The landscape and floristic reserve, located on the Abrau Peninsula, is called Big Utrish. Formed in 1994, it occupied an area of 5112 hectares and stretched along the sea for 12 kilometers, right up to the Navagir Range in the north. And oddly enough, this wild place belongs to the resort city of Anapa. It is not strange because all coastal municipalities are stretched for kilometers along the seashore.
Legendary places
Many legends are associated with these beautiful places. The peninsula is named after Lake Abrau, which, in turn, was named after the beautiful woman who lived here once and, thanks to a meeting with a loved one, who escaped from the flood and the reservoir formed at the site of her village. The flood was sent by the gods as a punishment to the cynical rich, teasing the hungry poor people with cakes.
Big Utrish, or rather, the second part of its name, translated from the Adyghe language means "split mountain". Many legends are also connected with him. Big Utrish is located in the west of the Krasnodar Territory, at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains. According to one version, it was here that Zeus, angered by the theft of fire from Olympus, chopped a rock with lightning, and Prometheus chained to one of the steep walls of the formed gorge. According to the same legend, the waters of the Black Sea, which washed the place of suffering of Greek titanium, were so healing that after the liberation of Prometheus’s wounds instantly disappeared as soon as he plunged into the coastal waves. They are still famous for their healing properties, and one of the mountains is called the Prometheus rock. Local legends claim that Jason came here exactly behind the Golden Fleece and Medea.
Protected area
Big Utrish, its entire territory and water area is unique in the number, properties and age of vegetation and algae (there are 227 species here). Some trees have reached a millennium. Pitsunda pine, pistachio and scoopia, pack and tall junipers - these are representatives of the relict flora, which is so rich in the Great Utrish reserve, and which makes it unique even against the background of the unusual flora and fauna of the entire Black Sea coast. There are 107 species of shrubs and trees and 75 different herbaceous plants.
60 representatives of local flora are listed in the Red Book. The fauna is also unique. Of all its representatives living on land and at sea, it is worth highlighting the
Mediterranean tortoise, striped empusa (a type of mantis), which was considered extinct.
The steppe dung (the largest grasshopper in Russia), Aesculapius snake, (a rather rare representative of
already-known snakes) also live in the reserve. There are a lot of birds, including rare ones, such as a mute swan wintering on estuary lakes. Rare species of Mediterranean butterflies living in the reserve deserve special words.
Reserve Problems
The Red Book can be replenished with endangered species, since in 2011 a decision was made to significantly reduce the area of the reserve and establish the Utrish reserve on its territory. The lands between the second and third lagoons, on which a unique juniper-pistachio forest has long grown, have been torn away. All this is planned to be given for the construction of the next health complex and its infrastructure with access roads. Therefore, an action called “Let's Save Big Utrish” is being held on the Internet.
Undeniable Benefits
In clear sunny weather, from Anapa, located 20 kilometers away, a picturesque strip of land crashes into the sea. Big Utrish, so named in contrast to the village of Small Utrish, is located in this place of unique beauty.
Rocks and lakes, mountains and estuaries, beauties of the lagoon with clean, clear sea water attract many tourists.
Partly the need for accommodation is met by the private sector. Bolshoi Utrish is a relatively small village, but it provides the maximum service for tourists.
It offers apartments for rent, mini-hotels, houses and cottages for rent. Apartments here are cheaper than in Anapa, and getting here, thanks to the large number of minibuses, is not difficult: 15, 20 minutes by force - and here it is, the village. And in the month of September, they ply the indicated route until 9 pm. One could say civilization is near. In summer, campsites and campsites spread out on the shore. For lovers of peace and wildlife, here is paradise. Private rooms can be booked and booked.
Wild vacation means lack of urban amenities
However, you need to have a clear idea of what service you are counting on, and what wildlife is, which does not imply the presence of paved paths, gas and clean drinking water. The village of Big Utrish, as already noted, is quite small, only three streets. But, like on any coast, there is housing for every taste.
Comfortable rooms are rented in the guest houses “Arina”, “On the Black Sea”, “On the Forest, 1”. In addition to the extraordinary beauty of nature, the undoubted advantages of this place of rest include its healing properties. Mountain air saturated with relict forest aromas, clear
sea water and, what is especially appreciated now, in the heyday of the popularity of stone therapy (treatment with stones and minerals), wild beautiful hot pebbles. Big Utrish possesses all this in excess. Reviews, however, are very different - from unconditionally enthusiastic eulogies to grumbling. There are very few places or objects on earth that cause only positive feelings and reviews. Before going here, you need to decide what kind of vacation you need - this will help you choose the right place to live.
Beach abundance
Everything is attracted to the reserve square - air, mountains, lakes, the sea and, of course, the beach. Big Utrish has 6 large places for swimming and sunbathing. The largest - Central Beach - meets all modern requirements. It is fully equipped and can provide any cultural services, this is one of the best pebble beaches of the coast.
Four lagoons of the reserve have their own beaches, each of which has its own zest and attractiveness. Near the first bay there is a beautiful Pearl waterfall, the coast of the second bay is not included in the reserve, and this attracts lovers of wild relaxation. The beach of the third lagoon has a very convenient access to the sea, and part of the shore of the fourth creek is covered with very fine pebbles. Ever since the days of the USSR, the nudist beach of Big Utrish has been known throughout the country. It is not equipped, but popular. Barrels indicate the passage to it, which also applies to the sights of this place. And although the beach is often subjected to police checks, a folk trail to it does not grow.
One of the oldest dolphinariums in the country
In addition to interesting beaches, the Great Utrish Dolphinarium, which is also a research base, incredibly popularizes. If there is a dolphinarium in your city, then the local one will not really surprise you, because the training programs and performances of sea animals are similar, because experts exchange experience. The local institution is famous precisely as a scientific base, but also as entertainment in the wild, it also gives joy to vacationers, especially children. Located on the Salt Lake and opened in 1984 (it is 10 years older than the reserve), the Utrish dolphinarium is good because the animals in it are found in almost natural conditions, because in the immediate vicinity there is the Black Sea coast, where their wild counterparts frolic.
The central office of the base is located in Moscow, and it has many branches in different cities of Russia. In addition to serious scientific and technical activities, the dolphinarium is engaged in the popularization of knowledge about marine mammals - seals, fur seals, dolphins.