Alushta, Russia

Location: Crimean Peninsula

Description of Alushta

Alushta (Алушта) is one of the pretties resort town in Crimean Peninsula in Russia. It is spread on the shores of the Black Sea and surrounded by picturesque mountains and ancient ruins. The climate is subtropical Mediterranean type. It is very similar in temperature to the climate of Yalta from April to September, but a little colder (on average by 0.5 ° C) from October to March. Alushta resort has 2 passes (Kebit Bogaz and Angarsk Pass), due to which air masses constantly move from the plains of the peninsula to the sea and back. In this regard, the climate is characterized by hot summers and mild winters, as well as comparative dryness, most of the precipitation falls from November to March. The average humidity is 72%.

The average temperature of the coldest month - January is +4.1 ° C, and the warmest month - August is +26.2 ° C. The total duration of sunshine is 2321 hours per year. The water temperature does not drop below +8 ° C even in the coldest period. The swimming season is from May to October. During these months, the water temperature is not lower than +17 ° C. The warmest sea is from July to September - when the water temperature reaches + 22 ... + 27 ° C. In summer, storms are rare and short-lived.

  

Getting here

By plane
The nearest airport is in Simferopol.

By train
The nearest railway station is Simferopol.

By car
Distance to the cities of Crimea
Bakhchysarai 83 km
Yevpatoria 109 km
Kerch 246 km
Sevastopol 128 km
Simferopol 45 km
Sudak 93 km
Feodosiya 148 km
Yalta 41 km

By bus
Flights from Simferopol (40 min - 1 h), Yalta (40 min), Dzhankoy, Feodosia and several cities outside the Crimea (Sochi, Novorossiysk, Anapa, Stavropol).

Bus station, Simferopolskaya st., 1. ☎ +7 (36560) 5-03-43. in winter 06:30 - 21:30, in summer 06:30 - 23:00. There is a waiting room, a left-luggage office (07:00 - 20:00), vending machines for soft drinks, coffee and tea, tent stalls selling food, ATMs (RNCB, Krayinvestbank, Bank of Russia). E-tickets can be purchased on the carrier's website gosbus.ru.

By trolleybus
Trolleybus No. 51 departs from the Simferopol railway station with the message Simferopol - Alushta. You can also get from the railway station by route No. 52 by the message Simferopol - Alushta - Yalta (does not enter the "lower" Alushta, stops at the bus station). In recent years, the trolleybus department has been purchasing minibuses and running them parallel to trolleybus routes in the minibus mode.

Intercity trolleybus station, st. Gorky, 4.

 

Transport

Fixed-route taxi, trolleybuses, buses, taxis.

 

Travel Destinations in Alushta

Natural objects

Mount Kastel (on the southern outskirts of Alushta, behind the Professor's Corner). The cost of an entrance ticket to the reserve is 60 rubles, for children - free of charge. The height of the mountain is 439 m. There are remains of an ancient fortress (the word “castel” itself is translated as “fortress”). Chaos formed on the eastern slope, a disorderly heap of boulders. In the foothills there is the Kastel botanical reserve, along which a hiking trail has been laid.

 

Civil architecture

Fortress Aluston, st. April 15, 17-a (block between April 15 Street, Engels Street and Upper Street). Built by the Byzantines in the 6th century to control the surrounding area, it was one of the largest fortresses in the northern Black Sea region of that time with a wall height of up to 10 m, and was abandoned by them in the 7th century. In the X century, it was increased by 2 times under the control of the Khazar Khaganate, but was soon destroyed, presumably by the Pechenegs. In 1382, it was restored by the Genoese, and a century later it was destroyed again, this time by the Turks, after which the fortress was no longer restored (although attempts were made to restore it at the end of the 19th century). At this time, only a small part of the fortress has survived: the Round (Genoese) tower (located on April 15 street) and the Square tower (Volodarsky street, 3). Parts of the defensive walls are used as the basis for modern buildings.
Dacha "Golubka", st. Lenina, 20. The name of the dacha comes from the name of the first owner, General Golubov. Year of construction - 1827. Here, with a difference of 60 years, Nicholas II and Stalin stayed, and in 1918 the arrested (and subsequently shot) members of the government of the Republic of Taurida were kept in the basement. Currently, the city library.
Dacha Stakheev (Villa "Joy"), Perekopskaya st., 1 (next to the wild beach). An architectural monument of the late 19th century. It was built on the Alushta embankment by the architect N. Krasnov for the merchant N.D. Stakheev. Nikolai Stakheev is the nephew of the artist Ivan Shishkin, a millionaire and philanthropist who has done quite a lot for Alushta; among other things, the Aluston fortress was repaired with his money and the church of Theodore Stratilates was equipped. Currently, the building houses the Center for Children's Creativity. In the park at the dacha, a huge plane tree grows, which bears its own name "Memory of Aluston".

 

Church architecture

Temple in the name of all the Crimean Saints and the Holy Great Martyr Theodore Stratilat, st. Vladimir Khromykh, 14. Built in 1842 at the direction of Count M. S. Vorontsov, designed by architect G. I. Toricelli. It is a monument of architecture and history, belongs to the Alushta deanery of the Simferopol and Crimean diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate).
Mosque Yukary-Jami , st. Vladimir Khromykh, 9 (actually on Upper Street). ☎ +7 (36560) 3-31-20. Built in the nineteenth century. on the territory of the Aluston fortress.
Cosmo-Damianovsky Monastery (Kozmodemyanovsky) Wikidata element (20 km from Alushta along the mountain road Alushta - Yalta). Located on the territory of the Crimean reserve. The monastery was founded in 1857 near the healing spring Savluh-Su.

 

Monuments

Monument to the liberators of Alushta, corner of Partizanskaya and Simferopolskaya st. (Square of Victory). Self-propelled artillery mount SU-100 on a pedestal.
Bust of A. S. Griboyedov, Sovietskaya Square.
Monuments to Gorky and Pushkin

Villa Otrada (Dacha Staheeva) Вилла "Отрада" (Дача Стахеева)

 

What to do

Entertainment

1 Water park "Almond Grove", Professor's Corner, Embankment st., 4-a (500 m from the city center and 1500 m from the Simferopol-Yalta highway. By trolleybuses No. 51, 52 from Simferopol, No. 52, 53 from Yalta). ✉ ☎ +7 (36560) 2-59-71. Operates from June to October. 800-1300 rub. 6 swimming pools, 14 water slides, 4 slide platforms, solarium areas. As well as waterfalls, fountains, jacuzzis, overflow channels and other attractions. On the territory there is a studio-bar "Dolphin", a children's cafe "Vitamin", fast food, left-luggage offices, safes for valuables, changing rooms, showers, toilets, a first-aid post. Also a gym 75 rubles/hour; Roman bath and Finnish sauna 760 rubles / 2 hours.
* Bowling Mon–Fri 15:00–24:00, Sat–Sun 12:00–24:00. 300-680 rub/hour. Four tracks for the game.

* Billiards Mon–Fri 15:00–24:00, Sat–Sun 12:00–24:00. 190 rub/hour. 2 tables for Russian billiards and 1 table for snooker.

✦  Aquarium , st. Gorky, 4 (in the basement of the trolleybus ticket office building). ☎ +7 (36560) 35533, 0111 +7 (978) 729 0111. May - October 9:00 - 21:00, November - April 9:00 - 19:00, ticket office closes 1 hour earlier. Adult 350 rubles, children (from 3 to 13 years old) 200 rubles. A small, neatly decorated aquarium. Has 4 rooms. An excellent tour guide-enthusiast conducts free tours. For a small surcharge, you can feed the crocodiles. On the top floor there is a terrarium.
2 Dolphinarium "Nemo" (will not work in 2015), Revkomovsky per. (near the Spartak stadium). ☎ +7 (36560) 2-62-62. Operates only during the holiday season. Show Tue-Sun 12:00, 15:00, 18:00, romantic night show at 21:30. Show 310-370 rubles, night show 460 rubles, swimming with a dolphin 1800 rubles / 5 min, 3000 rubles / 10 min.
3 Dolphinarium "Watercolor", st. Gorky, 7D. ☎ +7 (978) 830 30 30. Open all year round, dolphin show on Wed, Sat, Sun at 15:00. Dolphin show 450-600 rubles, swimming with a dolphin 2000 rubles / 5 min, 3000 rubles / 10 min, boating with a dolphin 500 rubles. Dolphin therapy sessions are also possible.
4  Park "Crimea in miniature" , st. Gorky, 7. ☎ 0745 +7 (978) 000 0745. May-September 09:00 - 23:00, October-April 09:00 - 20:00. 600 r. (from 12 years old); 400 r. (from 3 to 12 years). Exhibition of the most famous Crimean sights in miniature size on a scale of 1:25. One of the seven winners of the Kaleidoscope of Wonders of Crimea competition in the nomination "7 Modern Wonders of Crimea"
Multipark, st. Gorkogo, 16 (on the territory of the sanatorium "Alushtinsky", next to the park "Crimea in Miniature"). ☎ 0111 +7 (978) 729 0111. 9:00-22:00. Adult - 250 rubles, children (from 3 to 13 years old) - 150 rubles. More than fifty sculptures of cartoon characters have been installed in the park: Winnie the Pooh, Carlson with the Kid, Matroskin the cat, Snow White, Mickey Mouse, etc. Perhaps it will be interesting for children.
5  Tasting room of the Massandra winery, st. Lenina, 54-b. ☎ +7 (978) 743 16 39. 🕑 Tours and tastings Mon-Fri at 16:00.

 

Museums

6   Museum of History and Local Lore, st. Lenina, 8. ☎ 09 +7 (36560) 355 09 . 🕑 10:00–18:00, except Tue. Adult 120 rubles, children 60 rubles. Excursion - additional 100 rubles per person. There is an archaeological collection (including from the excavations of the medieval settlement of Partenit), rare numismatic specimens, a rich ethnographic collection, including Crimean Tatar and Armenian attire and household items. There are many exhibits from the Soviet past of the city: personal belongings of participants in the Civil and Great Patriotic Wars, documents and photographs of the city, samples of products from industrial enterprises of that time.
7  Museum of Nature and Arboretum of the Crimean State Nature Reserve, Partizanskaya st., 42 up, there we go). ☎ +7 (36560) 3-50-33. Tue–Sun 9:00–18:00, break from 13:00 to 14:00. The museum exposition tells about the history of the reserve, its flora and fauna, and the nature of the Crimean mountains. The diorama "Swan Islands" was created.
Near the museum there is an arboretum, which presents typical animals and birds of the Crimean mountains: deer, roe deer, wild boars, moufflons, squirrels, pheasants and vultures.
8 Literary and Memorial Museum of S.N. Sergeev-Tsensky, st. Sergeeva-Tsensky, 5. ☎ +7 (36560) 3-06-64. Wed–Mon 10:00–18:00. The museum is located in the house where the famous writer, academician Sergei Nikolaevich Sergeev-Tsensky lived and worked. His personal belongings and the library are exhibited. You can get acquainted with his work, the environment in which the writer lived. The adjacent garden and three cypress alleys planted by the author have also been preserved. On the territory of the museum, in the garden, there is also the grave of Sergeyev-Tsensky.
9 House-Museum of Academician of Architecture A.N. Beketova, Professor's Corner, Komsomolskaya st., 4. ☎ +7 (36560) 5-79-43, +7 (36560) 3-50-43, +7 (36560) 2-59-99. Tue–Sat 10:00–17:00. The architect Beketov became the founder of the Kharkov architectural school and designed a large number of buildings in the Crimea and Ukraine. One of them is the museum building, built in 1896 in the Moorish style and serving as a dacha for the Beketov family. You can see documents, drawings, photographs of A.N. Beketova. There is an exposition of works by Crimean artists of the XIX - XX centuries.
10 Museum of the writer I.S. Shmeleva, Professor's Corner, Embankment st., 2. ☎ +7 (36560) 3-05-70. Tue–Sat 10:00–17:00. The museum building is a small house where the writer Ivan Sergeevich Shmelev lived in 1918-1922. After he learned about the execution of his son (a member of the Volunteer Army) in Feodosia and survived the famine of 1921, he moved to France, where he wrote his most famous work, The Sun of the Dead. The museum presents the furnishings of those years, paintings, furniture, books and photographs of the author.

 

Beaches

The entire coast of Alushta is one large pebble beach 10-30 meters wide, divided by piers or fences into small parts. Some of the beaches belong to the city, the entrance to them is free, while the other part belongs to hotels and boarding houses, where you already have to pay an entrance fee. Several main public free beaches: the city beach "Laskovyi Bereg", reinforced concrete beach, the beach in the Professor's Corner.

 

Shopping

There are about a dozen banking branches, including: Rossiya Bank, Krayinvestbank, RNCB, Genbank, Verkhnevolzhsky, Smolevich. There are many ATMs throughout the city.

 

Climate

The city is located in the Crimean sub-Mediterranean ecoregion, so the climate of Alushta is subtropical Mediterranean type. Very similar in temperature to the climate of Yalta from April to September, but a little colder (on average by 0.5 ° C) from October to March. Alushta resort has 2 passes (Kebit-bogaz and Angarsk pass), thanks to which air masses are constantly moving from the plains of the peninsula to the sea and back. In this regard, the climate is characterized by hot summers and mild winters, as well as comparative dryness, most of the precipitation falls from November to March. The average air humidity is 72%.

The average temperature of the coldest month - January is +4.1 °C, and the warmest month - August is +26.2 °C. The total duration of sunshine is 2321 hours per year. The water temperature does not drop below +8 °C even in the coldest period. The swimming season is from May to October. During these months, the water temperature is not lower than +17 °C. The warmest sea is from July to September - when the water temperature reaches + 22 ... + 27 ° C. In summer, storms are rare and short-lived.

Despite a slight difference with Yalta in terms of average temperature, in winter in Alushta, a frost of −18.3 ° C (-21 ° C, February 1, 2012) was recorded (for the entire observation period) (while in Yalta never was not lower than -12.3 ° C), and the minimum temperature in the year is on average 3 ° C lower (the height of the passes is only 590-752 meters, and the height of the mountains in Yalta is almost 750 meters higher, which gives such a difference), that is, according to the USDA hardiness zone, Alushta is kept only in zone 8b. As a result of this, such indicators are sufficient for growth without shelter of Trachycarpus Fortune palms, but they are dangerous for Washingtonia thread-bearing and Washingtonia strong palms, which winter without problems in Yalta and Sochi.

The average annual wind speed in Alushta is 4 m / s (and in Yalta 2 m / s) - that is why a stable expression was formed that “it feels 3 degrees colder in winter in Alushta than in Yalta.”

The abundance of sun, fresh air, warm sea and picturesque mountains are the important components that make Alushta a wonderful climatic resort. The famous doctor Botkin wrote: "Alushta is healthier than Yalta, where during the summer heat the air is continuously renewed by draft through the mountain passes along the sides of Chatyr-Dag."

 

Hotels

Cheap
You can put up a tent near the mountain, almost outside the city, in the direction of Sudak.
Lots of cheap private housing (from $10 per night). Look for signs that say "Housing".

Average cost
Hotel "Santa Barbara", pos. Cliff, st. Gagarina, 25/67-71. Modern rooms with every comfort. Cafe, sauna, private beach with sun loungers and umbrellas, WiFi. The price includes two meals a day.
Boarding house "Rai", Professor's corner, Naberezhnaya st., 4.
Sanatorium "Alushta", st. Glazkritskogo, 8 (Professor's corner). ☎ +7 (36560) 2-53-64. From 1280 rubles per person, three meals a day are included. The sanatorium has a large park, an outdoor swimming pool, sports grounds, a tennis court.

Expensive
Park-hotel "Prague".

 

History

Alushta, according to one version, comes from the Greek αλυσίδα [alusida], that is, a chain. Aluston Fortress was built by order of Emperor Justinian I in the 6th century. During the Middle Ages, Alusta was a significant coastal stronghold for all states that owned the southern coast of Crimea: the Roman (Byzantine) Empire, the Khazar Khaganate, the Principality of Theodoro.

During the reign of the Genoese, Alushta was one of the fortified points of the captaincy of Gothia (the so-called part of the Genoese possessions in the Crimea, which extended west to Fori). The fortress became a bone of contention between the Genoese and the Principality of Theodoro, since, along with Yalta and Gurzuf, it had a pier equipped by the Byzantines. The Italians called the city Lusta. Only two towers of the medieval fortress have survived to this day.

After the conquest of the southern coast of Crimea by the Ottomans, Alushta was part of the Sudak Kadylyk. She lost her naval significance, becoming, like Yalta and Gurzuf, an ordinary seaside village. Nevertheless, at the climax of the inflamed struggle for the Crimea between Russia and Turkey, it was Alushta that became the landing site of the Turkish army, which aimed to oust Russian troops from the peninsula. The Janissary backbone of this landing was defeated by the operational corps of V.P. Musin-Pushkin near the village of Shuma north of Alushta. At the same time, he distinguished himself, but was seriously wounded by Lieutenant Colonel M.I. Kutuzov, who commanded the grenadier battalion of the Moscow Legion that delivered the main blow.

After the annexation of Crimea to the Russian Empire and the formation of the Tauride province, Alushta became the center of the volost of Simferopol, and then Yalta counties. The southern coast of Crimea is being developed by the concerns of the Novorossiysk and Bessarabian Governor-General Count M. S. Vorontsov. In 1833, Nicholas I approved the design of a large temple, the author of which was the Odessa architect G. I. Toricelli. The temple in the name of all the Crimean saints and Theodore Stratelates was built and consecrated in 1842.

At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century, Alushta began to gain popularity as a resort and in 1902 received the status of a city.

At the same time, the resort suburb of Alushta began to develop, which is now part of the city and is called the Professor's Corner. Initially, the area was called Tyrnak or Ternak (Crimean Tatar. tırnaq - nail), then it was called the Professor's Corner, then the Working Corner (since 1920), and finally again the Professor's Corner. In 1886, after retiring, the famous Russian geologist and teacher N. A. Golovkinsky settled in his mansion in Kasteli-Primorsky. After many prominent scientists began to build their dachas nearby, the Professor's Corner became a place where they rested, worked and lived: professors D.I. Tikhomirov, A.E. Golubev, A. I. Kirpichnikov, academician of architecture A. I. Beketov. For many years, the first Russian female doctor N.P. Suslova lived here. On her initiative, a free school for village children was opened in the Professor's Corner. Monuments were erected to N. A. Golovkinsky and N. P. Suslova in the village of Lazurnoe, at the foot of Mount Kastel. The life of the Russian writer S. N. Sergeev-Tsensky was connected with the Work Corner. The writer I.S. Shmelev also bought a house here.

After the loss of Perekop and the Ishun positions, part of the Soviet troops retreated directly to Sevastopol, while a part, being cut off, retreated through Alushta and Yalta along the South Coast Highway. By November 4, advanced German and Romanian units crushed the resistance of the barriers and occupied the city. During the withdrawal from Sudak along the South Bank, units of the 48th OKD, together with the remnants of the 294th and 297th regiments of the 184th SD, entered the battle on November 4 and 5, 1941 with the enemy in the Alushta region, they even occupied the city, but did not break through succeeded and retreated to the mountains.

The German occupation, which lasted from November 4, 1941 to April 15, 1944, caused severe damage to the city. The Alushta partisan detachment of the Southern Union of Crimean partisans fought in the surrounding mountains and forests of the Crimean Reserve, almost all of its original composition died in battle. More than 500 residents of Alushta died at the hands of the invaders, 231 people were driven away to work in Germany. The city became even more depopulated after the deportation of the Crimean Tatars on May 18, 1944. In Alushta there are monuments dedicated to military events.

In the post-war years, Alushta developed as a seaside resort, many new boarding houses and rest houses were built. The Soviet films "Prisoner of the Caucasus", "Hearts of Three", "Ships Storm the Bastions" and others were filmed in the vicinity.

To honor citizens for special services to the city community, for outstanding achievements and high professional skills in the development of science, healthcare, education, culture, art, sports, political, economic, charitable and other fields of activity, the title of Honorary Citizen of the city was established in 1966 Alushta. Currently, 29 people have been awarded the title.