Old Crimea: attractions, where is it and how to get there?

In the eastern part of the Crimean peninsula, the city of Old Crimea is located, which has a rich history, survived a lot, but retained its face. Today it is part of the Kirov region, less than 10 thousand people live here.

The territory of the city is unique for any researcher and just a lover of the study of history. There are several zones of Neolithic settlements with eponymous names - Bakatash, Old Crimea, Izyumovka. During excavations in the town, archaeologists found objects of ancient ceramics, which may date back to the 4th-3rd centuries BC. But these layers, capable of providing answers to many other questions, are blocked by medieval layers, partially they are destroyed.

It is generally accepted that the emergence of the city occurred in the XIII century, when the steppe Crimea became part of the Golden Horde. But in the city during excavations they found an honorary inscription of 222 AD, and this alone was enough to cast doubt on the official date of the city. It is known that in the XI century, Armenians began to settle on its territory, and after 3 centuries the town became a major center of trade, having a large Armenian colony and Tatar power.

When the Horde domination was established in the east of the peninsula, the city of Kyrym appeared here.

Experts suggest that the city was simply divided into 2 parts - in the Muslim was the residence of the emir, and in the Christian lived Italian merchants.And these territories were called so: the first Kyrym, the second Solkhat.

The heyday of the existence of the settlement can rightfully be considered the XIV century. At that time, the city had the status of a major shopping center on the Silk Road from the Asian to the European part. He grew rapidly, built up. It was then that several mosques and madrassas were built in the settlement, some of them have survived to this day.

When Crimea ceased to be dependent on the Horde, the Crimean Khanate was formed, the capital was moved. First, Kirk-Er acquired a significant status, then Bakhchisaray. Kyrym gradually lost his status. At this time, the settlement began to be called Eski-Kırym, which translates as "Old Crimea". The current name of the city, which has become part of Russia since 2014, is simply tracing paper from the previous name, only Russian-speaking.

The city also had the name Levkopol (in the years when it was included in the Russian Empire), but it did not take root.

The years of the Great Patriotic War were also terrible pages of the history of the Old Crimea. In the fall of 1941, invaders invaded here, and on April 13, 1944, when the joint forces of the Red Army and partisans took the settlement, the Wehrmacht units organized a horrific massacre, 584 people became victims of it, and among them 200 children.

Historical and architectural monuments in the Old Crimea are found, if not at every step, then with an impressive tourist frequency. At the end of the 18th century, Catherine II visited the city. They awaited her arrival, in honor of him they even built a palace, an oriental style fountain, a gazebo.

Many travelers come here to bow to the graves of Alexander Green and Julia Drunina, and the playwright Kepler is also buried here. Konstantin Paustovsky, the great Russian writer, who Marlen Dietrich herself fell to her knees, adored and looked for any opportunity to stay in these places.

Finally, tourists are curious about the ancient structures that have survived to our days - mosques, monasteries, chapels.

Today, the city has several not very large enterprises, its population is not growing. Almost half of the inhabitants of the Old Crimea consider themselves Russian, 35% consider themselves to be Crimean Tatars. The road passes through the city of Simferopol - Feodosia.

The climate can be described as a mild mountain. The village of Agarmysh closes the village from the north-west, and the Karasan-Oba ridges from the south. The Churuk-Su river flows here, but still it is difficult to call it a river, it looks more like a stream, and completely dries by summer.

The city is located at an altitude of 320 m above sea level.

It is very good here in summer, but anyone who wants to relax in a hot climate can immediately cancel this route. It can be really hot during the day, but the nights are pretty cool. There is no such stuffiness that will haunt you on the sea coast. There are not so many tourists here, mainly relatives of Starokrym people come here in season.

There are not many hotels in such a small village - there are 6. There is a possibility to stay in the Hunter's House, in the Halal Hotel on ul. Severnaya, 30, and Stamova, 48, in the hotel "Sunny Crimea", as well as in the guest house "Zarema".

But if you do not want to live "in an apartment", and hotels by the sea are expensive for you, it is more profitable to stay at a hotel in Old Crimea, and go to the beach by car. It just seems so expensive and inconvenient: renting a hotel by the sea is much more expensive.

Nevertheless, not everyone goes to the Crimea for the scorching sun: someone wants not to “fry”, but to improve their health. Walking around the city, in which even the air heals, is already a recovery. And by car, really, just get to the beach.

This small town is full of sights. And if you are resting here, there is time to see everything.

This shrine is one of the most revered for the indigenous Crimeans. But not only Muslims visit it, tourists visit the ancient temple with interest. The mosque was built in 1314, while Muhammad Uzbek was the khan of the Golden Horde, hence the name.

During his reign, the Tatar state was actively developing, the Muslim faith spread among the population, therefore, in Solkhat, as the Old Crimea was called before, it was decided to erect a mosque.

It was built in the shape of a rectangular basilica, one corner is complemented by a single minaret, a spiral staircase goes into it. The shape of the entrance resembles a portal, inside the building is three naves, in one of them is a mihrab. These are truly the most valuable examples of art, since stone carvings, in which both the portal and the mihrab are made, can be called highly artistic.

In addition to the mosque, you can look at the ruins of the madrasah - a higher school for Muslims, founded in the XIV century.

And this is the oldest mosque in Crimea, although unlike the previous one, it is not functioning. The name of the temple was given by Sultan Beybars, more precisely, in his honor, grateful contemporaries called the mosque. He sponsored the construction back in 1287. It was only partially preserved, only ruins remained. But if you think about it, how many centuries the temple stood on this place, even its ruins are impressive.

At the foot of the Monastery Mountain is located the ancient Armenian monastery of Surb-Khach, which translates as “the holy cross”. It was built in the XIV century.

You can walk to the Armenian church of Surb Nshan with beautiful fountains. Here there are holy sources from which tourists do not forget to draw water.

Take a look at the chapel of St. Panteleimon, which is worshiped by believers as the patron saint of healing.

There is a legend according to which a chapel was built over the source, where they found the icon of the saint. At the end of the 40s of the last century, the old chapel burned down, but already at the beginning of the XXI century, a new one was built with the money of caring parishioners. A source of healing water has been preserved.

City graveyard is located at the highway Simferopol – Kerch on the Kuzgun-Burun hill. To a greater extent they know him as the place of the last refuge of the great Russian writer Alexander Green.

The writer died on July 8, 1932, and on July 9 his body was interred in the city cemetery. This is the place where fans of his talent come to honor Green today, the writer’s wife, Nina Green, chose. And she wrote that from here one could see the golden bowl of the coast of Feodosia, full of sea blue, which Alexander Stepanovich dearly loved.

The writer bequeathed to plant at his grave plate a modest process of cherry plum taken from a tree growing near his house.

In the mid-40s, next to Green, they buried his wife's mother. The wife herself did not die in 1870, but the authorities forbade her to be buried next to Alexander Stepanovich, then the devoted wife was laid to rest 50 meters from the husband’s burial. But the most interesting thing is that the executors of the widow Green were able to secretly rebury her a year later.

It so happened that a literary necropolis was formed near Grinov’s family burial place - here lie a science fiction writer and inventor Vadim Okhotnikov, poet and translator Grigory Petnikov.

And in the depths of the territory of the old churchyard, the last shelter was found by the filmmaker Alexei Kapler and his wife Julia Drunina. And although they died in different years in Moscow, it was here that the famous husband and wife decided to stay forever.

In 1960, the house-museum of Alexander Green was opened in the city. He is part of the reserve "Cimmeria M. A. Voloshin." The place is considered unique, since it is not a summer residence of writers - it was his only own house.

And he lived here nothing at all, the bill went on for days. Nina Nikolaevna acquired it in exchange for a gold watch. This was the fourth prose writer address in the town, and the first one was his own, where Greene at least had a chance to stay in the role of the owner.

It was here that Aleksandr Stepanovich dictated the pages of the unfinished work “Not Touchable,” and here he held in his hands his last book, published during his lifetime, “The Autobiographical Story”.

Exposition composition - three small rooms. In the first - there is a literary and memorial exposition, here are the writer's own things, books, paintings, photographs. These are all witnesses to the last period of Alexander Stepanovich’s life, dumb, but at the same time talking so much. Amazingly, in the second room everything remained exactly the same as it was in the last days of Green's life. Only the wooden floor had to be done before it was earthen.

Museum - the brainchild of a prose writer widow. And women's obstinacy, and strength of mind, and a clear understanding of the purpose, and, of course, love for their Master made the unthinkable - everything that was so valuable to her, and that spoke and continues to talk about one of the most lyrical and mysterious writers of Russian literature, preserved and reached us. Neither the hard times of the persecution nor the Nazi occupation forced Nina Nikolaevna to abandon the goal of creating a museum.

Literature is held here annually Greenland festival in late August, through the efforts of several poetry and other organizations of Crimea, a celebration of creativity takes place. The culmination of the festival can be called the rise on the slope of Mount Agarmysh those same scarlet sails. And on August 24, all those gathered for the holiday walk walk from the Old Crimea to Koktebel, repeating the path of Alexander Green.

To visit Green’s house-museum, to bow to his grave (where, by the way, the song “Running on the Waves” is installed) is not just a tribute to the memory, perhaps not fully appreciated by a writer of the 20th century. This is also an occasion to discover new prose, to read something more than the textbook “Scarlet Sails”. For people writing - a place of strength, inspiration, creative pilgrimage.

The Paustovsky Museum in the town was opened much later than the Green House-Museum, in 2005.

And Paustovsky came to the Old Crimea on purpose, in order to see the city beloved by Green and bow to his grave. It happened in 1934. He lived here at three addresses, and one of them became the future museum.

Lovers of the so-called event tourism come here. This is a small rural house whose rooms contain traces of the writer’s stay with his family. Here are a lot of photos of the classic himself and his surroundings. A piano and a mirror, a gramophone, vases and books - everything remained here and seems to be waiting for the owners.

In the courtyard of the house is a painted boat, which is a symbol of the direction discovered by Green. An unusual gathering takes place annually in the garden where the boat is located. Fans of the writer's work spend the Sorang holiday (a night wind from the south, very rarely observed by meteorologists).

Old Crimea is a place where time has stopped a bit. Temples, museums marked with the seal of antiquity make the city unhurried, a little frozen in a beautiful, romantic eternity. That is why the Old Crimea is valuable. And rest in it is the same unhurried and lyrical.There is also a literary and art museum, the Crimean Tatar Museum, as well as the museum of the sanatorium "Old Crimea".

There is a central park in the town where you can take a walk in the afternoon and evening. It is beautifully decorated, there is a lot of greenery.

There will be playgrounds for children and, albeit modest, but attractions. Children will be interested in the Ecological Park “Goat Bog Safari Ranch”. You can even feed the animals that live in it with your hands. Goats, deer, llamas and birds live in an ecopark.

Koktebel is not far from here, so it is unlikely that the trip will do without visiting the water park and dolphinarium. Relatively close (23 km) Feodosia with its gorgeous beaches.

From the new airport of Simferopol you can get to the Old Crimea by regular bus. You can get to the Kurortnaya bus station, from there flights to the Old Crimea go every half hour.

The distance to the sea is 20-30 km, everything is quite compact, if you are by car, it’s very convenient. The map shows that, living in the Old Crimea, you can ride on the beaches of Koktebel, Sudak, Feodosia.

A town for lyricists, romantics, lovers of a relaxing holiday and clean air, history, literature and quiet places lurking in the shadow of large resorts. Worth a visit!

You will learn more about the Old Crimea by watching the following video.