Attractions of Kerch district

The ruins of the Turkish fortress Arabat, which gave its name to the entire Arabat arrow, are located near the spit on the Crimean side, next to the salt industry.

The name translates as "suburb".

The Arabat Fortress was built on a narrow sandy strip between the Arabat Bay and Sivash after the Turks invaded the Crimean Peninsula in 1475. It is mentioned for the first time in the 17th century. There was a moat in front of the fortress walls, and an earthen rampart behind it. The serfs with five bastions and fortress walls had several rows of loopholes in which guns of different power were installed, which made it possible to maintain a circular defense.

In 1771, during the Russian-Turkish war, it was stormed by Russian troops. The fortification retained its strategic importance for a long time - it was used during the Crimean campaign, the Soviet-Ukrainian war, and the Second World War.

The state nature reserve near Cape Kazantip on the shores of the Azov Sea.

The name is translated from Turkic as "bottom of the cauldron". It is covered with steppes that break off to the sea with limestone rocks.

Cape Kazantip gave its name to the international festival of dance music "Kazantip".

A popular place for windsurfing and wild recreation.

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.

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".

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.

Regional landscape park "General's Beaches" to the east of Kazantyp is also called "Coast of 1000 Bays".

Along the coast of the Azov Sea, along the northern edge of the Karalar steppe, a wild and little-visited recreation area stretched for almost 30 kilometers from the village of Zolote to the village of Kurortne. The coastline is cut by steep escarpments, rock formations and open bays with beaches where the water warms up well in the summer. Here you can see shallow grottoes, arched vaults created over the centuries by the sun, wind and water.

Between Zoloty and Kurortny, along the coastal cliffs, there is a winding path that allows you to reach all the General beaches.

From 1947 to 1972, the Karalar Steppe was home to a military training ground for aerial support of tests of nuclear and hydrogen weapons of the USSR Air Force, where radioactive materials were buried. The territory was closed to visitors, but the highest military ranks often rested in the picturesque bays, hence the name "General's Beaches".

Even in the high season, there are not many vacationers here, and nature has remained practically untouched. Some bays have fresh water springs.

The Melek-Chesme Barrow is a monument of funerary architecture of the heyday of the Bosporan kingdom.

It got its name from the river that flows nearby - Melek-Chesma, which means "Royal River" in Turkic.

The Melek-Chesme mound consists of a burial chamber with a pyramidal vault and a corridor (dromos) leading to it, made of smoothly hewn blocks. It is considered to be the most technically and artistically advanced among the Bosporus concession crypts.

The most valuable finds: a twisted gold hryvnia with figures of equestrian Scythians on the ends, a gold cup, rich pendants with medallions depicting the head of Athena in a helmet, a famous vase made of electro (an alloy of gold and silver) with scenes from Scythian life, and others. The treasures were taken to the Russian Hermitage.

The Bulhanak hilly field with mud volcanoes is located 5 kilometers north of Kerch, near the village of Bondarenkove (formerly Bulhanak).

Bulganak volcanoes are located in a basin with an area of 3 square kilometers. The most powerful in the Bulhanak group is the Andrusov volcano, or, as it is also called, the Andrusov hill. The crater of this hill reaches 50 meters in diameter, but there are also many small hills there. All of them are constantly raging, throwing out dirt and gas. And in the center of this breathing basin is a lake that constantly changes its size and contours.

The ruins of the ancient city of Panticapaeum are located on the top and slopes of Mount Mithridates in the center of modern Kerch.

Panticapaeum was founded by the Greeks from Miletus, until the 6th century it remained the capital of the Bosporus kingdom. The Pontic emperor Mithridates VI Eupator, who fought against the expansion of Rome, spent the last years of his life here. In 63, he committed suicide in the Panticapaean citadel, having learned that his son Pharnak II was in command of the forces besieging it.

The city occupied an area of about 100 hectares, the ruins of the magnificent building of the temple of Apollo Ietra and other buildings have been preserved (they are being excavated). Access is free.

The Great Mithridates Stairs (1833-1840), consisting of 428 steps, lead to the top of the mountain from the city center.

Turkish Shaft is the name of one of the oldest defensive structures on the territory of Ukraine.

According to the legend described by Herodotus, the earthen Shaft crossing the entire eastern edge of the Crimea was built by Scythian slaves who went on a long military campaign, fearing retribution for cohabiting with Scythian wives. The rampart was probably built by the Cimmerians, which is why experts call it the Cimmerian rampart (also Akkosiv or Uzunlarsky).

The length of the Turkish wall reached 32 kilometers, at the base was a stone embankment. It runs from the northwestern edge of the village of Novovidradne past the Kerch Reservoir, crosses the E-97 highway 3 kilometers from the village of Hornostaivka, descends past Lake Marfivske to Lake Uzunlarske.

From the northern edge of the Turkish Wall, a wonderful view of the village of Novovidradne and the coast of the Sea of Azov opens up.

The Turkish fortress of Yeni-Kale is located in the narrowest part of the Kerch Strait in the northeastern part of the city.

The name in Turkish means New Fortress. Yeni-Kale could accommodate up to 12 thousand soldiers, controlled the passage of ships between the Azov and Black Seas, and even served as the residence of the Turkish Pasha.

It was built in several tiers, walls and powerful bastions surrounded the moat on three sides. A ceramic underground aqueduct from a source several kilometers away was used for water supply.

In 1771, the Yeni-Kale fortress was surrendered to Russian troops without a fight. The graceful South-Western bastion above the sea is best preserved. Access is free.