Attractions of Bakhchysarai district

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".

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 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 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.

The late antique Ust-Alma Necropolis is located one kilometer from the village of Pishchane, in the lower reaches of the Alma River (a special self-colored pebble is found in the sediments of the mouth).

Here passed the sea route from Chersonesos (Sevastopol) to Kerkinitida (Yevpatoriia) and further - to Olbia (Dnipro-Buh estuary).

The remains of an earthen rampart and a ditch on the high seashore have been preserved, several residential buildings and a burial ground have been investigated.

Visiting is free.