Most Interesting Mountains in Crimea

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Ay-Petri
What is Ay-Petri? It is hard to answer this question shortly. Somebody tells about the beauty of the sunrise. Alpinists and climbers, tourists and excursionists, speleologists and skiers will tell something different about this mountain.
You can ascend on Ay-Petri cliffs, visit 3 karst caves equipped for tourists, taste Tatar food on the “Eastern bazaar”.
Ay-Petri is a peak and large mountain massif with area of more than 300 square kilometers, one of the mesas along the Southern Coast which form the Main Ridge of Crimean mountains. Ay-Petri massif stretches from east to west on 25 km. The distance between its southern edge and northern foothills is more than 13 km. But most of the tourists remember only one of its peaks with exotic stone teeth which are pushed to the South. It has become a symbol of the Southern coast. The altitude of this mountain is 1234 m.


Au-Dag (Bear Mountain) near Gurzuf.
Narrow paths go to its summit. Au-Dag is a unique place for archeologists. Here they found the ruins of 7 christian churches, built on the place of earlier pagan temples. The mountain is 572 m high, its length is 2.5 km. It appeared in middle-Jurassic stage of geological history, that was about 160 million years ago. Hot magma (molten rock that sometimes forms beneath the surface of the earth) hardened in the sedimentary rocks. On the top of the mountain there was a fortress. In spring Au-Dag is covered by flowers of peony and lily of the valley. Ascent takes 1.5-2 hours. Slopes in the sea side are rocky, with many bays.

Botkinskaya path (or Health path) is situated above Yalta in the mountains. Enjoy pine-tree forests with junipers, curative air and magnificent views.
It starts near Uchan-Su waterfall, ascends on Stavri-Kaya cliff (Cliff with a cross on it) and descends to Fairy-Tale Glade (Polyana Skazok) entertainment center where you can visit a zoo and museum of wooden sculptures.
Stavri-Kaya cliff has a cave where speleo gear is needed.
In spring there are beautiful waterfalls on this path.
From Botkinskaya path you can ascend to the plateau if you take Taraktash path or Stavrikayskaya path.

Uchan-Su waterfall is full-flowing in spring and after the rains, and in summer there is almost no water. It is the highest in Ukraine (98 m). It is twice higher than Niagara. Name Uchan-Su means “Flying water” from Turkic. In the middle of the waterfall, between the cascades there is a water intake (a small box with a sculpture of eagle). Water comes by a wide pipe to the Mogabi reservoir. In cold winters the waterfall freezes and turns into one big icicle which hangs down from the ledge to its bottom. In 80-th years of the past century the alpinist (“Fantik”, Yu. Lishaev) firstly ascended the frozen waterfall. He noticed that it consists of many separate ice tubes filled with water. Such construction is unsafe and can fall any moment.

“The valley of Ghosts” is situated on the slopes of Demerdzhi Mountain near Alushta city. Here you can see rock formations made by erosion. Here, natures fantasy and human fantasy meet. You will see unique rock formations resembling animals, birds, people, towers, and many other things, limited only by your imagination. Visit the Medieval Fortification “Funa”.

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