenases, the main spiritual center of the Crimean Karaites in Yevpatoriia.

Built in the early 19th century after a large community of Karaites moved to Yevpatoria from the cave city of Chufut-Kale.

The complex was designed by the Babovych brothers and consists of the buildings of the Great (Cathedral) Kenas and Small Kenas, a religious school (midrash), a charitable dining room, a farmyard and several elegant courtyards.

In Soviet times, various institutions were located here: a museum of atheism, sports clubs, a local history museum and others.

After Ukraine gained independence, the kenas were returned to believers and opened for tourists to explore - a museum of Karaite culture and a cafe of Karaite cuisine are located here.

Landscape and recreation park "Atlesh" is a very picturesque rocky seashore in the southeastern part of Cape Tarkhankut.

The height of the rocks here reaches 30-40 meters, the coast is full of various bays and grottoes.

Cape Velykiy Atlesh (Big Atlesh) is a forty-meter arch with caves to which steps cut into the rock lead. Here is a fishing enterprise, which is now being repurposed into a modern diving center.

Cape Maliy Atlesh (Small Atlesh) is pierced by a through tunnel almost 100 meters long. Enthusiasts have created an underwater museum of Soviet sculpture "Alley of Leaders" here.

A little further away is the natural pool "Chasha kokhannya" (Cup of Love) - a popular swimming spot.

Due to the easy descent to the sea, there is the largest concentration of "savages" tents here, which in the high season fill the entire coast of the cape.

Thanks to the stunning "photogenic" terrain, Atlesh has repeatedly become a filming location - the films "Amphibian Man", "Pirates of the 20th Century", "People and Dolphins" and others were shot here.

A memorial sign has been installed on the shore in honor of the underwater house-laboratory "Ichthyandr-66", in which the Donetsk aquanauts from the Scorpena club lived and conducted experiments in 1966.

The Yevpatoriian pyramid is a small glass structure that has become a modern business card of the city.

The archeological complex "Northwestern Suburb of the Ancient City of Kerkinitida of the 5th - 2nd centuries BC" is covered with a transparent dome. Most of ancient Kerkinitida was located on the current territory of the sanatorium of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, so only a small fragment of the ruins has survived. The excavation is the remains of the western defensive wall of Kerkinitida, residential premises, a round tower with a slab battlement and an altar, which were located outside the city.

Every year, in the summer, various exhibitions of archeology items from the museum's collections are arranged inside the pyramid, which complement the archaeological complex.

Saky Lake is a giant natural laboratory where natural medicines are produced - healing mud.

In ancient times, the lake was a bay of the Black Sea. Table salt has been mined here for a long time. More than 5,000 years ago, gray and steel-gray silt with layers of salts began to accumulate at the bottom of the lake. They were covered by a layer of salt up to 3.5 meters thick. Black and dark gray silt formed on top of the salt. The top layer is healing mud. It began to be used for medical purposes in 1827, when the first mud clinic in the Russian Empire was founded in Saky.

At present, Lake Saky is divided into two parts by a dam. The western pool serves as a raw material base for a chemical plant, and the eastern one is used for mud treatment by Saky sanatoriums. Medicinal and cosmetic products are made on the basis of mud. The strong salinity of Lake Saky ensures a high density of water, creating the effect of the Dead Sea, where it is impossible to drown.

The park of the Saky resort was artificially created almost a century and a half ago in the middle of the bare steppe.

The resort park is located on the shores of the famous Saky Lake, at the bottom of which there is healing mud. It occupies an area of 50 hectares, has 80 species of trees and shrubs.

On the territory there is an old pumping station with "Krymska" mineral water. In the 1960s, a sculptural group of dinosaurs was installed over the pond next to the pump station.

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.