Many of us like to spend holidays on domestic open spaces. Someone (like the author of the article) is “drawn” by the nostalgia of childhood when one wants to visit the same reserved places again and again. Someone uncomfortable too far to leave the homeland. Someone decides to save money or just take a short break in the form of a weekend in old and well-known places - it’s kind of like going to the cottage.
Welcome to the Crimea!
One of such places, of course, is the
Crimean peninsula with its remarkably mild climate, magnificent mountain landscapes, colorful flora and unlimited sea space. About him, as well as about one of the legends of Crimea - the famous hill Bear Mountain - and our further story will go. Many guests of the peninsula, relaxing here, learn about local attractions, make new acquaintances, have a great time at beaches and discos, in bars and other entertainment venues. But far from all, they don’t immediately join the legends of Crimea, although Bear Mountain is well-known to any tourist from the former Soviet Union and foreign guests. So many curious legends are connected with it that it’s not enough for one long excursion! One of them, in absentia, we will complete.
Toponymic Help
To begin with, we note that the name Bear Mountain is not the only geographical object of interest to us. Ayu-Dag is also generally accepted. Sounds pretty strange to the Russian ear, doesn't it? And in translation from the Crimean Tatar language, it means, actually, Bear Mountain. But the Crimean Tatars themselves - the people who have long inhabited the peninsula - gave the mountain a slightly different name: Biyuk-Kastel. It means a great fortress. And, of course, was not associated with bears! The ancient Greeks, these places were called "Lamb forehead." Italian travelers and topographers of the Middle Ages at all designated the hill as “Camel” - apparently, it reminded them of the humps of this animal. Here is the first legend and mystery of these places.
Geographic parameters
The
Bear Mountain (Ayu-Dag) is located in the southern part of the peninsula, near the settlements of Partenit and Lavrovoye. At one of its foothills is the prestigious All-Union Pioneer Camp “Artek” (MDC “Artek”). The name of which, by the way, also according to one version, comes from the Greek word "bear". And nearby are Big Alushta and Big Yalta - large urban districts. The mountain range directly borders on them. It rises above sea level by almost 600 meters, and inland has advanced more than 2 kilometers. The real Bear Mountain! Ayu-Dag, and this is important, an environmental object. Therefore, so many extraordinary things have been preserved here. Even the energy here is very special. According to its geological origin, the rock is a volcano.
The mysterious and ancient world
But back to the legends associated with the place where Bear Mountain is located. One of them says that once, in ancient times, a box with a small child was nailed to the
Crimean coast, among the wreckage of ships. In that place there lived a herd of giant animals, and their leader was an old and wise bear of enormous size. He heard the cries of a child, unfolded the bundle and carried the child to his lair. So the girl (and the child turned out to be a girl) began to live among the animals, took care of them, and they shared their prey with her. We repeat, all these events took place exactly where Bear Mountain is located.
Continuation of a story
The miracles did not end there, and the story of generous salvation has an exciting continuation. Once, when the girl was already an adult, a dilapidated boat nailed to the shore after a storm, in which a young man lay exhausted in the struggle with the elements. The girl, although she had never seen people, took pity on him and moved him to a place away from animals that could tear a stranger. When the young man woke up, she began to care for him and bring food. After some time, the young man was so strong that he began to build himself a new boat to get to his native coast. The girl liked the boy, and she reciprocated. Finally, the young man persuaded his beloved to flee with him when the animals went on another fishing trip. It was hard for the girl to part with the tribe of bears, which became for her a real family. But love was stronger, and she agreed.
The mountain frozen in stone
As soon as the fugitives sailed to a decent distance from the shore, like a huge bear leader, sensing something was amiss, he roared and rushed back to the lair, which was not far from the sea shore. His instinct did not disappoint: the boat with the boy and the girl was still visible in the distance. Then the bear roared terribly again and, bending its head to the sea, began to drink sea water. The rest of the animals, realizing what happened, began to do the same. The rapid stream began to draw the shuttle of fugitives back to the shore, to the enraged 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 marvelous song and broke away from the sea. Only the bear leader, furious at such ingratitude, continued to drink and drink water, all hoping to turn the fugitives back ... So he stayed, having drunk water, by the sea, losing his last strength in despair, looking at the sea surface with a boat disappearing into the distance. So it lies to this day, petrified, for thousands of years. This is how
Bear Mountain appeared on the Peninsula
, without which
Crimea is no longer Crimea!
Two islands
In the vicinity of Ayu-Dag there is another interesting attraction located directly in the sea off the coast (several hundred meters from it), in the Gurzuf bay, which also has legends. These are two small cliff islands located nearby. Locals call them Adalars (which means “islands” in Crimean Tatar), or simply - White Stones. They have different shapes and heights. Once upon a time there was even a restaurant on these islands, they planned to lay a cable car, but World War II interfered.
Legend of the brothers
If you ask old-timers, they can tell other legends of Crimea, which also featured Bear Mountain, a photo of which you see here. Traditions tell that once there was a castle on a hill. In it lived and ruled the environs of two brothers-princes, very similar to each other. Their name was George and Peter. They were brave and undaunted warriors, fought together and guarded each other. They ruled the district fairly, in which they were greatly helped by their faithful and wise adviser - the sorcerer Nimfolis. Once Nympholis felt that his days were numbered. He called to his deathbed Peter and George and said: “Soon I will be gone. Finally, I will give you two caskets. In them are the keys to great knowledge. But you promise me and swear that you will never use these gifts from your self-interest or to the detriment of other people. " The brothers vowed that they would never use these gifts out of self-interest and to any detriment, but only for cognition. Soon Nimfolis, a wise adviser and forecaster, was gone ...
Vicissitudes of love
You may ask how Bear Mountain is related to these events? The legend is
not over yet, read what happened next. They remembered to take about the caskets. Peter opened his own, and in it a bone rod with the inscription: “If you raise it, the waves of the sea will disperse, lower it, you will know the secrets of the bottom of the sea.” In the casket of George there were two wings of silver. The inscription on them was: “Tie them - and they will carry you across the sky, in the wide light of the world, you will know all its secrets.”
Since then, the brothers have been known as even wiser rulers than they were. After all, there were no secrets left for them, neither in the sky, nor in the depths of the waters of the bottomless. But a few years later they became lonely and bored. And then both somehow found out that one overseas prince has two daughters - also twins, beauties, who are rarely born. How could you give up trying to get such happiness? The brothers thought: “Not out of self-interest we try, but for the good, for happiness and its knowledge!” So they deceived, but they themselves did not admit it to themselves. Deciding not to hesitate, Peter and George abducted the girls and brought them against their will. But the sisters were very angry with the brothers, they did not like such a thing!
So the Adalars appeared
And then the brothers decided to achieve the love of the beautiful women with the help of the gifts of Nympholis. Younger George took two silver wings, tied them to a horse, put his brother and sisters on a horse and soared high up into the sky, intending to show the sisters the sun itself. But then came the sound of Nympholis like thunder: “Come back!” Frightened George angry shout and turned the horse back home. The sisters just laughed at him: “Afraid, coward? Didn’t show us the sun? ” Then the next day Peter decided to win the hearts of the beautiful sisters with his boast. He took his brother and the girls in a chariot to the seashore, waved his rod, lowering it - and, revealing the bottom, the abyss of water parted. And Peter led their chariot along the bottom of the sea. But after driving a little, they again heard the voice of Nympholis: “Stop! With bad thoughts you opened the abyss of the sea, for that you will be punished if you do not return immediately! ” However, Peter became stubborn, and the chariot continued on her way even faster where no ordinary mortal was allowed to step. Then the
sea ​​king was angry
, struck with his trident 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 ... These are the poetic legends of Crimea Bear Mountain and the surroundings are kept for those who are inquisitive, inquisitive, interested in history and local history. But we have not yet talked about the Pushkin Trail: according to legend, the great poet was here, went up to Ayu-Dag, with a dreamy longing looked into the distance of the "free element". His famous “To the Sea” was born here when Pushkin dreamed of other countries, of the will so necessary for him. They contain Crimean legends and “scary” stories - about ghost ships, drowned sailors, unprecedented deep monsters.
Natural resources
Not only sights, the spirit of antiquity and romance attracts Crimea. The nature of Crimea is another, separate topic for the tour. It is, of course, better to go here in summer or late spring, when everything is green, blooms and pleases the eye. Vacationers here are waiting, first of all, for refining air 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-Dag as a whole is the same as on the entire peninsula and corresponds to it - thanks to the mountain landscape. For example, in addition to the already mentioned cypress trees, there are pine forests (mixed), oak and beech. Flora of imported exotic plants is represented by more than 1000 species. From the fauna, it is worth noting such mammals as we are familiar on the plain, such as foxes, badgers, hares and hedgehogs. Next to them live as sea birds - gulls and cormorants, and "land" - woodpeckers, owls, sparrows and tits. On Ayu-Dag there are many snakes of several species, lizards also live.
Road to the sea
How to get to Bear Mountain to climb to its top and take a photo? Here are some guidelines. The distance along the highway from Yalta to Partenit (as to a nearby settlement) is about 24 km, from Simferopol - 62 km, from Sevastopol - 104 km. You can get to Partenit from Simferopol or Yalta by trolleybus (No. 52), but this is slow. Better is the bus. From Yalta, for example, there is an express number 110. You can also take a taxi, but this is quite expensive. Do not think that on Ayu-Dag and its environs it is impossible to get lost. Very possible! For example, the counselors of the Artek IDC told stories that sometimes pioneers, driven by curiosity, fled from the camp to the mountains. As a result, to search for them (and even salvation!), They had to call rescuers and attract the local population. This ended, as a rule, with the fact that the frightened children, of course, were there, waking up in Ayu-Dag for a day or two without food and water. Indeed, on Bear Mountain there are often fogs (especially in spring and autumn), enveloping both the top of it and the entire crown right down to the foot. Therefore, if you decide to take a walk to Ayu-Dag with the children, be careful not to let them go alone too far!