Crimea

The South Coast of the Crimean peninsula is well known in Ukraine and abroad. Crimean coast is very beautiful in summer and annually it attracts millions of tourists who come there from May till the end of September to enjoy nature, sea and visit historical places.

The Crimean peninsula is very old and still has many secrets that are of great historical and scientific value. If you travel from Simferopol by car the first town that will attract your attention is Bahchisaray. There you can visit Khan-Saray a Khans’ palace, old castle Chufut-Kale and Uspenskyi monastery. But don’t forget to visit famous Dyurbe mausoleum and Zyndzhyrly Medrese - a spiritual Muslim school.


After Bahchisaray you can visit Sevastopol and its famous Mikhaylovskaya coastal battery with the biggest in the world collection of military history artifacts and historical-archeological park Chersonese that long time ago was a Greek colony and economical center of the North Black Sea region. Chersonese is an old city founded in the first century B.C. and remained till our times in ruins.


Driving from the West to the East South Crimea you can visit ancient caves in mountains. There are around 800 caves in Crimea, 50 of them are natural landmarks. The most famous of them are Marble cave in Chatyrdag, Kizil-Koba cave in Dolgorukovskyi mountain group, Ai-Petri and Karaby-Yaila upland. Each of them is unique thanks to different kind of forms, length, height, minerals and multicolor dripstones. All these caves and mountains surrounded with wonderful nature and landscapes. There are also churches that were long ago built in mountain caves.


Crimea is well known for its palaces situated on the south coast. They were built in different times for different people and purposes, they inspired poets, writers and painters, famed in books and till now play a great role in the history of this region. Driving along the south coast from the west to the east the first palace you can visit is Dyulber. It is situated in Koreiz in 12 km from Yalta. From Arabic its name is translated as “magnificent”. Architect’s purpose was to point out this palace from surrounded nature and mountains and he succeeded. Dyulber was built in 1895-1897 in romantic Mauritanian style and impresses everyone with its picturesque park, fountains, sculptures, monuments, and palms which remind you oriental fairy tale.

In Koreiz you will find Yusupovskyi palace built for one of the richest families in Russia. It was built in Italian style with many pools, park with around 200 ornamental trees, marble sculptures and terra-cotta lions. Today palace is closed for tourists and works as a state summer residence.

After Yusupovskyi palace time comes for famous Nikitinskyi botanical garden. It was founded in 1812 on the shore of the Black Sea and named after the village Nikita. Now it works as a scientific research center and counts more than 50 000 species, sorts and hybrids of different plants.


Then you can go to the Swallow’s nest in the Gaspra that is in 10km from Yalta. This beautiful castle was built on the brink of the rock and became a symbol of peninsula; it appears in many movies and poems. Another palace situated near Swallow’s nest is Livadia Palace. Built in the 19th century it became a first summer residence of Russian imperial family. Nowadays this beautiful building is opened like museum and hosts heads of states during international summits or their official visits to Ukraine.

In 5 kilometers to north-east from Yalta in Malaya Masandra you will find Massandra Palace that was built in early 17th century style and reminds knight’s castle. This soviet residence of former political leaders is opened for visitors who can find here unique amenities such as an old fireplace made from the complete piece of marble, hand-made lamps, furniture and mirrors.


If you continue your trip and drive to the east coast of the Crimea, one of the most interesting places where you can get by car is Karadag. It is an old volcano formed more than 150 million years ago after the earthquake, surrounded by mountains and picturesque landscapes. There you will find the Golden Gate mountain a symbol of the Karadag. This is a volcanic mountain in the form of gates, situated in the sea near the beach and lighted by the sun during the sunset.

Crimea is well-known not only for its landscapes and sea but also for its wine production. While driving along the south coast you will see a variety of different vineries on the hills. South climate and sun give grapes unique taste and as a result there are many different kinds of wine that you can taste at vineyards or special wine-stores.


When you arrive to the east part of Crimea you will go to Kerch. It is one of the oldest towns in the world and is of great historical and architectural value. In the 7th century B.C. on this place was Ponticapey that belonged to the Roman, Osman and after Russian empires. Nowadays it is called Mitridat. You can visit Big Mitridat stairs built in 1840, castle Yeni-Kale, king’s mound and ancient city Mirmekyi founded by Greeks in the middle of 6th B.C. On the territory of Kerch there are many ancient burial mounds and cities where you still can meet archeologist who are looking for new artifacts.

It is a short description of Crimean sightseeings which you can see by yourself. But don’t stop on this and continue to discover more with Avis Ukraine.