Attractions of Yalta district

Defense structures of the Aluston fortress, built on the shore of a convenient bay by the Byzantines in the 6th century by order of the Byzantine emperor Yustynian I.

The Goth garrison controlled the sea trade route from here and monitored order in the surroundings.

In the 10th century, the fortress was destroyed, but in 1382 it was restored by the Genoese, who bought these lands from the Crimean Khan. The fortification in the shape of an irregular quadrangle consisted of a citadel and three towers that protected the city from the most accessible eastern side. Most of the structures were destroyed by the attack of the Turkish fleet in 1475, but some fragments can still be seen.

A round (Genoese) tower with a height of 16 meters closed the defensive line from the south (it is located on the 15th Kvitnya Street). In the center of the north-eastern defensive line was the Square Tower (3 Volodarskoho Street). The third hexagonal tower has not survived.

Parts of the defensive walls are now used as a basis for nondescript modern buildings. Yuhar Dzhami mosque (XIX century) has been restored on the territory of the fortress.

Mount Ayu-Dag, which protrudes into the sea between Pertenit and Hurzuf, is the most famous relief of Crimea.

This 577-meter-high extinct volcano was formed about 150 million years ago by the injection of magma into faults in the earth's crust.

The name Ayu-Dag is translated from Turkic as "Bear-Mountain", which is explained by the characteristic shape that resembles the back of a bear that has lowered its head into the water. According to legend, Allah turned into a mountain the Great Bear-Avenger, who refused to destroy the settlement of unruly jinn in the Partenite Valley.

The top and slopes of Mount Ayu-Dag are covered with deciduous forest, foxes, badgers, stone martens, hedgehogs, hares, squirrels, and bats are found here. The ruins of medieval buildings have been preserved, which testify to the existence of a fortified settlement.

At present, Mount Ayu-Dag is a landscape reserve, excursions are conducted with visits to archaeological monuments.

The rocky Sarych cape, 5 kilometers west of Foros, is the southernmost point of Ukraine and Crimea.

It is formed by the humped slope of a spur of Baidarska Yaila, which descends in the southern direction and is covered with rare wheels.

In 1898, a navigation lighthouse was built on the edge of Cape Sarych.

Currently, the southern part of the cape around the lighthouse is densely built up with private cottages, access to the water is limited.

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.

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.

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 medieval fortress of Funa is located on a rocky hill at the foot of Mount Demerdzhi in Crimea.

The name Funa means "smoky" in Greek. Previously, Mount Demerdzhi, which is often shrouded in fog, was also called Funa.

The fortress has been known since 1384 as the eastern outpost of the Mangup Principality of Feodoro. She controlled the trade route that led from Horzuvit (Hurzuf) and Aluston (Alushta) to the steppe Crimea.

During the reconstruction carried out in 1459, a 15-meter rectangular donjon tower was built. An important place in the architectural ensemble was occupied by the church of Saint Theodore Stratilatus, the ruins of which were best preserved after the destruction of the fortress by the Turks in 1475.

In the low season, access to the object is free, in the high season a small entrance fee is introduced.

The ruins of the medieval seaside Byzantine and Genoese fortress Horzuvity on the rock of Genevez Kaya dominate the small bay in Hurzuf.

The first Byzantine fortification was built in the VI-VIII centuries by Emperor Justinian. The fortress consisted of a small citadel and an outer defensive belt that protected the part of the settlement adjacent to the cliff. It controlled the Hurzuf Bay, where ships could moor, as well as the important pass of the Hurzuf Saddle.

After the Khazar invasion of the 8th-10th centuries, the Horzuvity fortress was restored as the residence of local feudal lords, and in the 14th century it passed into the hands of the Genoese.

In 1475, when the Crimea was captured by the Ottoman Turks, the fortress was completely destroyed and was never rebuilt. In the 18th century, academician Peter-Simon Pallas studied and described the ruins. Until the middle of the 20th century, only the remains of a defensive wall with a gate, the foundations of a Byzantine basilica, a rectangular tower and residential buildings of the 14th-15th centuries, as well as an impressive tunnel cut into the rock for observing the sea, were preserved.

Now the ruins are located on the territory of Artek, next to which is located the "Skelny" hotel.

Mount Ilyas-Kaya is the highest massif of Baidarska Yayla (682 meters). It closes the Laspin basin from the east. Translated from Crimean Tatar - Ilya's rock.

A fortified monastery was located almost at the very top of the Ilyas-Kaya mountain in the 10th-13th centuries. The rock on which the fortification is located is impregnable from the north, south and west. You can climb to its top only by a steep eastern slope. From this side, the access to the top was blocked by a line of fortress wall, made of logs on a lime solution, more than 50 meters long. Currently, it is almost completely destroyed and can be traced on the slope in the form of collapsed stones. The largest parameters of the fortress site are 300 by 100 meters.

In 1966, the church of Saint Ilya of the 9th-10th centuries was excavated on Ilyas-Kaya. It is distinguished by the original stepped composition of the internal space: the vestibule, the middle nave, and the altar are elevated one above the other, forming three levels.

The volcanic rock above the sea (120 meters), bearing the ancient name Iphigenia, is a symbol of the village of Berehove (Kastropol).

The myth about Iphigenia, the daughter of the Hellenic king Agamemnon, a participant in the Trojan War, is connected with her. Iphigenia was a priestess of the goddess Artemis in Tauris, and, according to legend, sacrificed sailors who happened to be here, throwing them into the sea from a cliff (this plot is used in the classic tragedy of Euripides "Iphigenia in Tauris").

Due to its ancient age and picturesque appearance, the rock has been declared a natural monument and is under state protection.

The ruins of the ancient Roman fortress Kharaks on Cape Ai-Todor are located on the territory of the "Dnipro" sanatorium in Haspra.

It was one of the fortified points of the Roman troops that appeared in Tavria in 63-66. The fortress controlled navigation near the coast of Crimea, where the sea route from Bosporus and Chersonesus to Sinope and Trebizond passed.

In 244, after the attack of the Goths, the Roman troops were evacuated from Kharaks, and the fortress was destroyed. Archaeological research began in the 19th century at the initiative of Grand Duke Heorhiy Mykhaylovych Romanov, who owned the Ai-Todor estate.

Currently, the object is open for visits by organized groups of tourists.

Laspinskiy Pass in Crimea is the highest point of the Sevastopol-Yalta highway (335 meters).

There is a large rock on the pass named after the famous writer and talented highway engineer Mykola Garin-Mykhaylovsky, whose research and calculations were used in the construction of the road through the pass.

There is an observation deck on the rock, which offers a wonderful view of Batiliman and Laspi bays, as well as Cape Ayia.

The Laspinskiy Pass acquired great transport importance after the completion of the new Sevastopol - Yalta highway in 1972.

In 2003, a church-chapel of the Nativity of Christ was built on the pass.

Mount Ai-Petri is a mountain peak of the Ai-Petri mountain range, the most famous Crimean mountain (1234 meters), the territory of the Yalta Mining and Forest Reserve.

It rises above Alupka and Koreiz. The white teeth that form the unique silhouette of Mount Ai-Petri consist of four large (12-15 meters high) and a number of small vertical peaks that were formed during the weathering of heterogeneous reef limestones.

Until the 15th century, the Byzantine church of Saint Peter, from which the name comes, was located on the top of Ai-Petri mountain.

A high-altitude weather station, founded in 1895, is located here, as well as the Ai-Petri meridian - a metal globe on a granite base.

The viewing platforms offer the largest panorama of the Black Sea coast of Yalta.

Tourists arriving on the mountain are served by a semi-legal business: excursions to the "Yaltynska" and "Tryochochka" caves, horseback riding, and teahouses with Tatar cuisine. Skiing infrastructure is being developed.

The cable car "Mishor - Ai-Petri" with the longest unsupported span in Europe was built on Ai-Petri. A road with a steep serpentine leads from Yalta, further to Bakhchysarai.

One of the most characteristic and picturesque landscape sights of Crimea is a mountain that resembles a silhouette of a cat ready to jump.

It is located between Simeiz and Katsiveli, on the territory of the Simeiz-Alupka amphitheater-like forest landscape. The name comes from the Tatar Kosh-kai - Falcon Mountain. This large limestone massif with a height of 254 meters was formed about a million years ago, breaking away from the Yalin ridge of the Main Crimean Ridge and gradually moving down the slope to the sea.

In ancient times, this natural barrier that separated the South Bank was supplemented in gaps by a stone wall. On the plateau of Mount Cat, the remains of the Tavr settlement Limen-Isar (VIII-I centuries BC) with fragments of buildings and defensive walls, as well as a large necropolis consisting of a hundred dolmen tombs (so-called "Tavr boxes"), were discovered.

In the 1960s, the South Coast Highway was built through the ridge of Mount Cat, which changed the natural landscape. The accumulation of stones to the southwest of the mountain is closed by the picturesque Krylo Lebeda rock, which is popular with climbers.

Mount Kastel, 439 meters high, is located on the southern outskirts of Alushta, behind Professor's Corner.

The dome is covered with a forest canopy, but chaos has formed on the eastern slope of the mountain - stone blocks, sometimes reaching 3-5 meters in diameter.

The name is related to the fact that in ancient times there was a fortress (Greek - "kastel") on the top of the mountain, the remains of which have been preserved on the slopes.

According to legend, this fortress served as the last refuge of Queen Feodora, the ruler of ancient Sugdaya. After the capture of the capital of the principality by the Genoese, Feodora hid in Castel, where she, devoted to her brother, died in a battle with enemies.