Attractions of Feodosiia district

The Adzhy-Bey Dzhami Mosque in the village of Dachne near Sudak was built at the end of the 18th century.

With the advent of Soviet power, it was closed. In 1939, the minaret was demolished, and in the late 1940s, the fountain located next to the mosque and of historical value fell into disrepair and was destroyed, since the water supply to it was carried out by ceramic pipes from the Ay-Heorhiy spring. The pipes were laid by Austro-Hungarian prisoners of war during the First World War.

After the closure of the Adzhy-Bey Dzhami Mosque, a club was located in its premises, in the period after the Second World War the building was adapted as a dormitory, and later it stood empty and abandoned.

After Ukraine gained Independence and the mass return of the Crimean Tatar people to the peninsula in the early 1990s, the mosque regained the status of a religious building. Through the efforts of the local Muslim community, the Adzhy-Bey Dzhami began to be gradually restored and within a few years a new minaret was built.

The old Armenian fountain is located in Feodosiia at the foot of Mount Mithridates. It was built in 1586 on the border of the Armenian and Karaite quarters of the city.

The prism-shaped structure is made of rubble and hewn stone, cemented with lime solution. The eastern side is decorated with a pointed niche and three carved rosettes. A marble slab with an inscription in Armenian and the date of construction of the fountain is located above the fountain.

Not far from here was the house where the famous Ukrainian artist of Armenian origin Ivan Ayvazovskyi was born (destroyed during the Second World War).

The Armenian fountain in Feodosiia is included in the architectural monuments of Ukraine.

Cape Kapchyk is the most memorable element of the Novyi Svit landscape. Behind it, the pointed peak of Mount Khoba-Kaya, separated from Kapchyk by the Blue Bay, can be seen.

From Novyi Svit, you can take a path to the rocky slope of Cape Kapchyk. There is a 77-meter-long Through Grotto that pierces the cape, leading to the impassable area of the Blue Bay. Unlike many Crimean caves, underground water did not participate in the formation of the Through Cave. The deep cracks and the wedge-shaped profile of the cave suggest that the high underground gallery appeared as a result of uneven movement of Cape Kapchyk limestone along several faults.

The Chaban-Kale tower (Choban-Kule) is the ruins of the Genoese castle of Tasili, which was owned by three brothers from the Guasco family: Andreolo, Teodoro and Demetrio. The brothers became famous for their cruelty, waywardness and conflicts with the Genoese authorities of neighboring Soldai (Sudak).

The ruins of one of the towers of the castle, which the Tatars nicknamed Chaban-Kale ("shepherd's tower" in Tatar) have been preserved on Cape Bashtovy. The remains of defensive walls can be seen on the eastern side.

The cape offers a wonderful view of Meganom and Ayudag.

Cape Chameleon, which separates Tykha Bay from Koktebel Bay, got its name not so much because of its shape, but because of its ability to change color depending on the position of the sun, weather, lighting and season.

On modern maps, the cape is often called Tabirnyi, although there are no camps nearby. The original name of the cape is Toprak-Kaya or Toprakh-Kaya, which in Turkic means "mud rock" or "earthen rock".

Cape Chameleon has been known for a long time: its image is on many Italian sea maps of the 14th - 15th centuries, and there are descriptions of it in old Russian lotions.

The Genoese fortress in Sudak is one of the best-preserved medieval fortresses in Crimea, a branch of the "Sofiya Kyivska" nature reserve in Kyiv.

The official date of the start of construction is 1371, but the Genoese began to build their fortress on the basis of an older fortification, which was laid by the Byzantines in the VI-X centuries (the oldest remains were found on the southern slope).

The Genoese fortress complex includes 20 towers, a barbican, a gate, a Christian temple, a mosque, barracks and other premises. In the complex of the second tier stands out the Consular tower-donjon, where the ruler of the city lived.

The legend of the daughter of the ruler of Suhdeya, who committed suicide by refusing to become the wife of a Pontic commander, is associated with the highest Watchtower (Divocha) tower. The round tower probably survived from Byzantine times. An exposition on the history of the Sudak Fortress has been opened in the premises of the mosque.

The Genoese fortress Kafa is located in the northern part of Feodosiia, on the shore of the bay.

Since the 1340s, it has been the citadel of the city fortifications of medieval Kafa - the center of the Genoese colonies of the Northern Black Sea. The eleven-meter-high walls were fortified with 14 towers, and 6 gates led inside.

Two towers have been preserved - Crisco (Christ) and Clement VI with adjacent walls, as well as pylons of the great gate. The fortress is in poor condition, access is free.

At the foot of Castle Mountain is the Temple Valley, where several ancient basilicas have been preserved: the Church of Saint George, the Church of John the Baptist (now the Iver Icon of the Mother of God), the Church of Staint Stephen and others.

Karadag (Kara-Dag, Black Mountain) is the oldest volcano in Ukraine (150-170 million years).

It is unique with rare specimens of flora and fauna (10,000 species of plants, 1,632 species of butterflies, 199 species of birds), as well as fantastic relief (rocks Devil's Finger, Gingerbread Horse, Falcon, Pyramid, King, World and others).

The Karadaz nature reserve is one of the cleanest and most inaccessible reserves in Crimea (guarded by the military, entrance only with a tour from the Biostation in the village of Kurortne).

During a sea excursion, you can visit numerous bays, grottoes and the basalt rock "Golden Gate" - one of the symbols of Crimea. There is a legend about the "Karadag monster" that lives in the sea at the foot of the massif.

The picturesque Mount Karaul-Oba protects the bays and juniper groves of the Novyi Svit from the west.

The name is translated from Crimean Tatar as "watchman's mountain" - from here you can see the entire coast from Cape Meganom to Mount Ayu-Dag. At the top, the famous "Holitsyn's chair" is cut out of stone, sitting in it you can admire the views of the Novyi Svit amphitheater and three colorful bays: Rozbiynytska, Blue and Green.

The ancient Tavr sanctuary can be reached by spiral stairs cut in the stone through the "Adam's bed" gorge. At the western end are the remains of the walls and the houses of the ancient fortress built by the Bosporan king Asander.

At the foot of Mount Karaul-Oba is the "Royal Beach" with crystal-clear transparent blue water.

The Mosque of Khan Uzbek in Staryi Krym is the oldest Crimean mosque, built in 1314 under the Horde Khan Uzbek (the name and date are carved on the facade).

Under Khan Mengli Giray, it became a cathedral.

The interior is divided by three pairs of octagonal columns with stalactite capitals into three naves, longitudinally connected by pointed arches.

Currently, the Mosque of Khan Uzbek is operational. Nearby is a madrasah - a Muslim religious school.

The ruins of the ancient Kutlak fortress, also known as the Asandra or Afineon fortress, are located on the western edge of Mount Karaul-Oba, which has the appearance of a high promontory with steep slopes above the Kutlak Bay.

The fortification was built in the 1st century BC by the Bosporan king Asander, the son of Mithridates VI Eupator. It was probably the westernmost outpost of the Bosporan kingdom, which controlled the surrounding Tauro-Scythians and opposed sea piracy of the barbarians.

The pentagonal fortress with an area of 0.25 hectares had rectangular towers at the corners, and the northwestern tower was three-walled, and the eastern, the largest (10.7 by 8.25 meters) - two-chambered. The garrison, numbering about 100 people, was housed in barracks along the northeastern and southeastern curtains. The fortress had its own forge.

About 500 stone cores for slings and throwing machines, large iron arrowheads, axes and ceramics stand out among the archaeological finds.

The ruins of the former port area of the city of Sudak are near the sea under Castle Hill.

The defensive tower of Frederiko Astahver (Portova) has been preserved.

The small domed church of the Twelve Apostles is located next to it. At first it was Greco-Byzantine. It was destroyed twice and rebuilt again, the second time as an Armenian church. The walls of the temple were decorated with an interesting fresco painting depicting a secret supper (now the outlines of the figures are indistinct).

Cape Meganom is the sunniest point of Crimea, a popular place for "wild" recreation and diving.

The cape is located between Sudak and Koktebel. The nearest settlement is Soniachna Dolyna.

Meganom is a long limestone rock with many traces of erosion that form bizarre shapes.

The lighthouse (early 20th century) is visible from the New World. The modern Buddhist sanctuary was built in the open air in 1992.

Mount Mithridates in Feodosiia is the highest point of the old city (55 meters). It is one of the spurs of the Tepe-Oba mountain range.

In ancient times, one of the city's fortifications was located here - the Foma Tower, the ruins of which have survived to this day.

The mountain was named by the artist Ivan Aivazovsky in honor of the Pontic king Mithridates IV Yevpator. At his own expense, he built a museum of antiquity in the form of an ancient temple on the top (destroyed during the Second World War, restoration is planned).

The observation deck on Mount Mithridates is open for City Day in 2012. From here there is a view of the entire Bay of Feodosiia and most of the city. Right under the mountain - the church of Saint Sarkis and the port; on the right - a view of the old city: the Kafa fortress, the church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God of Iver; on the left - residential buildings.

The Mufti-Dzhami Cathedral Mosque was built in Feodosia in 1623-1637 during the reign of Sultan Murad-Khan III.

In appearance, it resembles the mosque of Istanbul. Made of rubble and brick, it is a square with an area of ​​40 square meters. The temple has three entrances: northern, western and eastern. Through the door in the western wall you can climb to the octagonal minaret, made of hewn limestone.

After the capture of Crimea by Russia in the 18th century, the mosque building was transferred to Armenian Catholics - it housed the Armenian Catholic Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

In 1975, the mosque was restored.

After Ukraine gained independence, in 1990, the Mufti-Dzhami mosque building was returned to the Muslim community. Since 1998, prayers have been held there every Friday.