The origin of the Crimean mountains is brief. Crimean mountains (Mountain Crimea)

The mountains on the Crimean peninsula are quite different. Some of them are scenic and some are very tall and dangerous. In all cases, each of them has its own unique flavor.

The mountains of Crimea do not cease to be studied by scientists today. However, it has long been known that they are formed by three ridges stretching in parallel in the direction from northeast to southwest. Between them are two vast picturesque valleys.

The article provides more detailed information about some of the most remarkable mountains of Crimea: photos, names, descriptions, Interesting Facts etc.

General information about Crimea

Two natural factors, which are quite important for tourism, coexist here: a clean and warm sea, unique and picturesque mountains... The second is suitable for romantic hiking and climbing, as well as for practicing various winter sports. Some mountainous areas have the status of nature reserves, along which a variety of tourist routes for climbers are laid. Other mountains are interesting for lovers of antiquity, as they have the remains of the ruins of ancient fortifications, and some are simply picturesque and equipped with convenient viewing platforms.

In any case, almost all peaks offer a magnificent view of the coast and the sea.

Characteristics of the mountain system

The entire mountain system occupies the south and southeast of the peninsula, and it is called the Crimean Mountains. The system, as noted above, was formed by three mountain ranges. They stretch from Feodosia (Cape of St. Elijah) to Balaklava (Cape Aya). It is 160 kilometers long and about 50 kilometers wide. The inner ridge is 750 meters high. It is represented by several cuestas, which smoothly rise to 350 meters. The highest point of the mountains is located on the main ridge stretching along the southern coast of Crimea. This mountain South Crimea called Roman-Kosh. It rises to a height of 1545 meters and is located on Babugan-yaila (the highest massif of the Crimean mountains).

In general, there are many mountains in Crimea. Even during the whole vacation it is impossible to see them all. There is a big plus, which is a feature of these places - no matter where the seaside resort is located, there is always a picturesque hill or mountain on the Crimean coast where you can walk or go on an excursion.

A little about the origin of the Crimean mountains

If the mountains of the Crimea are considered in geological terms, then it can be noted that the Main Ridge is an uplifted block with several faults on the north side. A similar structure was formed in the early Cretaceous period, after other synclinal (hollow) troughs closed in the southern part of the peninsula, and the surface of the Crimea rose. All this gave the landscape its present shape. Basically, the mountains are composed of sedimentary rocks with an age of 180-200 million years. Moreover, they are distributed rather unevenly. At the very bottom, there are quartzite sandstones and clay shales, crumpled into folds, and further above there are conglomerates, igneous rocks and layers of clay and sandstone. Above, there are Upper Jurassic limestones, conglomerates, clay and sandstones.

In geological terms, the Crimean Mountains represent a section of the Alpine folded region of Europe.

The most famous mountains

The following mountains of Crimea are of particular interest to tourists:

Ak-Kaya (valley of the Biyuk-Karasu river near the village of Belaya).
Bakatash (Dachnoe village).
Taraktash (between the village of Kamenka and Sudak).
Angarsk pass (after the other Angar-Bogaz).
Rock of Dating (between the settlements of Zelenogorye and Privetnoye).
Pass Baydarskiye Vorota (in Foros).
Ai-Georgy (in the Sun Valley).
Cape Plaka (Utes village).
The Diva Rock and the Cat-Mountain (near Simeiz).
Valley of ghosts (near Alushta).
Paragilmen (near the village of Old Mayak).
Rock Red Stone (in Gurzuf).
Ayu-Dag (or Bear Mountain in Crimea - the most famous in the whole world).
Roman-kosh (opposite the Ayu-Dag mountain).
Ai-Petri (Alupka-Koreiz).
Sokol (between the settlements Novy Svet and Sudak).
Demerdzhi (near Alushta).
Kara-Dag (near the village of Koktebel).
Meganom (Sudak-Sun Valley).

All these mountains, massifs and rocks have their own separate history. Below are the most unique, vibrant and famous ones.

The highest mountain of Crimea

This peak is part of the huge Babugan-Yaila massif, which is part of the Crimean nature reserve. This is Roman-Kosh. Some geologists are of the opinion that this mountain is a volcano, but not fully formed.

Its name is translated among the inhabitants of the peninsula in different ways. According to one version, it has Indo-Aryan roots and its meaning is “upper halt”. Another version is much simpler - in translation from the language of the Crimean Tatars it means "forest pasture".

Today, climbing to the top of Roman-Kosh is a rather difficult matter. And this is due to the fact that it is located in the Crimean nature reserve. Unaccompanied tourists are not allowed to enter it. Only official bus and car excursions with a gamekeeper are allowed here. Otherwise, foresters can send back and issue an administrative fine in Alushta.

It should be noted that from the height of Roman-Kosh, stunning landscapes open in all directions.

North and South Demerdzhi

Mount Demerdzhi (Crimea) is a large mountain range located near Alushta. It has two peaks: North (1356 m), South (1239 meters). The difference in height is almost 100 meters, but the one below is more popular.

Southern Demerdzhi is composed of limestones that have been exposed to rains and winds for thousands of years. Thanks to this, the rocks located at the top and at the foot have acquired the most incredible outlines and shapes, reminiscent of people and animals.

From the Crimean Tatar language the name is translated as "blacksmith", but even earlier the mountain was called Funa, which means "smoking". The first name remained at the fortress built at the foot. Also near Demerdzhi was the village of Luchistoe, which until the middle of the 20th century bore the name of the same name with the mountain. After a violent collapse, this settlement was moved further from the massif.

South Demerdzhi attracts with its Valley of Ghosts, views of Chatyr-Dag, Lunnaya Polyana, etc.

The Legend of Demerdzhi

A very touching legend tells that once the nomads conquered the Funa fortress. They set up a smithy on the mountain, in which local village men were forced to work. And all the work was supervised by a blacksmith with a black beard.

Once, a girl named Maria decided to intercede for the men and asked that the workers be released. The head blacksmith agreed with the condition that she marry him. When the girl refused, the angry blacksmith killed her, and at that moment the mountain shook, turning everyone who was on it into stone statues.

In Crimea, this one of the most beautiful mountains ranks fifth in height (1234 meters). It is known to almost every tourist who has visited this peninsula. It is at an altitude of 1234 meters that tourists find themselves, disembarking from the cable car. The construction of this crossing began in 1967 and lasted 20 years. It should be noted that Miskhor-Ai-Petri is a cable car that has one of the longest unsupported spans in Europe.

Ai-Petri means “Saint Peter” in translation. One legend about a young man and his girlfriend is connected with this name. The young man's name was Peter. The parents were against their marriage, and the young people, having climbed the mountain, decided to die together, throwing themselves from a height. However, there was no platform suitable for both of them, so the young man had to jump first. At that moment, his girlfriend cried out “Saint Peter!” In fright, after which she changed her mind to settle scores with her life.

A must-see point for tourists is the observation deck on the Zubtsy. These rocks have been a natural monument since 1947, and the entire southern coast of the peninsula can be seen from its observation deck.

There are 3 caves on Ai-Petri: Yalta, Trekhglazka and Geofizicheskaya. It should be noted that the air temperature in them never rises above +12 degrees.

Ayu-Dag, covered with legends

Bear Mountain in Crimea (see photo in the article) is familiar to many for its bizarre appearance, and the fact that on one of its mighty sides, it sheltered the famous camp "Artek" in the resort Gurzuf.

This huge hill is located between Partenit and Gurzuf. It is perfectly visible from many places of the Crimean coast, its appearance is easily recognizable in all photos.

This mountain is interesting for both natural and man-made sights. You can find here such minerals as pyrite, tourmaline, vesuvian and amethyst. The stands on the Red Square of Moscow are faced with gabbro-diabase from these places. There are also crystals of lead luster, which appears as a result of volcanic processes.

Geologists put forward the assumption that this massif is located directly above a large fault in the earth's crust. Transverse deep cracks testify to this.

The forests covering the mountain are home to pistachios, strawberries and other rare plants, which can be up to several hundred years old. Crocuses, snowdrops, orchids and wild gladioli bloom here in spring and summer. "Bear's nose" is the only place where Crimean forest cabbage grows. Diverse and animal world in these places (16 species are listed in the Red Book).

The archeology of Bear Mountain is also rich. The remains of Taurus settlements, Christian and pagan temples were found on it, among which there are structures decorated with statues of Zeus and other Greek gods. Here you can see both the fortress walls and the burial ground of Christians. The descendants of the Scythians, Alans and Byzantines lived in these places. The massif was densely populated until the 15th century, but later people no longer settled here. Scientists explain this by the earthquake that occurred here, which blocked the flow of drinking water to these places.

Some interesting facts about Crimea

A hundred years ago, the peninsula was called Tavrida. And as part of the Russian Empire, Crimea was called the Tavricheskaya province.
Archaeologists in the mountains of Crimea, in the Kiik-Koba cave, found traces of the camp of the Neanderthals.
Due to the availability of various climatic zones the peninsula is home to many endemic plant and animal species. A total of 240 species of such plants grow in Crimea.
The peninsula is famous for the longest trolleybus route on the planet. The trolleybus runs between Simferopol and Yalta, and the length of this route is 86 km.
In Crimea, there is a solar-powered power plant, which, according to data for 2014, is the most powerful. It was built in the village of Perovo by the Austrians in 2011.
The films Farewell of the Slav and Treasure Island were filmed in Malorechenskoye, and the legendary Prisoner of the Caucasus - in the vicinity of Demerdzhi.

In the south-west, the rock juts out into the forest as a ledge: after going around it and moving to the south, we come across the largest cave. In front of it there is a natural terrace, at the left end of which there is an entrance in the form of a door: opposite the entrance there is a ledge with a niche, above them, on both sides, there are two threadlike recesses. According to Borovko, "some take it for a cave temple, but not a Christian one." Analyzes Borovko and the main hypotheses about the origin of the caves. The first ascribes their formation to "the people of deep antiquity", to the "troglodytes" of Strabo: this point of view was expressed by Dubois de Montpere, D. Strukov, G. Karaulov. Others attribute the crypts to Christians who were fleeing persecution, to icon-worshipers (Pallas and others). According to the third hypothesis, expressed by the German scientist Thunman in 1777, Tepe-Kermen is a cemetery of deep antiquity. "Tepe-Kermen, that is, the castle of a mountain peak," he wrote, "is a high, detached mountain in the form of a sugar loaf ... on the top of which you can still see the remains of a fortress, apparently of the deepest antiquity. The entire rock is covered with countless grottoes and caves, arranged in a special order, almost like the columbariums of the ancients. One might think that their purpose was to serve as burial places. "

Interestingly, Thunman mentions the ruins of a fortress at the top. Today, only the remains of the "beds" of the battle wall speak of its existence, which, together with the upper marches of the road carved into the rock, testify to a well-thought-out system of fortifications, quite typical for the early medieval fortresses of the Inner ridge - Eski-Kermen, Mangup (at Cape Teshkli-Burun), etc. In this case, one can consider the caves above the upper march of the road as "cave casemates" that were part of the defense system, and Tepe-Kermen itself as a feudal castle of the early Middle Ages, possibly arising on the territory of a fortified shelter, with an adjoining rural settlement, to which belonged to the caves of the eastern and southeastern slopes.

Kyz-Kermen

Descending from Tepe-Kermen and turning to the left along a country road, we will come out to a narrow southern spur of the nearest plateau, on which the settlement of Kyz-Kermen is located - the Maiden Fortress. On three sides it is bounded by almost sheer cliffs, and from the north it is connected to the plateau by a narrow isthmus, where a defensive wall passed, which can be traced along a turf-covered breakdown of stones 130 m long. there was a gate, and at the western one, apparently, there was an outing gate: near it there was a descent into the gorge along a cut-out staircase. In 1961, archaeologist A. L. Yakobson unearthed here the remains of residential and household buildings that belonged to a settlement of the 8th – 9th centuries. In a number of places of the settlement, the remains of grape pressures carved into the rock are visible. Kyz-Kermen was almost as large as Chufut-kala and Eski-Kermen in terms of the size of the area surrounded by a wall: just like these cities, a vast undeveloped territory was preserved here, separated from the city by an internal wall of a non-defensive nature and now densely overgrown with forest. In peacetime, this inner space could serve as a parking lot for caravans and a market square, and in military time - a place for a corral for cattle and shelter for the rural population of the nearest neighborhood. In short, Kyz-Kermen since its inception in the 5th century. possessed all the necessary conditions for turning into a city significant at that time, and this was facilitated by its location on the ancient routes leading through the Kachi valley, the Kibit-bogaz pass to the Alushta valley, that is, to the South Bank, and at the intersection of these routes with the main trade route leading from the steppes to Chersonesos. However, life in the city ended at the end of the 9th century: it was probably destroyed by the Khazars.

There is a legend about Kyz-Kermen and Tepe-Kermen. According to her, Kyz-Kermen was once well fortified trading city... They were ruled by a prince, who was helped in everything by a beautiful daughter. And the prince and the squad of the neighboring Tepe-Kerman constantly reprimanded the city, robbing trade caravans, trying to subjugate its inhabitants. To restore peace, the elders of Kyz-Kermen decided to marry the daughter of the prince and the heir to the castle. The young people agreed, but a dispute arose between them: the young prince demanded that the bride come to his castle, but the girl was proud and believed that the prince should first appear to her. It was decided that a bridge would be built across the ravine dividing Kyz-Kermen and Tepe-Kermen, in the middle of which the young would meet. And now, accompanied by their retinue, they entered the bridge, but reaching the middle of it, the girl, remembering the old grievances, drew a dagger and killed the groom. The prince's squad hacked her to death, and again enmity flared up between the city and the castle. And the bridge collapsed: the huge stones from which it was built, as the legend says, are still scattered across the ravine that separates the two settlements. This legend, like many Crimean legends, is multi-layered: there are echoes of matriarchy with its more independent position of a woman in society (our heroine participates in management affairs and owns a weapon, does not agree to submit to her husband's authority); here are the contradictions inherent in the early Middle Ages between the interests of the city's trade and craft population and feudal strife; here, perhaps, is the memory of the earthquake and the destruction caused by it.

Kachi-kalon

Kachi-kalon is located 8 km south of Bakhchisarai. Like all " cave cities", it is located on the spur of the Inner ridge at an altitude of 450-510 m above sea level. From Bakhchisarai you can get here by bus to the village of Preduschelny.

Having passed the Tash-air rock, behind a spring flowing out from under a huge block, we again go out onto the highway. Soon, the rock of Kachi-kalona, similar to the bow of a ship, appears at the top, cut by cracks, forming the image of a huge cross. Hence - one of the explanations for the name of the rock - "cruciform ship". Written evidence about Kachi-kalon has not been preserved, it has been little studied archaeologically, and the legends that have survived to this day that there was once a pagan temple "with an idol of the same name", according to the famous Crimean scholar V. Kh. Kondaraki, possibly , are true. However, the spectacle of the Great Grotto with a source flowing directly from the rock and a century-old tree growing in front of it can hardly leave anyone indifferent. There are few places on earth that would with great reason deserve the name of a temple in the full sense of the word, but erected by nature itself. He should have made an even greater impression on our ancestors who worshiped rocks, trees, and springs. Traces of pagan beliefs have been preserved here until recently: even today, knots made of scraps of cloth are tied on the branches of old cherries. Apparently, it was not by chance that a monastery arose here: Christians often erected temples and chapels in places revered by the pagans as saints.

Posted Sun, 05/04/2015 - 07:27 by Cap

The surface of Crimea is sharply divided into the northern, flat, part, which occupies about three quarters of the area of the peninsula, and the southern, mountainous part. The relief of the flat part is monotonous: in the north it is completely flat, like a table, plain, at the Dzhankoy railway station it is slightly hilly. Low ridges stretch to the west on the Tarkhankut Peninsula, and the foothills begin near Simferopol.
The Crimean Mountains stretch along the southern coast of the peninsula in a gentle arc over 160 km long and up to 40-50 km wide. They are clearly divided into three chains: Main, Inner and Outer.
The main ridge stretches from Balaklava to Feodosia. Its peaks are leveled surfaces, in some places wide (up to 8 km), in others narrow, or even completely interrupted by deeply incised upper reaches of the rivers. Such flat tops-highlands are called yayla (the word “yayla” is of Turkic origin, meaning “summer pasture”). The height of the Main Ridge above sea level reaches 1200 - 1500 m. The highest is Babugan Yayla, topped by the Roman-Kosh peak (1545 m). The seaside strip adjacent to the Main Ridge is called the South Coast of Crimea. They also distinguish the Heracles Peninsula, located between the western edge of the South Bank and the valley of the Black River near Sevastopol.

Crimean mountains (Mountain Crimea)

The inner ridge is much lower than the Main (up to 600 - 760 m above sea level). It stretches parallel to the Main and is separated from it by an inter-ridge depression of 10 - 25 km. In some places, there are isolated low mountains and short ridges with flat tops, formed by the erosion of the Inner Ridge. These are the outlier mountains Mangup, Eski-Kermen, Tepe-Kermen and others - natural bastions on which fortress cities were erected in the Middle Ages.

Having examined the conglomerates, let's move on. The trail goes to another clone of the Valley of Ghosts, goes deeper into the forest, winds along a steep slope and leads to a vast area with a palisade of heavy weathered figures in the form of squat cones. An amazingly pleasant place to stay. All around there was an amazing silence, noisy roads were far away. Further, a wide path gradually rises to the top of South Demerdzhi. You found yourself in a unique and picturesque world. The rocks, constantly blown by the wind, are cut with niches and cells. In some places there are so many of them that they look like giant honeycombs. Along the ravine we climb a cliff with a triangulation sign on the summit of South Demerdzhi (1239 m above sea level).
A wide panorama opens up from the top. Before us is the spacious Alushta valley and the trapezoidal Kastel mountain. In the west, the characteristic silhouette of Ayudag is visible, even further in the bluish haze is the jagged crown of Ai-Petri. In the east, a huge flat and long Cape Meganom is drawn, in front of it is the Sokol Mountain, which looks like a sugar loaf, near Sudak.

MOUNTAIN AY-PETRI
Mount Ai-Petri, depicted on postcards and photographs, crowned with a stone crown of battlements, is one of the most popular symbols. From Miskhor or Alupka, it looks like a fortress tower guarding the approaches to the Main ridge. see photos of Mount Ai-Petri
The starting point of the excursion is the Ai-Petri mountain shelter on the yaila of the same name. We will get to him by bus from Yalta or Bakhchisarai. You can also get to the yayla from Miskhor by cable car to the upper station of the aerial road, and from it a stone's throw to the teeth of the Ai-Petri.

So, we are at the mountain shelter. If we face the sea, then to the left over the cliff we will see the Shishko rock, named after the engineer who led at the end of the 19th century. construction of the Bakhchisarai - Yalta road. In the distance, the blue sea surface stretches to the horizon. Streets of Yalta run down to the bay. To the left, a spur of the Nikitskaya Yayla, ending in Cape Martyan, crashed into the sea. Behind him is the humpbacked outline of Ayudag. Closer to the Nikitsky spur in the direction of Yalta, the rocky ridge Iograf departs, ending in the Darsan hill in Yalta. On the right is the cone-shaped Mount Mogabi, shaped like a volcano. But in reality it is a limestone rock that broke away from the Main Ridge and moved along the slope of the South Coast. To the right of Mogabi, Cape Ai-Todor is visible, stretched out with three "paws" in the sea, behind it resort village Miskhor.
If you stand with your back to the cliff, the hilly Ai-Petrinskoe plateau will open. On the left above the horizon, the characteristic cogs of Ai-Petri have risen, directly, in the north, rises the rounded Bedene-Kyr mountain; on the right - a series of peaks, the most extreme of them is Mount Roca.

We will go to the deserted part of the yayla to the battlements of Ai-Petri. The round trip route will be 7 - 8 km. A rocky road begins a few dozen meters from the highway. It bends smoothly, adapting to the depressions between the hills, leaving on the left an unusual geodesic sign in the form of a cast-iron globe on a stone pedestal. On the left along the way, the jagged peak of Ai-Petri looms all the time.
Here is the vast Priaypetrinsky Basin. We found ourselves in the world of karst and mountain meadows. Gentle hills alternate with depressions, limestone ridges with stepped slopes go into the distance. Lumps of limestone with crevices and through holes protrude from the thick grass; the stone is smoothed. There is no forest, only here and there in the depressions protected from the wind there are groves of beech, hornbeam and pine. All around are juicy flowering meadows with an intoxicating aroma of thyme, St. John's wort and lemon balm, wild strawberry bushes. A rather rare Crimean iron pipe gravitates to rocky areas of the upland. Its pubescent pale green twigs with as if strung yellow cups emit a lemon scent and, easily swayed by the wind, are visible from afar.
In some places on the yayla there are trees of dogwood, wild rose and scaly pear, clumps of dark green juniper. In general, a real exhibition of the vegetation of the Crimean yailas!

The peculiar relief of the Ai-Petri yayla, as well as Chatyrdag and other yayls, is of karst origin. The water penetrated deep into the mass of chemically pure limestones, developed vertical and horizontal channels, which gradually widened and deepened, turning into natural caves, mines and wells. Bowl-shaped depressions appeared on the surface of the yayla.
In the central part of the Priaypetrinskaya depression, the Trekhglazka or Ledyanaya mine is accessible for inspection. It opens to the surface with three holes - "eyes", which determined its name. Along one of them we go down the stairs to a depth of 26 m (the height of a 10-storey building!) To the bottom of the mine, to the shore of an underground lake with an area of about 300 square meters. In winter, cold air accumulates at the bottom of the mine and displaces warm air for many months. Due to the condensation moisture flowing down, ice is formed, on which the snow that has fallen from above lies (which persists until mid-summer). Above the frozen lake is the "eye" of the mine, a kind of window that floods a multi-meter snow cone with bluish light.
Due to the special microclimate, ice stalactites and stalagmites formed in the central hall of the mine, and ice crusts at the bottom. Large accumulations of ice in Trekhglazka had been known for a long time, and Yalta residents were still at the beginning of the 20th century. ice was mined here for storing food.

Reef massifs of limestone are also found in from Balaklava to Koktebel. This means that in the Late Jurassic time, an extended barrier reef arose in the sea on the site of the present South Coast. And to the north of it, across the strait, lay ancient dry land.
At the cliff, the yailas rise, like the fangs of a giant dragon, the teeth of Ai-Petri. Among them, four are especially large, up to 12-15 m high, and many are small. The teeth were formed during the weathering of a reef massif dissected by faults.
On the way back, we will follow the path near the cliff of the Main Ridge. At the edge of the forest, we will see a very old berry yew, which is estimated at a thousand years old. His crown has almost completely died out and many large nodules on the trunk, but the dark green needles are still shiny. Farther away, already on the south coast slope, one can see the "plane-pine" - a tree so named because of its completely flat crown formed by strong Yaylinsky winds. Then we go out to the already known mountain road and along it to the mountain shelter - the beginning of the excursion.

GREAT CANYON
The canyon is a deep, narrow valley with steep walls. Often there is a gorge next to it - a valley with steep slopes and a narrow bottom, partially filled with water. Of the Crimean canyons, the Grand Canyon in the upper reaches of the Auzun-Uzen river near the village of Sokolinoe on the northern slope of the Ai-Petrinskaya yayla is of exceptional interest. Grand canyon

For the beginning of the excursion, we will take the "Grand Canyon" bus stop on the Bakhchisarai - Yalta highway, 5 kilometers above the village of Sokolinoe. We go down the forest road to the valley to the fast river Sary-Uzen. We cross it and then the next Auzun-Uzen, flowing from the Grand Canyon. We will go along a path on a wooded slope to the upper reaches of the Auzun-Uzen, and soon a gap will open in the thicket of the forest and a rock wall will appear, cut by a huge crevice of the Grand Canyon. Below you can hear the noise of a mountain stream hidden by a thick forest wall. The trail goes down to a rapids river that spills over into a small lake with crystal-clear blue water. it a nice place called Apple ford (there are many wild apple trees in its vicinity). Further, the Auzun-Uzeni valley can be divided into two parts: the lower one, up to the Bath of Youth, - the gorge, and the upper - the canyon itself.
The gorge is easily passable. The rocky slopes are steeply inclined towards each other and are separated by a stone bed 10 - 20 m wide. A stream flows along the limestone bed, washing away either the right or the left rocky slope. In some places, the water flows calmly, in others it breaks down as a silvery stream in cascades and waterfalls into small lakes-reaches. They say that trout is caught in such places. The water is so transparent that it seems that there is no water at all and you can take pebbles from the bottom with dry hands.
Not far from Yablonevy ford on the left bank there is a miniature peninsula washed by Auzun-Uzen and a stream of spring water. A transparent stream flows from the depths of the rocky slope - from a crevice filled with boulders. Water comes from one of the largest karst springs in Crimea, Paniya, with an average flow rate of 370 liters per second. It is Pania that provides the main water for Auzun-Uzeni.
Above the source, the power of the watercourse decreases sharply, and in dry weather it looks like a stream several tens of centimeters wide. The stone bed of the gorge, cut by flowing water, is composed of strong light gray, almost white limestones of the Oxfordian stage of the Upper Jurassic. Barely inclined along the current, almost horizontal sections are replaced by ledges up to 1 - 1.5 m high. Thus, a layered structure of limestone strata appears in the relief of the bottom of the gorge. A stream of water slowly flows along the furrows-gullies, breaks down from the rapids into natural cauldrons and baths, flows out of them along the grooves, again falls into another depression and so goes its way.
The boilers and baths of the Auzun-Uzeni bed were formed during the destruction of the stone bed by the water jets falling from the ledge during the flood. The overwhelming water breaks with force against the stone bed and develops depressions, and the stones caught in it rotate with the eddies and whirlpools of the river. The stones, like drills, deepen and widen the depressions, turning them into natural cauldrons with vertical surfaces. And when the ledge of the waterfall collapses and recedes, the boiler turns into a bathtub. Such cauldrons and baths are called evorzionny (from the Latin evorzio - destruction), or gigantic. At their bottom, boulders and pebbles often lie, a kind of drilling tool. Ultimately, the Evolution Cauldron takes on a jug-like shape.
The gorge ends with a three-meter ledge with a waterfall, plunging into a large, water-filled bath about 5 meters long. Previously it was called Karagol, and now it is called the Bath of Youth. Transparent and cold (9 - 11 ° С - on a hot summer day) the water in it never dries up. They say that after bathing, at least for a while, the peculiarities of youth return - a gentle complexion, a smile and irrepressible cheerfulness. Check it out!

Only behind the Bath of Youth begins the canyon itself. The one and a half kilometer path along it is accessible only in dry weather and only to those who are healthy and have basic climbing skills. Limestone slopes rose rapidly upward, forming a grandiose narrow stone corridor. In some places, the bottom of the canyon narrows to 2 m, in other areas it expands to 8 - 10 m. And at an altitude of 50 - 60 m (the height of a 20-storey building), the distance between the slopes does not exceed 15 - 20 m.
It is clearly seen that the sides of the canyon are different in height. The right one is relatively low - 50 - 60 m, while the left one is much higher - up to 250 - 300 m and is absolutely vertical. In such a situation, it is not surprising that there is little light in the canyon: even at the height of a sunny day, dusk reigns, and only a strip of blue sky shines far above.
The configuration of the canyon is curious - it is not at all straightforward: its walls trace out zigzag after zigzag. Eleven straight line segments 130-150 m long are each connected in knee-like fashion. Therefore, in no place is the canyon visible through and through, and the traveler feels as if he has fallen into a stone trap. Behind the next bend, other stone walls open. The kingdom of silence. Only occasionally is the rustle of stones crumbling from above and the distant noise of trees at a height of three hundred meters heard.
At the beginning of the canyon, a transparent trickle runs along a stone bed, carved with evorsion cauldrons and baths. The source is hidden in the starboard side of the second section of the canyon in a gloomy grove of yews, preserved in the Crimea from the preglacial era. The dry part of the canyon begins behind the yews. Underfoot there is a stepped rocky bed, on which one has to walk and then climb. One after another are gigantic cauldrons and baths with smooth, as if polished, vertical walls up to two or more meters high, which are not so easy to catch with your fingers. Then a log against the wall helps out.
The canyon impresses with its harsh grandeur along the way. Around the next bend, new walls open up, unlike those just passed. Lack of people and pristine silence, some kind of fantastic world in reality.
By the end of the journey, do not miss the dry mouth of the Yokhagan-Su stream (in Crimean Tatar "missing water"). The rocky bed of the brook, bored with evorsion boilers, is cut off by a sheer wall from a height of 10 - 12 m.
Soon after the mouth of the Yokhagan-Su, the walls of the canyon become lower, move apart and sharply turn to the southeast. The gorge passes into the vast Kuru-Uzen depression with a waterless bed of the Kuru-Uzen river, which runs steeply from the slope of the Ai-Petrinskaya yayla.
The Kuru-Uzen Basin is a completely different geographical and geological world, strikingly different from the Grand Canyon. The wide, flat bottom of the basin is lined with pebbles; there is not even a trace of ledges and gigantic cauldrons, without which it is impossible to imagine the gorge just passed. Huge stone cliffs have replaced forested slopes, outlined by smooth, calm lines. Limestones of the Oxfordian stage of the canyon were replaced by younger sandstones and clays of the Tithonian stage. There is a tectonic contact (rupture) at the border of the canyon and the basin. Along the rupture, a fragment of the large Yalta fault, the canyon block is uplifted, and the neighboring one sank, and the Kuru-Uzen basin of tectonic origin was formed in it.
So, we went to the beginning of the Grand Canyon. From here you can return the same way or go around the gorge on the right along the path near the cliff. The first path is short, but difficult because of the numerous descents along the walls of the evorsion cauldrons and baths; the second is longer, but without rocky obstacles.
Walking around the top of the canyon, we will see that the relief of the right slope is complex, more precisely three-story: above the gorge (first floor), a steep slope of the gorge (second floor) rises, ending at the top with a flat bottom of an ancient river. The position of the canyon was determined by a powerful extended fault in the earth's crust in the northeastern direction, along which limestones are crushed.

TREATMENT OF AYAZMA
In the extended strip of the South Coast, a special place is occupied by a section with a steep and inaccessible cliff of the Main Ridge moving towards the sea between Balaklava Bay and the rocky Cape Aya. The area is not like any other place on the South Coast and how its special part is allocated in the tract. Specialists in Crimean toponymy associate the name of the tract with the Greek word ayazma, meaning "consecrated, blessed". Probably, in the vicinity of the tract to the ancient temple at Cape Aya.
The Ayazma tract occupies the space between the Balaklava Bay and the outstanding in size half-kilometer height of Cape Aya. Connoisseurs of the Crimean nature do not exaggerate at all when they admire the marvelous landscapes of the tract, its grandiose slopes steeply falling to the coast, wonder at the wild chaos of boulders and rocks.
And the artist will laconically say: I see an amazing world of colors of the sea, sky and mountains.
The coastal forest of the tract is also unique with such common, but in reality rare trees such as Stankevich's pine, high juniper, evergreen strawberry and wild pistachio, which have come down to us from the pre-glacial period of the Earth's history. The landscape of the natural boundary strikes no less than the famous landscapes of Batiliman, Laspi and Melas of the same Southshore.
You can get to the tract in two ways: from Balaklava along the path along the sea slope towards Cape Aya, or from the 22nd kilometer of the Sevastopol-Yalta road, go to the village of Reserve, and then go down to the sea. And the best way is to combine the two ways. From the road Sevastopol - Yalta through the Reserve go to the tract, and then along the seaside slope to Balaklava. So we will do it.
From Sevastopol, the road first passes along the Heracles plateau, then enters the Sukhaya River gorge. Soon the steep walls of the gorge part, and we find ourselves in a wide and flat shallow Varnaut Basin. At the 22nd kilometer of the highway, a 2 km long side road begins to the village of Reserve. The flat bottom and gentle slopes of the Varnaut Basin do not make much of an impression. At the outskirts of the Reserve, turn to the right onto a country road. We cross a vast field and through a low mountain forest we gradually ascend to the pass. Along the way, here and there local rocks are visible - Upper Jurassic marbled limestones and conglomerates.
The forest suddenly ends, and we suddenly find ourselves on a low pass, about 300 - 350 m above sea level. A breathtaking panorama of the endless sea and the mountain slope, completely covered with forest, steeply leaving to the sea opens up. On the sides, rocky peaks and walls close the tract. In the unusually clean and transparent air, the distant Balaklava heights are clearly drawn.
The descent from the pass is steep at first and requires attention. We will adhere to a well-packed winding rocky path that goes around one after another protruding boulders and rocks. And in some places there are so many debris that impassable stone fields appear. Continuous chaos, and there is no order in the location of the stone material: boulders and debris of various sizes lie next to the collapsed rocks. All this testifies to the multiple collapses of the limestone cliff of the Main Ridge.
And nevertheless, in the stone chaos, pine grows magnificently - the main tree species of the tract, often forming small groves permeated with light. Take a closer look at the tree. This is not an ordinary slender Crimean pine with black-gray bark. Before us is a large, spreading tree with brownish bark and a hemispherical crown, bizarrely curved serpentine branches, lush and long needles and sessile large cones directed straight up. In some trees, branches stretched out horizontally like ribbons in the wind. Pine is very decorative and at the same time highly individual. Concentrate a little, and you will immediately notice how different the trees are. Only at first glance they look one and the same. But pines with a branched trunk are especially impressive. Such an unusual pine tree grows only in two parts of the South Coast - from Cape Aya to Balaklava and near Sudak in the Novy Svet. They call it the Stankevich pine (after the Crimean forester, the discoverer of this tree at the beginning of the 20th century), Sudak and Pitsunda. Pine Stankevich is classified as a protected tree and is listed in the "Red Book of Ukraine".
The pine is striking with its indefatigable vitality and, disregarding the puzzling relief of the tract, grows beautifully on inaccessible rocks, and then one would like to call it a "climbing tree". And going down to the beach, you will see that pine is also salt-tolerant - it is not afraid of sea spray and fog and grows on the edge of the cliff no worse than among the rocks in the mountains.
After about one and a half kilometers, the pedestrian path ends at a grandiose limestone cliff several hundred meters high. The rocky wall drops off into the sea without any crossing. Perhaps, there is no such grandiose cliff over the sea anywhere in Crimea, maybe even on Karadag. The cliff is completed by the majestic Cape Aya, which has risen to 557 m. It is the second highest mountain in the seaside part of the South Coast, second only to Ayudagu (577 m above sea level).
The coastal cliffs and cliffs of the Ayazma tract involuntarily bring to mind the harsh peaks and turquoise bays of the Karadag mountain group in the other, opposite, part of the South Coast - in eastern Crimea... And the characteristic rocky peak of Cape Aya, similar to the head of an animal with a protruding narrow ear, makes you remember about Mount Cat in Simeiz, similar to an animal shrinking before jumping into the sea.
The path from the tract to Balaklava is not difficult. It is only a few hundred meters from the foothill terrace to the Golden Beach (in Crimea, there is a tradition: at least far from best beach call "Golden") with a berth for boats. In the summer, you can quickly get to Balaklava by sea vessel. Better yet, walk the way to Balaklava. From the beach along the path we go to the seaside slope of the ridge, then onto a dirt road and, leaving the Genoese fortress aside, we find ourselves in Balaklava.

STONE MUSHROOMS
A seemingly unremarkable valley of the south bank river Sotera to the east of Alushta is in reality extraordinary and attracts nature lovers. Well, if only because the remains of a mammoth were found in it, and in the cold water of a mountain river ... crabs live. And the geologist will be attracted by the only "stone mushrooms" in the Crimea, which will be discussed further.
Let's set off from the eastern outskirts of Alushta, which can be reached by city bus No. 1. The highway is gradually gaining height and pretty soon leads to the Sudak Gate Pass. The spacious mountainous Alushta amphitheater ends here and begins Eastern South coast. From the pass, a panorama of the southeastern coast opens, not shining with either bright greenery or sharp bends of the relief. By stone waves a string of hills recedes into the distance. The coastline is not visible, but the calm, soft outlines of the coast are guessed. On the left, from an unusual perspective, the South Demerdzhi rose up with a jagged peak and stone peaks.
From the pass it is clearly visible that the base of the Main Ridge is composed of dark gray rocks of the Taurida series with a purple tint, outlined by calm lines. They stretch far to the east, almost to the very Sudak. And the huge cliffs of the Main ridge consist of strong Upper Jurassic limestones.
In Crimea, the rocks of the Taurida series are most common in South Bank, and therefore this is the most suitable place to get to know them. In the grooves of the highways and the steep cliffs of the narrow valleys extending to the sea, it is clearly visible that the south coast slope consists of countless repeated thin layers of compacted clays, siltstones and sandstones. A characteristic feature of the layered strata is its rhythmic structure. Its constituent rocks are arranged not by chance, but strictly according to law. Sandstone is followed by siltstone, followed by compacted clay. And then again sandstone, then siltstone, compacted clay and again the same repetition. But it is very interesting that in each such rhythm, its constituent rocks are interconnected by gradual transitions.
The second characteristic feature of the Taurida series is that it is very difficult to deploy. It is crumpled into folds of various shapes and sizes, ranging from centimeter to large, several kilometers wide.
Take a closer look at sedimentary strata. You will see that the lower border of stone rhythms is sharp, uneven, and complicated by small irregularities in the form of ridges, nipples and tubercles. These are flysch hieroglyphs - imprints of surface irregularities on which a sandy sediment was deposited. Any of the hieroglyphs is a kind of "negative" of the irregularities of the bottom of the reservoir at the time of the deposition of a layer of sand. Moving up from the base of the rhythm, we will see that the size of mineral particles gradually decreases and therefore in many cases it is impossible to accurately indicate the boundary between sandstone, siltstone and clay.
How was the Tauride series formed? How to explain its multiple rhythm, a gradual change in the size of detrital particles within the rocky "rhythm" and unevenness on the lower surface of sandstone strata? These difficult questions are explained by the assumption of the multiple inflow of bottom flows of turbid sediments from the coastal part into the deep parts of the sea basin during earthquakes.
Let's continue our journey. The highway draws loop after loop, bends around valleys and gorges of small rivers and streams. Each of these valleys extends to the sea with a small pebble beach. In the summer in such cozy places you will see a sports camp or recreation center.
At the 16th kilometer, the highway crosses the valley of the Sotera River. In a side ravine, about a kilometer from the sea, at the end of the 19th century. N. A. Golovkinsky discovered the bones of a mammoth. This was the first find of the remains of an Ice Age animal on the southern slope of the Crimean Mountains.
The valley of Sotera is especially attractive for its spectacular earthen pyramids, or "stone mushrooms". To them from the bus stop "16th kilometer" 25 minutes walk. From the highway, along the forest road, we will go up the Rocky Gorge of Sotera. After about 200 m, the river will turn left, and we should go up the right branch of the road to the vast grassy terrace of Sotera. At its far end we will see a small gorge cut into the Upper Jurassic brownish-brown conglomerates. High earthen pyramids "stone mushrooms" have risen on the right slope amid a sparse, small-growing forest.
The caps of stone mushrooms are slabs of the Upper Jurassic conglomerates several meters across. Legs up to 4 - 6 meters high are composed of a dense earthy mass with fragments of sandstone and limestone. The earthen pyramids were formed when the slope was destroyed by temporary streams of rain and melt water. The stone slabs lying on the surface did not collapse and remained in place, while the surrounding earthy mass was easily washed away. Over time, it was washed out, and only under the stone slabs it was preserved in the form of earthen pyramids. Looking closer to the slope, you will also notice immature "stone mushrooms" with barely separated "hats".

Kanaka, dawn over Crimea

Rivers and streams of the Crimean mountains
The main watershed of the entire Crimean peninsula is located in the Crimean mountains, most of the rivers originate on the main ridge, at an altitude of 600-1100 meters, on the yayls themselves there are almost no watercourses, which is associated with the hydro manifestation of karst. The total runoff of the Crimean mountains is 773.5 million cubic meters, and the density of the river network is 0.2 km / km². Depending on the relief, the rivers can be divided into groups: rivers, streams and gullies of the southern coast of Crimea, rivers and gullies of the northeastern slopes of the main ridge of the Crimean Mountains and rivers and beams of the northwestern slopes of the main ridge of the Crimean mountains.

The shortest streams are located on the southern coast of Crimea. The length of rivers there usually does not exceed 10 km. Watercourses originate on the southern slopes of the Main ridge of the Crimean Mountains and flow into the Black Sea, they are characterized by slopes of 172-234 m / km. The average heights of their catchments are up to 900 m. The catchments themselves are small: 1.6-161 km². Some rivers come from karst springs. The river valleys in the upper reaches are narrow, in the form of gorges, then they gradually expand, acquiring a trapezoidal shape in the lower reaches. The floodplains are narrow and are found only in the lower reaches. The channels in the lower reaches are mostly slightly winding, straightened, deepened and reinforced with concrete slabs to avoid flooding. This group includes 36 main watercourses with a total length of 293.6 km.

The main rivers of the southern coast of Crimea:

Uchan-Su (Waterfall)
Derekoika (Fast)
Avunda
Ulu-Uzen Alushta
Demerdzhi
Ulu-Uzen East
On the northwestern slopes of the Main ridge of the Crimean Mountains, the most significant in terms of length and water content of the Crimea rivers originate. There are eight main rivers, their total length is 328 km. The rivers of this group flow into the Black Sea. Until about the middle of their course, the rivers are typical of mountain streams. There are large slopes (up to 180 m / km). The river basins have an elongated shape along the rivers, widened in the upper part, where the main number of tributaries flow into. The main rivers of this group:

Black (Chorgun) - length 34.1 km. It originates in the Baydar Valley, along which it flows 7.5 km. On its slopes there are a number of streams feeding the river in the upper part. The constant flow in the channel is sometimes interrupted: the river hides in the sediments, leaving the channel dry. It fills with water after showers and floods. Below the confluence of the Urkusta River, Chornaya enters a narrow gorge about 16 km long. Here the water moves, squeezed by almost sheer rocks, and its flow intensifies. The weakening of the current occurs after the river reaches the Inkerman Valley. Here, two right tributaries flow into the Chernaya, one of which (Ai-Todorka) has sufficient water content, since it is fed by springs, and the other (Sukhaya) brings rainwater into the river.
Belbek - length 63 km. The deepest river in Crimea. It starts from the confluence of two mountain rivers. Between the mountain ranges, Belbek is rough, never drying up streams, with a narrow channel, fast current and steep high banks. In the lower reaches, the Belbek cuts through clayey deposits, its flow slows down. When it flows into the sea, the channel looks like a ravine 25-30 m wide.
Kokkozka - about 18 km long, a tributary of the Belbek. It flows in a narrow gorge known as the Grand Canyon of Crimea.
Kacha - 69 km long. It originates on the northern slope of the central ridge of the Crimean Mountains at the confluence of two rivers - Pisary and Biyuk-Uzen. Its banks are high, rocky, the channel is wide, the bottom is pebbly almost throughout. All tributaries flow into the Kacha in its upper course. During heavy rains, as well as in autumn and winter, Kacha can flood heavily. In summer, due to the use of water for irrigation, it dries up.
Marta - 21 km long, a tributary of the Kacha.
Alma - 84 km long. Formed as a result of the merger of two streams. It has a deeply cut valley with high banks. It receives the waters of many mountain streams and rivers. Alma does not dry up, and during the rains and melting snow it can overflow the banks. Its flow slows down at the very bottom. Sea water makes the waters of the Alma estuary area saline.
Rivers and gullies of the northeastern slopes of the main ridge of the Crimean Mountains, the total number of rivers and gullies in this group is 18, the total length is 393.9 km. The rivers of this group flow mainly in a northerly direction and flow into the Sivash Bay. Sea of Azov, although due to the lack of water, they often do not reach it and are lost on the plain. This also includes the Baibuga River, which flows into the Feodosia Gulf of the Black Sea. Only the uppermost parts of the basins of these rivers have a mountainous relief, while the predominant part of the drainage basins is located in the flat part of the Crimea. The average height of the catchments is 450-500 m. The sizes of the catchments are small. The main rivers of this group:

Biyuk-Yanishar

Salgir - length 238 km. The upper course of the Salgir runs in a narrow valley with rocky shores; here it has a mountainous character and a well-developed network of tributaries originating from numerous sources.
Angara - length 13 km. It is one of the rivers, at the confluence of which Salgir is formed.
Kizylkobinka (Krasnopeshcherskaya) - 5.1 km long. When merged with Angara, it forms Salgir.
Biyuk-Karasu (Bolshaya Karasevka) - length 106 km. The right tributary of the Salgir. It originates near the city of Belogorsk, in the upper reaches it flows through the chalk rocks between the mountains, then enters the steppe region, where it flows only during the precipitation-rich part of the year (in winter and early spring).
Indole - 55 km long. In the upper reaches, it looks like mountain streams flowing through ravines.
Eastern Bulganak - 48 km long.
The Grand Canyon of Crimea
Since 1974 it has been a state nature reserve. It is located on the eastern side of the Kokkoz Valley, in the depths of the northern slope of the Ai-Petrinskaya Yayla, 4 km southeast of the village of Sokolinoe. The depth of the gorge reaches 250-320 m, the width in the narrowest parts of the canyon does not exceed 2-3 m. The Auzun-Uzen River flows along the bottom of the canyon. The Grand Canyon was first described in detail by Professor I.I.Puzanov in 1925.

Climate
The climate of the mountains is moderately cold and humid. Winter precipitation most often prevails over summer, which is a sign of the Mediterranean climate. Winter in the mountains usually lasts from mid-October to late March. In the upper parts of the slopes, a snow cover is formed, the thickness of which can reach a meter or more. weather in winter time rather unstable, for example, the temperature in January can jump in the range from -10 ° C to + 10 ° C, snow can fall in May. In winter, the slopes of several mountain ranges such as Ai-Petri, Babugan-yayla, Chatyr-Dag and Demerdzhi are avalanche-prone. Summers in the mountains are usually hot and dry. Even in summer, temperatures can drop to 0 ° C at night. Fogs are very frequent throughout the year.

Each slope of the Crimean Mountains has its own climatic conditions, as it is influenced by different prevailing winds.

Flora of the Crimean mountains
Due to the difficult relief and varied climatic and meteorological conditions, the Crimean Mountains have a wide variety of vegetation in a small area. If we consider the Crimean Mountains from the point of view of a botanist, then they can be divided into zones: the southern slopes of the mountains, the flat top of the mountain range - the plateau and the northern slope of the mountains.

The vegetation of the southern slope of the Crimean Mountains is most typical for the Crimea. It includes elements characteristic only of Crimea. As the mountains rise, the vegetation of the southern slopes of the mountains changes greatly, forming characteristic belts:

Southern coastal vegetation (maquis belt) - occupies the lowest part of the southern slope. This belt is characterized by a predominance of shrubs. Only here grow wild evergreens: butcher, strawberry tree, Cretan cistus and ivy. In addition to wild evergreens, a number of cultivated crops grow in the southern coastal belt: cypress, laurel and olive trees. The following characteristic plants complement the vegetation picture of the maquis belt of the southern slope:
Shrubs and semi-shrubs: juniper, Abraham's tree, zamaniha, hazelnuts, kiziltcha, hold-tree, cup tree, blackberry and rose hips.
Herbs: capers, spurge, mad cucumber.
Ornamental breeds cultivated by man: silk acacia, magnolia, hamerops, cork oak, plane trees, boxwood, bananas, ailants, wisteria. Fruit: sweet almond, sweet chestnut, pistachio tree, medlar, pomegranate, fig tree and walnut.
The belt next to the maquis, located above 226 m. In this belt, woody vegetation prevails, which form deciduous forests of a mixed type, but with a predominance of oak and small-leaved hornbeam. But in addition to oak and hornbeam, here you can find, especially in the western part, the Crimean pine, which differs from ordinary pine in long needles (8-15 cm), sessile cones, and a pyramidal tent.
The third horizontal zone of vegetation consists of almost pure beech forests, but in some places there are Crimean and common pine, as well as other tree species: aspen, maple, mountain ash, dogwood. Beech forests rise to the very upper edge of the southern slope of the mountains.
In general, the vegetation belts of the northern slope of the mountains are located in the same way as on the southern slope, only there is no maquis belt on the northern slope. Instead, there is a meadow-steppe or forest belt with mixed vegetation. Pine is found almost along the entire slope. However, it grows in noticeable quantities on the slopes. On the cliffs of the mountains, the red-trunked species with bright green short needles - Scots pine - is more common. And below, among the oak forests, dominated by a pine with a gray trunk, long, sparse, dull needles. The northern slope is mainly divided into:

Lower forest, consists of oak and small-leaved hornbeam, among which grow hazel, aspen, euonymus, buckthorn, barberry and hawthorn.
Belt of beech and hornbeam forests. There are also areas with Crimean and Scotch pine and single lindens, maples, dogwood, mountain ash, and in rare cases, birch is found in the forests of the northern slope.
The belt of the juniper elfin is at an altitude of over 5,000 feet. Here, in addition to juniper, yew and dafin are found.
Yayla is mostly treeless. This is explained by the law of vertical zoning: the yayla lies above the natural forest boundary. However, the plateau of the Crimean mountains does not lie at any one level, but at altitudes from 600 to 1500 m above sea level. And since one above the other is located stepwise, the forest grows well on the slope between two yayls, as, for example, between the Dolgorukovskoye plateau and Tyrke. At one time this was explained by the fact that man burned and cut down forests on the plateaus for many centuries, but paleobotanical studies convincingly indicate that in ancient times, and 10,000 and 100,000 years ago, the plateaus were not completely covered with forest. Rather, it was a forest-steppe; open to the winds, high places remained treeless. Here is the kingdom of herbs. On the Crimean yaylahs from late April to autumn bloom here: crocuses, adonis, irises, violets, adonis, veronica, cinquefoil, meadowsweet, bedstraw, yarrow, St. Yayla grasses: fescue, steppe sedge, clover, cuffs, feather grass, bluegrass, fescue, wheatgrass, timothy grass, hedgehog, short-legged. There are no less than five hundred plant species in Demerdzhi. Forty-five plant species are found only on yayls, being endemic.

Fauna of the Crimean mountains
Since the Crimean steppe passes into the area of the foothills, rising gradually, it is impossible to establish a sharp border between them, as well as to sharply dismember their fauna. Only the fauna of the South Coast sharply differs from the fauna of the northern slope of the mountains.

Mammals
The foothills and the northern slope of the mountains are characterized by various types of hamsters, ground squirrels and jerboas. From the order of insectivores, a hedgehog is often found. In the strip of foothills, mountain forests and on the southern coast, the Crimean weasel is found, which is a cross between a weasel and an ermine. In the forests of the northern and southern slopes, the badger is found, and in the foothills, the steppe ferret.

From the order of predators in the Crimea, the fox and the stone marten are represented. Occasionally, among common foxes, you can come across silver foxes. The wolf lived in the Crimean mountains back in the 19th century, but is now exterminated.

The largest mammal of Crimea, the deer, is found in the mountain forests. The Crimean deer is poorly studied. Currently, this animal has survived in small numbers in more remote highland areas. In addition to the deer, roe deer live in the mountain forests.

The wild boar is ubiquitous. In the area of the Bolshaya and Malaya Chucheli and Chernoy mountains, a mouflon of 250-300 heads introduced from Corsica in 1913 lives.

The squirrel and the hare are ubiquitous.

Birds
In the foothill parts of the Crimea, representatives of the southern Russian steppes are mainly found. Several species of larks live on the northern slopes: the lark, the steppe lark, the crested lark; also inhabited by various types of bunting: millet, pleshanka, wheaten, golden bee-eater; a lot of rollers, other species (quail, hoopoe). For the area of mountains, especially northern slopes, the following bird species are most characteristic: shrike and lesser shrike, garden bunting, nightjar, scoop, starling and goldfinch. There are also three types of nightingale in this area: the western nightingale, the eastern nightingale and the Persian nightingale. The following birds are characteristic of mountain forests: Crimean tit, long-tailed tit, woodpecker, redstart, robin, warbler and jay. Mountain buntings are found high in the mountains. The dramatic difference between bird fauna mountain peaks and the forests are not noticed.

Yayla is especially poor in birds; here you can still find predators - the griffon vulture or, even less often, the vulture.

The forests of the southern slope are inhabited by: blue tit, kinglets, crossbills and mountain bunting. In the cliffs there are: stone thrush, pika, wall-climber, stone pigeon, tower swift and white-bellied swift.

The routes of migratory birds run through the Crimean peninsula, which reduces the distance of non-stop flight (across the Black Sea) by one hundred kilometers.

Amphibians and reptiles
In the strip of foothills, the following reptiles are found: eager lizard, Crimean lizard, wall lizard. Amphibians are found: edible frog, green toad, tree frog, garlic and comb newt.

On the southern coast you can find: night lizard, Crimean lizard, copperhead, yellow-bellied snake, leopard snake, yellow snake and river turtle, and from amphibians - tree and edible frog, newt and green toad.

Crimea caves
In the mountainous Crimea, researchers have discovered a very large number of small caves or mines, the study of many is still ongoing. Below is a list of the largest and most famous caves and mines in Crimea:

Skelskaya stalactite cave - became a natural monument in 1947. Discovered in 1904 by the teacher F.A.Kirillov. The cave consists of several halls, the largest of them is 80 meters long, 10-18 meters wide, and 25 meters high.
Medovaya - the walls of the cave are covered with thermogravitational sediments. Length 205 m, depth 60 m.
Kyzyl-Koba (Red Caves) - the length of the cave is 21,150 m, the amplitude is 275 m. The longest cave in Crimea. Located on the slope of the Dolgorukovsky massif. Since 1963 it has been a natural monument.

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SOURCE OF INFORMATION AND PHOTOS:
Team nomad
Tauride Mountains - article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia (3rd edition)
Zakaldaev N. V., "Passes of the Mountainous Crimea" | Tourclub KPI Globus
http://krim.biz.ua/geologija.html
Mining encyclopedia. M .: "Soviet Encyclopedia", 1984-1991. Art. "Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic"

Http://gruzdoff.ru/
Mouflons »Hiking in Crimea
Binbash-koba // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb., 1890-1907.
Lebedinsky V.I., Makarov N.N. Volcanism of the Mountainous Crimea. - Kiev: Publishing house of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, 1962 .-- 208 p.
Pchelintsev V.F. Formation of the Crimean Mountains / Otv. ed. prof. S. S. Kuznetsov; USSR Academy of Sciences. Geological Museum named after A.P. Karpinsky. - M.-L .: Publishing house of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1962 .-- 88 p. - (Proceedings. Issue XIV). - 1000 copies. (region)
http://www.photosight.ru/

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From the book Christian Antiquities: An Introduction to Comparative Study the author Belyaev Leonid Andreevich Krimski Gori, Crimean Tat. Qırım dağları, Qırım dagıları), in the past also Tauric Mountains- a mountain system that occupies the southern and southeastern part of the Crimean Peninsula.

The mountain system is formed by three mountain ranges stretching from Cape Aya in the vicinity of Balaklava in the west to Cape St. Elijah near Feodosia in the east. The length of the Crimean Mountains is about 160 km, the width is about 50 km. The outer ridge is a series of cuestas gradually rising to heights of about 350 m. The inner ridge reaches a height of 750 m. Nai highest point stretching along the southern coast of Crimea, the main ridge - the Roman-Kosh mountain, 1545 m high, is located on Babugan-yayla.

Geography [ | ]

View from the Outer Ridge to the Inner and Main

All Crimean researchers note that the Crimean Mountains form three parallel ridges, directed from northeast to southwest, separated by two longitudinal valleys. All three ridges have the same slope character: from the north they are gentle, and from the south they are steep. If we take into account the age of the rocks, then Cape Fiolent should be considered the beginning of the first ridge, since the same rocks prevail here that make up the first ridge. The outer ridge stretches to the city of Stary Krym, the height of the ridge ranges from 149 m to 350 m. The inner ridge originates near Sevastopol (Sapun Mountain) and also ends near the city of Stary Krym, heights - from 490 m to 750 m. The main ridge in the west begins near Balaklava and ends with Mount Agarmysh, near the city of Stary Krym. In the southeast, between the Main and Middle Ridges of the Crimean Mountains, there is the Kishlavskaya depression (Indolo-Salskaya). The summit surface of the main ridge is a wavy plateau called yayla.

Plate-like massifs are stretched out in a chain from the south-west to the north-east of the Main ridge in the following order: Baydarskaya yayla, located at an altitude of 739 m above sea level; Ai-Petrinskaya yayla (up to 1320 m), Yalta yayla (up to 1406 m), Nikitskaya yayla (up to 1470 m), Gurzufskaya yayla (up to 1540 m) and Babugan-yila (with the highest point of Crimea, Roman-Kosh mountain - 1545 m ). All these yayls are interconnected and form a closed summit of the western chain of the Main Ridge. In contrast, the yayls located to the east are isolated massifs separated from each other by deep mountain passes or passes (bogazi). separates the Babugan-yayla massif and located to the east of Chatyr-Dag (height - up to 1527 m above sea level). Behind the next, Angarsk passage, there are the Demerdzhi-Yayla massifs (the highest point is 1356 m) and Dolgorukovskaya (Subatkan) Yayla (up to 1000 m). Even further, also beyond the pass, at an altitude of 1259 m, stretches the most extensive Karabi-Yaila. In the eastern part of the Crimean Mountains, instead of yayls, small ridges and short ridges with separate peaks and peaks, including those of volcanic origin, such as the Kara-Dag massif, have formed.

Geology [ | ]

Geologically, the mountain structures of the Crimea are part of the Alpine folded geosynclinal area, in contrast to the flat part of the Crimean peninsula, which has a platform structure and belongs to the Scythian plate. The folded region of the Mountainous Crimea is a large block uplift, the southern part of which, as a result of young subsidence, is submerged under the level of the Black Sea. It is composed of intensely dislocated Triassic-Jurassic flysch deposits and more calmly occurring Upper Jurassic carbonate and sandy-clayey Cretaceous, Paleogene and Neogene strata. Deposits of iron ores, various salts, flux limestones, etc. are associated with them. Movement along the faults continues here, causing earthquakes.

The main ridge of the Crimean Mountains is an uplifted block bounded in the north by a series of faults. This structure appeared already in the Early Cretaceous time after the residual synclinal troughs of the southern part of the Crimea closed and a general uplift of the surface took place. In the geological history of the Crimean Mountains, two stages can be distinguished: Precambrian-Paleozoic and Mesozoic-Cenozoic (Alpine).

In the early stage of geosynclinal development (Late Triassic - end of the Middle Jurassic) in the south of Crimea, the formation of a geosynclinal trough and the accumulation of powerful sedimentary and effusive complexes with the simultaneous formation of folded structures of various orders took place. In the Late Jurassic - Early Cretaceous period, separate troughs and uplifts are formed, into which a single earlier geosynclinal trough was divided. By the end of this time, the internal structure of the Crimean mega-anticlinorium was formed. At the end of the Early Cretaceous, in the Late Cretaceous and Paleogene, the Crimean mega-anticlinorium is formed as a large single uplift, complicated by individual troughs and faults.

The rise of the Crimean Mountains, first in the form of an island, occurred at the end of the Cretaceous and the Eocene. In the middle of the Neogene, the flattened surface of Yaila was formed. Before the Neogene, the mountains spread 20-30 km south of the modern coastline The Black Sea. In the Neogene, they acquired the features of a modern asymmetric structure. During the orogenic (molasse) stage (end of the Paleogene - Neogene), the mega-anticlinorium of the mountain Crimea continued to rise, and its southern limb probably began to descend. In the Neogene and Anthropogen, the formation of the modern relief of the mountainous Crimea took place. In the Pliocene, the Inner and Outer foothill ridges received orographic expression, and differentiated neotectonic movements appeared at the end of the Neogene - Anthropogene. In the anthropogen, erosion activity is intensified, and the destructive and creative work of the sea contributed to the formation of the coastline. As a result of the complex of these processes, the Crimean Mountains acquired their modern outlines.

The Crimean fold uplift consists of deposits of various ages. Its base is formed by deposits of the Taurian series, formed about 180-200 million years ago. They consist of alternating, strongly crumpled into small folds, layers of shales and quartzite sandstones of the Upper Triassic and Lower Jurassic. The next folds, occurring above, are represented by deposits of the Middle Jurassic age (clay-sandy layers, conglomerates and igneous rocks). The third floor of the central part of the mountain rise is formed by the Upper Jurassic limestones, sandstones and conglomerates. In some places, along the edges of this region, there is a stratum of the Lower Cretaceous deposits, represented by clays, sandstones and limestones, formed more than 100 million years ago. Numerous landslides and collapses of Jurassic limestone blocks are developed under the southern cliff. Among the Taurian series and rocks of the Middle Jurassic, there are many small bodies of igneous rocks (the Ayu-Dag mountains). There are also volcanic strata (mountain group Karadag). The northern foremost ridges of the Crimean Mountains are composed of Cretaceous, Paleogene and Neogene sediments.

Rivers and streams of the Crimean mountains[ | ]

The main watershed of the entire Crimean peninsula is located in the Crimean mountains, most of the rivers originate on the main ridge, at an altitude of 600-1100 m, on the yayls themselves there are almost no streams, which is associated with the hydro manifestation of karst. The total runoff of the Crimean mountains is 773.5 million cubic meters, and the density of the river network is 0.2 km / km². Depending on the relief, the rivers can be divided into groups: rivers, streams and gullies of the southern coast of Crimea, rivers and gullies of the northeastern slopes of the main ridge of the Crimean Mountains and rivers and beams of the northwestern slopes of the main ridge of the Crimean Mountains.

Fauna of the Crimean mountains[ | ]

Since the Crimean steppe passes into the area of the foothills, rising gradually, it is impossible to establish a sharp border between them, as well as to sharply dismember their fauna. Only the fauna of the South Coast sharply differs from the fauna of the northern slope of the mountains.

Mammals [ | ]

The foothills and the northern slope of the mountains are characterized by various types of hamsters, ground squirrels and jerboas. From the order of insectivores, a hedgehog is often found. In the strip of foothills, mountain forests and on the southern coast, the Crimean weasel is found, which is a cross between a weasel and an ermine. In the forests of the northern and southern slopes, the badger is found, and in the foothills, the steppe ferret.

The largest mammal of the Crimea, the deer, is found in the mountain forests. The Crimean deer is poorly studied. Currently, this animal has survived in small numbers in more remote highland areas. In addition to the deer, roe deer live in the mountain forests.

Birds [ | ]

In the foothill parts of the Crimea, representatives of the southern Russian steppes are mainly found. Several species of larks live on the northern slopes: the lark, the steppe lark, the crested lark; also inhabited by various types of bunting: millet, pleshanka, wheaten, golden bee-eater; a lot of rollers, other species (quail, hoopoe). For the region of mountains, especially the northern slopes, the following bird species are most characteristic: shrike and lesser shrike, garden bunting, nightjar, scoop, starling and goldfinch. Also in this area there are three types of nightingale: western nightingale, eastern nightingale, etc. The following birds are characteristic of mountain forests: Crimean tit, long-tailed tit, woodpecker, redstart, robin, warbler and jay. Mountain buntings are found high in the mountains. There is no sharp difference between the bird fauna of mountain peaks and forests.

Yayla is especially poor in birds; here you can still find predators - the griffon vulture or, even less often, the vulture.

The forests of the southern slope are inhabited by: blue tit, kinglets, crossbills and mountain bunting. In the cliffs there are: stone thrush, pika [ clarify], wall climber, stone

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