Many of us like to spend vacations in the domestic space. Someone (like the author of the article) - "pulls" the nostalgia of childhood, when I want to visit the same protected places again and again. Someone is uncomfortable too far to leave their homeland. Someone decides to save money or just arrange a little respite in the form of a weekend in the old and familiar places - like how to go to the country.
Welcome to Crimea!
One of these places, of course, is the Crimean peninsula with its remarkably mild climate, magnificent mountain landscapes, colorful flora and boundless sea space. About him, as well as one of the legends of the Crimea - the famous hill of the Bear Mountain - and our next story will go. A lot of guests of the peninsula, resting here, learn about local attractions, make new acquaintances, have a great time on beaches and discos, bars and other places of entertainment. But not all and not immediately attached to the legends of the Crimea, although the Bear Mountain is heard by any tourist from the post-Soviet space and foreign guests. There are so many curious legends connected with it, that there will not be enough for one long excursion! One of them, in absentia, we will accomplish and we are with you.
Toponymic Help
To begin with, we note that the name Bear-Mountain in the geographic object of interest is not the only one. "Ayu-Dag" is also widely accepted. It sounds rather strange for the Russian ear, does not it? And in translation from the Crimean-Tatar language it means, in fact, the Bear Mountain. But the Crimean Tatars themselves - the people who inhabited a long peninsula - gave the mountain a slightly different name: Biyuk-Kastel. It means a great fortress. And, of course, it was not associated with bears! Among the ancient Greeks, these places were called "Lamb's forehead". The Italian travelers and topographers of the Middle Ages, and did denote the hill as "Camel" - apparently, she reminded them of the humps of this animal. Here is the first legend and mystery of these places.
Geographic parameters
Located Bear Mountain (Ayu-Dag) in the southern part of the peninsula, near the settlements Partenit and Lavrovoye. At one of its foothills is the prestigious All-Union pioneer camp "Artek" (ICC "Artek"), which was prestigious in the past. The name of which, by the way, also according to one of the versions, comes from the Greek word "bear". And nearby there are Big Alushta and Big Yalta - large city districts. The mountain range borders directly on them. It rises above the sea level by almost 600 meters, and inland it has advanced more than 2 kilometers. A real Bear Mountain! Ayu-Dag, and this is important, an environmentally protected facility. Therefore, there are so many unusual things left. Even the energy here is very special. Geologically, the rock is a volcano.
The world is mysterious and ancient
But let us return to the legends connected with the place where the Bear Mountain is located. One of them says that once, in ancient times, to the Crimean coast, among the wreckage of ships, a box with a small child was nailed. In that place lived a herd of giant beasts, and their leader was an old and wise bear of enormous sizes. He heard the child's screams, unfolded the package and carried the child to his lair. So the girl (and the child was a girl) began to live among the animals, took care of them, and they shared with her prey. We repeat, all these events occurred exactly where the Bear Mountain is located.
Continuation of a story
This miracles did not end, and the story of generous salvation has an exciting sequel. Once, when the girl was already adult, not far from the shore after the storm, a half-destroyed boat was killed, in which the young man, exhausted in the struggle with the elements, lay. The girl, although she never saw people, took pity on him and moved him to a place away from the beasts that could rip apart the stranger. When the young man woke up, she began to nurse him and bring food. After a while, the young man grew strong enough that he began to build himself a new canoe to get to his native shores. The girl liked the young man, and she reciprocated him. Finally, the young man persuaded his beloved to flee with him, when the animals left for the next fishery. It was hard for the girl to part with the tribe of bears, who became her real family for her. But love was stronger, and she agreed.
Grief stiffened in stone
As soon as the fugitives sailed for some decent distance from the shore, like a huge bear-bearer, sensing something wrong, roared and rushed back to the lair that was near the sea shore. His chastity did not disappoint: the boat with the boy and girl still could be seen in the distance. Then the bear roared terribly once more and, tilting his head to the sea, began to drink seawater. The rest of the beasts, having understood what had happened, began to do the same. The swift stream began to carry the canoe escapees back to shore, to the furious beasts. Then the girl prayed to her former wild comrades and began to sing, desperately asking them to let go, begging for mercy. All the animals, except the leader, heard a wonderful song and broke away from the sea. Only the leader-bear, furious with such ingratitude, continued to drink and drink water, hoping to turn the fugitives back ... So he stayed, drinking water, by the sea, losing his last strength from despair, looking at the sea surface with a van disappearing in the distance. So it lies to this day, fossilized, for thousands of years. Here's how the Bear Mountain appeared on the peninsula, the Crimea without which - no longer Crimea!
Two islands
In the vicinity of Ayu-Dag there is another interesting landmark, located directly in the sea near the shore (several hundred meters from it), in the bay of Gurzuf, which also contains legends. These are two small island-cliffs, located side by side. Local residents call them Adalars (which means "islands" in the translation from Crimean-Tatar), or simply - White Stones. They have different shapes and heights. Once upon a time there was a small restaurant on these islands, they planned to build a cable car, but the Second World War prevented it.
The Legend of the Brothers
If you ask old residents, they can tell other legends of the Crimea, which also feature Bear Mountain, the photo of which you see here. Tradition tells that once upon a height there was a castle. In him lived and ruled the neighborhood two brothers-princes, very similar to each other. His name was George and Peter. They were brave and intrepid warriors, they fought together and protected each other. They ruled the district fairly, in which they were helped by their faithful and wise adviser - sorcerer Nympholis. One day Nympholis felt that his days were numbered. He called to his deathbed Peter and George and said: "Soon I will not be. In the end I will give you two caskets. In them - the keys to knowledge of the great. But you promise me and swear that you will never use these gifts from your own gain or to the detriment of other people. " The brothers swore that they will never use mercy and profit from anyone, but only for knowledge. Soon Nympholis, a wise adviser and fortuneteller, did not become ...
Conversion of love
You will ask, how is Bear Mountain connected to these events? The legend is not over yet, read what happened next. They remembered to take up caskets. Peter opened his own, and in it a wand with the inscription: "You will raise - sea waves will disperse, you will lower it - you will learn the secrets of the bottom of the sea". In the casket of George were two wings of silver. The inscription on them was this: "Tie them - and they will carry you in the sky, in white light, you will know all its secrets you."
Since then, the brothers have been made even more wise rulers than they were. After all, there are no secrets left for them either in the heavenly steep, or in the depths of the waters of the bottomless. But a few years later he became lonely and bored. And then somehow they found out that one overseas prince has two daughters-also twins, beauties that are rarely born. How could you give up trying to get such happiness? The brothers thought: "It's not for profit that we try, but for good, for happiness and for its knowledge!" They sulked, but they did not admit to themselves either. Deciding not to delay, Peter and Georgy kidnapped the girls and brought them against their will. But the sisters were very angry with their brothers, they did not like this!
So there were Adalars
And then the brothers decided to achieve the love of beauties with the help of the gifts of Nympholis. Junior George took two silver wings, tied them to a horse, put his brother and sisters on his horse, and soared high into the sky, intending to show the sun itself to the sisters. But then the voice of Nympholis rang out like a thunder: "Come back!" Georgi was frightened of an angry shout and turned his horse back home. Sisters over him only laughed: "Scared, coward? Did he show us the sun? "Then the next day Peter decided to conquer the hearts of beautiful sisters with his boasting. He took his brother and girls in a chariot to the seashore, waved his rod, dropping it - and, exposing the bottom, the abyss of water diverged. And Peter led their chariot along the bottom of the sea. But after passing a little, they again heard the voice of Nympholis: "Stop! With bad thoughts you discovered the abyss of the sea, then you will be punished if you do not return at once! "However, Pyotr became obstinate, and the chariot continued its way even faster where it was not permissible for any mere mortal to walk. Then the king of the sea was angry , struck with his three-edged staff - and killed the brothers, struck again - and the sisters died ... But their bodies did not disappear - they became the very rocks that are still known as the Adalars ... Here are the poetic legends of the Crimea Bear Mountain And the surroundings are stored for those who are curious, inquisitive, interested in history and local history. But we have not yet told you about Pushkin's Trail: the great poet, according to legend, was here, rose to Ayu-Dag, staring dreamily at the distance of the "free element." His famous "To the Sea" was born here when Pushkin was dreaming about other countries, about the will so necessary for him. Contain the legends of the Crimea and "terrible" stories - about the ships-ghosts, sailors-drowned men, unheard of deep monsters.
Natural resources
Not only the sights, the spirit of antiquity and romance attracts the Crimea. The nature of the Crimea is another, a separate topic for the excursion. To go here, of course, is better in the summer or in the end of spring, when everything is green, blooms and pleases the eye. The rest are waiting for, in the first place, air-ennobling cypresses. Their slender "candles" rise in the velvet southern sky and fill everything around with their fragrant "breath". The diversity of the wildlife of Ayu-Dagh is generally the same as the whole peninsula and corresponds to it - thanks to the mountain landscape. So for example, in addition to the already mentioned cypress trees, there are pine forests (mixed), oak and beech. The flora of imported exotic plants is represented by more than 1000 species. Of the fauna, we should note such mammals that are familiar to us on the plain, like foxes, badgers, hares and hedgehogs. Next to them live like seabirds - gulls and cormorants, and "land" - woodpeckers, owls, sparrows and tits. On Ayu-Dag there are a lot of snakes of several species, lizards also live.
Road to the sea
How to get to the Bear Mountain to ascend to its top and take a photo? Here are some recommendations. The distance along the highway from Yalta to Partenit (as to the nearest settlement) is about 24 km, from Simferopol - 62 km, from Sevastopol - 104 km. To get to Partenit from Simferopol or Yalta can be a trolley (No. 52), but it's slow. Better is the bus. From Yalta, for example, there is express No. 110. You can get there by taxi, but it's quite expensive. Do not think that it is impossible to get lost in Ayu-Dag and its environs. It's even possible! For example, counselors of ICC "Artek" with experience, told stories, as sometimes pioneers, moved by curiosity, fled from camp to the mountains. As a result, for their search (and even rescue!), It was necessary to call rescuers, to involve the local population. This ended, as a rule, in that the frightened children, of course, were, probulyzhdav on Ayu-Dag day-other without food and water. After all, on the Bear-mountain often there are fogs (especially in spring and autumn), enveloping both the crown of it, and all the way up to the foot. Therefore, if you decide to take a walk to Ayu-Dagu with the children, be careful and do not let them go too far!