Cape Martyan in Crimea: description and location

The nature of our planet is unique. And nature untouched by civilization is doubly beautiful. There are not many places on earth where you can enjoy the beauties of the Mediterranean subtropics. Most likely, they can be counted on the fingers, but even they will be more than enough to plunge into the world of wildlife, hear the singing of rare birds, and see with their own eyes the endangered species of animals.

A wonderful place that everyone should visit is Cape Martian Nature Reserve. It is located in Crimea near Yalta. A large city does not affect not only the reserve itself, but also the nearby territory.

Tourists who value eco-tourism, and this movement has become quite popular in recent years, will plunge into a protected reserve, where the landscapes are completely untouched and the air is crystal clear. Such a trip will be not only interesting, but also useful and entertaining.

The reserve territory itself appeared due to the movement of tectonic plates - part of the Nikitsky ridge, which at the time of movement of the plates collapsed into the sea, formed a cape after itself, scree at the water's edge (they are also called “stone chaos”).

The mountains that surrounded the ridge, and now the cape, have protected and still protect the territory from the northern winds, thereby providing terrain even climate, without extreme temperature changes. This climate is considered characteristic of the southern coast of Crimea.

Climate is formed under the influence of geographical latitudes and atmospheric processes that are created under the influence of the Mediterranean and Black Seas. Nevertheless, weather conditions on the peninsula differ in that the southern coast is surrounded by mountain ranges from the north. That is, due to the geographical position of the cape cold air does not fully extend beyond the ridge, and if it passes, then not with such force.

It follows that the temperature here is never too cold even if we accept the fact that the reserve is close to the sea.

Geographically, Cape Martyan is not so large, only 240 hectares, and the Black Sea washing the Cape is also included in this figure.

Now the reserve refers to the Nikitsky Botanical Garden, considered natural science lab.

Thanks to the work of Academician Peter Simon Pallas, a botanical garden was created on the cape. In his writings, he described that an authentic landscape and natural vegetation were preserved on this territory, which, in his opinion, is considered the standard of Mediterranean vegetation.

Other representatives of the Red Book that grow in the reserve can be considered:

• juniper high;
• Pistachio is stupid.

It is noteworthy that the age of some juniper bushes reaches 100 years, but there are also such rare specimens, whose age is more than 500 years.

The reserve is very young, because it received this status only in 1973. In 1969, ancient fortresses on its territory, the construction of which date from the 13th-15th centuries, were taken under observation, namely, the fortress, which is called Ruskofil-Kale, built in the 13th century, received the status of a monument of archeology.

But if you delve into the history of the formation of the reserve, you can understand that they began to consider it a natural monument back in the 40s of the last century. After all, it was during these years that scientists realized that rare species of animals and plants are found on the cape that make the territory unique.

The idea of ​​creating a juniper reserve was supported by many scientists and workers of the botanical garden, and therefore in 1947 the grove on the cape was awarded the title of a reserve, which was taken under protection.

But legally, the territory was not a reserve until February 20, 1973. It was on this day that the reserve was registered, indicating that the total length of the territory is 240 ha, of which 120 are land (groves, forests and a botanical garden) and the second half of 120 ha is the Black Sea.

Many tourists from all over the world go a long way to see the amazing and beautiful sights of Crimea. It is easy to guess that there is also a great demand for plants and animals. Especially if there is an opportunity to see with your own eyes such rare representatives of flora and fauna.

As mentioned earlier, there are about 500 species of trees. This is truly a unique place where you can meet juniper and other rare plants.

On the territory of the reserve, plants are divided into those that bloom year-round, and those that bloom by season. Typically, about 68% of the plants bloom year-round, and the remaining ones are those that grow in summer or winter. The vegetation of flowering due to the climate in some species can last from 10-15 days and even go up to two months.

The main part of the land is covered with forests of fluffy oak (the height of this tree reaches 4-8 meters in 60 years), representatives of tall juniper occupy a little less. Even in the reserve, you can find Crimean pines - their height reaches 10 meters, the trunk diameter ranges from 20 to 40 cm, and their age is 90 years on average, which is 2 times more than that of oak.

Due to the large amount of rainfall, the vegetation extends further and further. Of course, it is not without human help that cares for rare plants.

Small-fruited Strawberry, which is found on the territory of the cape, is considered an evergreen deciduous tree. Its height is approximately 20 meters. Grows in a community, cyclically, in small groups.

This tree is under special observation, as it is thermophilic and dies at temperatures below minus 15 degrees. And for him, spring frost is considered a dangerous time, when after several days of warm weather, the tree comes out of the "winter hibernation". Sudden freezing can ruin it.

The beginning of flowering is considered to be the period from the beginning of April, the plant blooms in mid-May, and in June leaf fall occurs. The fruits on the tree begin to ripen in late October, and their ripening continues until January.

It’s also worth noting a wide variety of orchids. There are 22 species, and they are all protected.

About 130 species discovered in the coastal waters of Cape Martian seaweed. As for the animal kingdom, you should not rely too much on the fact that you can see any large mammals here, since they are not found on Cape Martyan.

But you can see many insects:

• granular ground beetle;
• large centipedes-skolopendra;
• mantis;
• large cicadas;
• butterflies "Polyxena".

There are different types of lizards (in particular, a rare species of the Crimean rocky lizard and the Crimean bare-fingered gecko).

Among the birds can be found avifauna (all nine species that exist in the world) Crimean jay, oak moss, crossbill-elovik, pika.

It is almost impossible to meet especially large mammals in the reserve, but still rare species of animals live there. One of such representatives can be considered Crimean stone marten, which is also called a mountain fox or a forest mouse.

The fastest way to get to the reserve is from Yalta. By shuttle buses you will need to get to the village of Nikita. For a more convenient trip, you can use the coordinates of the cape N 44.506379 E 34.245028. If you want to see the sea, that is, the motor ship route from Yalta to Gurzuf (the route goes through the reserve).

About the features of the reserve, see the next video.