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

In the eastern part of the Crimean peninsula, the city of Stary Krym is located, which has a rich history, has survived a lot, but has retained its face. Today it is part of the Kirovsky district, with less than 10 thousand people living 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, Stary Krym, Izyumovka. During excavations in the town, archaeologists have found items of antique ceramics, which may date back to the 4th-3rd centuries BC. But these layers, capable of giving answers to many other questions, are covered by medieval layers, they are partially destroyed.

It is generally accepted that the emergence of the city fell on the XIII century, when the steppe Crimea became part of the Golden Horde... But in the city, during the excavations, they found an honorary inscription of 222 AD, and this alone was enough to call into question the official date of the city's foundation. It is known that in the XI century, Armenians began to settle on its territory, and after 3 centuries the town became a large trade center with 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 flourishing of the existence of the settlement can rightfully be considered the XIV century. At that time, the city had the status of a large trade center on the Silk Road from the Asian part to the European one. It grew at a fast pace, built up. It was then that several mosques and madrasahs 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, Kyrk-Er acquired a significant status, then Bakhchisarai. Kyrym gradually lost his status. At this time, the settlement began to be called Eski-Kyrym, which is translated as "Old Crimea". The current name of the city, which has become part of Russia since 2014, is just a copy of the previous name, only in Russian.

The city also had the name Leukopolis (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 in the history of the Old Crimea. In the fall of 1941, the invaders invaded here, and on April 13, 1944, when the settlement was taken by the joint forces of the Red Army and partisans, the Wehrmacht units organized a horrific massacre, 584 people were killed, including 200 children.

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

Many travelers come here to venerate the graves of Alexander Grin and Yulia Drunina; playwright Kepler is also buried here. Konstantin Paustovsky, the great Russian writer, before whom Marlene Dietrich herself fell to her knees, adored and looked for any opportunity to stay in these places.

Finally, the buildings of antiquity that have survived to this day are curious for tourists - mosques, monasteries, chapels.

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

The climate can be described as mild mountainous. The settlement is closed from the northwest by the Agarmysh mountains, and from the south by the Karasan-Oba ranges. The Churuk-Su river flows here, but still it is difficult to call it a river, it looks more like a stream, and by summer it dries up completely.

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

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

There are not many hotels in such a small settlement - there are 6 of them. You can stay in the Hunter's House, in the Halal hotel on the street. Severnaya, 30, and Stamova, 48, in the hotel "Solnechny Krym", 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 in a hotel in the Old Crimea, and drive to the beach by car. It only seems that it is so expensive and inconvenient: renting a hotel by the sea is much more expensive.

Still, not everyone goes to Crimea for the sake of 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 it's really easy to get to the beach by car.

This small town is full of attractions. And if you are relaxing here, there will be time to see everything.

This shrine is one of the most revered for the indigenous Crimeans. But not only Muslims visit it, tourists are interested in the ancient temple. The mosque was built in 1314, while the Khan of the Golden Horde was Muhammad Uzbek, 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 earlier, it was decided to build a mosque.

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

In addition to the mosque, you can see the ruins of a madrasah - a higher school for Muslims, founded in the 14th century.

And this is the most ancient mosque in Crimea, although, unlike the previous one, it is not active. The name of the temple was given by Sultan Baybars, or rather, grateful contemporaries named a mosque in his honor. He sponsored the construction back in 1287. It has survived only partially, 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 Monastyrskaya Mountain there is an ancient Armenian monastery Surb-Khach, which translates as "holy cross". It was erected in the XIV century.

You can also walk to the Armenian Church of Surb-Nshan with beautiful fountains. There are also holy springs here, from which tourists do not forget to draw water.

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

There is a legend according to which the chapel was built over the source where the icon of the saint was found. At the end of the 40s of the last century, the old chapel burned down, but already at the beginning of the 21st century, a new one was built with the money of caring parishioners. The source with healing water has been preserved.

The city churchyard is located near the highway Simferopol – Kerch on the Kuzgun-Burun hill. To a greater extent, they know it 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 buried in the city cemetery. This place, where fans of his talent come to honor the memory of Green, was chosen by the writer's wife, Nina Green. And she wrote that from here could be seen the golden bowl of the shores of Feodosia, full of sea blue, which Alexander Stepanovich dearly loved.

The writer bequeathed to plant at his tombstone a modest sprout of cherry plum, taken from a tree growing near his house.

In the mid-40s, next to Green, his wife's mother was interred. The wife herself died 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 burial of her husband. But the most interesting thing is that the executors of Green's widow were able to secretly reburial her a year later.

It so happened that a literary necropolis was formed near the Greens' family burial - science fiction writer and inventor Vadim Okhotnikov, poet-translator Grigory Petnikov are buried here.

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

In 1960, a house-museum of Alexander Grin was opened in the city. It is part of the nature reserve "Cimmeria MA Voloshin". The place is considered unique, as it is not the writers' summer residence - it was his only home.

And he lived here nothing at all, the count went on for days. Nina Nikolaevna bought it in exchange for a gold wristwatch. It was the fourth address of the prose writer in the town, and the first - his own, where Green had a chance to be the owner at least for a little bit.

It was here that Alexander Stepanovich dictated the pages of the unfinished work "Impatient", and here he held in his hands his last book published during his lifetime - "An Autobiographical Tale".

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

The museum is the brainchild of the widow of a prose writer... And feminine stubbornness, and fortitude, and a clear understanding of the goal, and, of course, love for her Master did the unthinkable - everything that was so valuable to her, and that said and continues to talk about one of the most lyrical and mysterious writers of Russian literature, survived and has come down to us. Neither the hard times of persecution, nor the Nazi occupation forced Nina Nikolaevna to abandon the goal of creating a museum.

Every year a literary festival "Greenlandia", at the end of August, thanks to the efforts of several poetic and other organizations of the Crimea, a festival of creativity is held. The culmination of the festival can be called the raising of those very scarlet sails on the slope of Mount Agarmysh. And on August 24, all those who gathered for the holiday walk from the Old Crimea to Koktebel, repeating the path of Alexander Grin.

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

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

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

Fans of the so-called event tourism come here. This is a small rural house, the rooms of which keep traces of the writer's stay with his family. There are many photos of both the classic himself and his surroundings. A piano and a mirror, a gramophone, vases and books - everything remained here and, it seems, is waiting for the owners.

In the courtyard of the house there is a painted boat, which is a symbol of the direction opened by Green. In the garden where the boat is located, an unusual gathering takes place every year. Fans of the writer's creativity hold 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 Old Crimea is valuable. And the rest in it is just as unhurried and lyrical.There is also a literary and art museum, a Crimean Tatar museum, and a museum of the Stary Krym sanatorium.

There is also a central park in the town, where you can take a walk during the day and in the evening. It is beautifully decorated with a lot of greenery.

There will be playgrounds for children and, albeit modest, but attractions. Children will be interested in the Safari Ranch Kozya Balka eco-park. You can even hand feed the animals that live in it. Goats, deer, llamas and birds live in the eco-park.

Not far from here is Koktebel, so the trip is unlikely to be complete 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 a regular bus. You can get to the Kurortnaya bus station, from there flights to Staryi Crimea go every half hour.

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

A town for lyricists, romantics, lovers of calm relaxation and clean air, history, literature and quiet places hidden in the shadow of large resorts. Well worth a visit!

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