This is an invitation to the beautiful
world of unusual Crimea's nature, harmoniously combining splendour of subtropical
woods, mildness and coziness of bays on the coast of the warm sea, modesty
of alpine meadows and severe firmness of vertical rocks, enclosing the
sea. People, who have been to Crimea, without fail want to come back and
they'll always find something new here.  Climate
of the Crimea is subtropical. The middle air temperature is +29 C in summer,
+4 C in winter, the hottest one in summer is up to +38 C and the coldest
one in winter is down to -20 C. Extreme temperature values are usually
short term. In winter, from November to April, there is snow on yailas.
The most amount of inclement days takes place in February, when general
lowering of temperature is accompanied by often North-West winds. Crimea
is not-great. From the capital of Simpheropol one can reach any point of
peninsula by car for 2-4 hours. |
| The
Crimean mountains are like waves. Their highest crest in the east is mount
Kara-Dag, in the west - mount Ai-Petri. Beyond the main range, in the north,
amid the silent hills and valleys there lie dead medieval towns and flourishing
villages of today, surrounded by vineyards and orchards. In the south the
sea, the narrow strip of subtropics, the white palaces and the countless
beaches dazzle in the sunlight. |
|
Overshadowing the limpid waters
of the Koktebel bay are the chaotic black rocks of the Kara-Dag mountain
massif. Kara-Dag (BLACK MOUNTAIN) is a unique preserve. A geological one,
covering 20 sq. kms. of stone.
Back, in the jurassic period, the sea bottom swelled here, the volcano
gushed forth lava. It solidified into moulded
pillars, quaint images formed in volcanic tufas, chipped away by wind and
rain: the Devil's finger, the
|
|
The Sudak valley is dominated
by the famous fortress which is now a historical archaeological reserve.
The Ancient Greeks sailed up here ages before the Christian Era; the town
and fortress were possessed by the Byzantines, Cumans, Tartars, Genoese,
turks. During one hundred years of the Genoese domination through the 14th-15th
cc. The fortress was rebuilt many times until it acquired its final appearance.
Pipes if the ceramic water supply system, utensils of all kinds used by
the inhabitants of the medieval Sudak are being found in the
excavations. Visible from the
fortress walls Novy Svet in a lovely setting of Oval shaped inlets with
still crystal clear waters makes a happy sight.
|
|
|
Beyond Sydak, beyond Novy Svet
the main range of the Crimean Mountains towers to a greater height. The
road leads to the south coast. Strikingly singular look the contours of
mt Demerdji. On its western slope there is a fantastic world- the dale
of ghosts.
The sun, frosts, rains, winds,
the roots of trees and shrubs have been wearing away and splitting stone
throughout millennia, shaping columns, towers, bizarre figures. This is
a place of tourists' pilgrimage.
|
|
|
The mountain forests give life
to the Crimean rivers and brooks. Almost all the diversity of the Crimean
wild flora is represented precisely here - in the mountains and the forest
preserves. A total of 2 400 varieties.
|
 
|
|
The medieval towns, , castles,
monasteries of the south-western Crimea are called now conventionally the
"Cave towns". Time has brought to ruins the ground structures, the streets
have become overgrown with trees run wild. Chufut-Kaleh looks better than
the others; several buildings have survived. Just a few remnants have been
left of Tepen-Kermen's structures. The Chelter cave monastery with its
cells hewn in the rocks, its large cave temple makes a striking impression.
Close by is the round tower of the Suiren fortress. The town of Eski-Kermen
that sprang up on a large narrow plateau, Mangup, the former capital of
the independent principality of the Theodoro, where the largest of the
"Cave towns".
|
|
|
The south coast nowadays
is a health resort of nation-wide importance, available to everybody. Over
two million people spend here their holidays and get treatment yearly.
Greater Yalta - the town proper
and the incorporated settlements - is growing and improving apace.
|
|
The state Nikitsky botanical
garden is a large scientific institution founded in 1812. Since then plants
of all the continents of the globe are being collected here. There
are natives of Japan, New Zealand, the middle East, South Africa, California...
the cedar of Lebanon. Himalayan cedar, trees from Caucasus, Iran,
Central Asia...60 varieties of cornel-three...2 000 different kinds of
roses!
|
|
High above the sea,
gleaming white amid one of the most splendid parks on the coast, is a palace
built of Inkerman limestone. This is Livadia, the former summer residence
of the Russian Czar.
|
|
In the first half of the last
century, a palace designed by the English architect Edward Blore was built
in Alupka for the governor-general of Nova Rossia count Vorontsov.
The count's serfs were erecting this miracle of Architecture for twenty
years. The north side of the castle has a definite british aspect, its
west wing resembles a Medieval fortress, while its frontage facing south
looks as a kind of a moslem temple. The palace wonderfully fits into the
panorama of the mountains and the blue expanse of the sea. Thousands of
sightseers file along these facades each so unlike the other, look
over the Winter garden, Library, Chinese study, grand dining hall, Blue
drawing room. The Alupka park, by far the best one on the south coast
covers forty hectares.
|
|
|
