Crimea is a peninsula in the Black Sea, connected to the mainland by
the narrow Perekop Isthmus. Crimea has been inhabited since
ancient times and throughout its turbulent history has become a place of
clash of many peoples, so here you can see a variety of objects: from
the ruins of ancient cities and medieval Christian churches to unique
monuments of Tatar architecture and luxurious seaside villas from the
times of the Russian Empire. No less interesting is the Crimean nature.
On the territory of the peninsula you will meet rocky mountains and
desert steppes, as well as the northernmost subtropical climate zone in
the world - the southern coast of Crimea. Crimea is a wonderful resort
region, where a rich history and magnificent nature are combined with
extensive opportunities for a beach holiday.
Unfortunately, in
2014, Crimea became a stumbling block in relations between Ukraine and
Russia, arbitrarily withdrawing from the former and joining the latter,
which was not recognized by most foreign states. Now Crimea is a
territory with a disputed status and is completely controlled by Russia.
Crimea is a place where many completely different and unique natural
attractions are located in a relatively small area. Also in the Crimea,
the cultures of various peoples who lived here at different times mixed
up. And each of these peoples left a bright mark on the traditions and
life of the inhabitants of the peninsula, in the architecture of
buildings, etc.
The south coast of Crimea. The unique climate of the South Coast is
due to its protection from the movement of cold air masses from the
north. This region has a densely branched transport network, comfortable
beaches, the most expensive hotels, restaurants and entertainment. The
South Coast is rich in sights - only on the territory of Greater Yalta
there are more than 500 historical, cultural, architectural objects.
Big Sevastopol - includes the city of Sevastopol itself, as well as
nearby satellite cities of Balaklava, Inkerman and the village of Kacha.
In Sevastopol, rest by the sea can be successfully combined with
tourism. Numerous historical sites and natural attractions, the largest
naval base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
The Crimean Mountains
are a region rich in unique historical and architectural structures:
"cave cities", monuments of Muslim architecture. There are all
conditions for active mountain tourism, hunting and fishing. The
administrative center of Crimea, Simferopol, is also located here.
Cimmeria. The coast from Sudak to Feodosia is a popular inexpensive
recreation area compared to Yalta and Alushta, which is famous for its
pebble beaches and interesting natural and historical sites. The Kerch
Peninsula - many kilometers of sandy beaches on the coasts of the Black
and Azov Seas, the Kazantip and Opuk nature reserves, the Kerch and
Yenikale fortresses, the Adzhimushkay quarries, Lake Chokrak and
General's beaches, the ancient cities of Panticapaeum, Tiritaka,
Nymphaeum, Acre and others.
Steppe Crimea is a flat part of the
Crimean peninsula, once occupied by steppe vegetation. The western coast
of Crimea is the most famous climate-balneo-mud resort with extensive
sandy beaches.
Alushta is a resort town on the
South Coast.
Bakhchysarai is one
of the ancient capitals of the Crimean Khanate. In addition to the most
elegant Khan's palace and the fountain praised by Pushkin, there are
several little-known but very unusual monuments of Tatar architecture in
Bakhchisarai. The city itself in some places resembles a huge village
and contains more oriental flavor than the rest of Crimea put together:
just look into the Tatar cafe, where coffee is brewed on the sand and
treated with oriental sweets. To the south of Bakhchisarai mountains
begin with numerous gorges, caves and rocky (cave) cities. The most
famous of them - Chufut-Kale - is located just a half-hour walk from
Bakhchisarai.
Yevpatoria is a historical,
port and resort city on the western coast of Crimea. Yevpatoria has been
known since ancient times, which is not uncommon in Crimea, but only
here different historical periods are so well localized by district: in
the Old City - Turkish fortifications, mosques and even a Karaite
kenassa, in the center - low-rise provincial buildings of the early 20th
century, and on the outskirts - resort buildings. Yevpatoria has the
only tram that has survived in Crimea (and another line in the suburbs
is purely a resort one!), and in general it looks more like an integral
historical city somewhere on the border of Europe and Asia.
Kerch is the easternmost city
of Crimea. It seems to have all possible incarnations: ancient,
Byzantine, Turkish, industrial, and even military in addition. Like
Sevastopol, Kerch is a hero city. Here you will see archaeological
sites, a medieval church, the ruins of industrial enterprises, a
provincial and Soviet city, as well as the Adzhimushkay quarries - a
kind of Brest fortress, which in 1942 the Soviet troops heroically
defended behind enemy lines. To the east of Kerch there is a
well-preserved Turkish fortress and a crossing to the Krasnodar
Territory. To the north, the steppe begins with mud volcanoes.
Sevastopol is a major naval
port and base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
Simferopol is the
capital of Crimea, which is a provincial city in the center and endless
blocks of prefabricated residential buildings on the outskirts. Upon
closer examination, quite non-trivial monuments are found here - Tatar
mosques, a Karaite kenassa and even a Scythian settlement - however, any
of them loses both in terms of entertainment and preservation of similar
sights in other parts of Crimea. For most travelers, Simferopol is
nothing more than a transit point on the way to the coast. However, it
will be interesting to walk here for several hours, and numerous cafes
are conducive to this. Simferopol is the only major Crimean city located
far from the sea.
Sudak is located
where the subtropical southern coast of Crimea smoothly passes into the
colder eastern coast. It would be a completely unremarkable resort
village, if not standing on a rock near the sea, a huge Genoese
fortress, which offers stunning views of both the sea itself and the
mountains approaching it. A few kilometers to the west, behind a
mountain overhanging the road and the sea, there is the village of Novy
Svet with the famous champagne factory, a walking path carved into the
rocks and cozy bays. To the east is Cape Meganom and the Karadag
Reserve.
Feodosiya is a kind of twin of
Evpatoria in the eastern part of the Crimea, although, unlike the
Karaites, Armenians lived here. In different, sometimes neglected and
fairly reminiscent of the Russian province areas, you will find several
medieval Armenian churches at once, as well as the ruins of a Genoese
fortress overlooking the sea and, of course, a Turkish mosque, without
which not a single old Crimean city can do. Russian writers loved to
live in Feodosia, and the artist Ivan Aivazovsky was also born and
raised here. In addition to several memorial museums and an art gallery
with works by Aivazovsky, Feodosiya will please the traveler with
magnificent mansions of the early 20th century and a huge beach
stretching along the entire city.
Yalta
is the main Crimean resort, if only in the sense that all the
attractions here are resorts: from luxurious summer palaces in Alupka,
Livadia and Massandra to entertainment facilities like a zoo and even a
crocodile aquarium. As a city, Yalta is not very interesting, although
it has a very special flavor due to the cypresses and palm trees growing
on the streets, and in addition, it contains beautiful temples of
different faiths and several literary museums, including a very cozy
Chekhov House Museum. All objects on the southern coast of Crimea are
easily accessible from Yalta within one day. In Yalta, the famous Tsar's
path begins, surrounded by wonderful Crimean vegetation.
The Arabat Arrow is a long spit separating the Sivash Bay from the
Sea of Azov.
Ai
Petri Mountain is a peak and a mountain range in the
Crimean mountains. Together with the Three-Eyed Cave, the Uchan-Su
waterfall and the Devil's Staircase Pass (Shaitan-Merdven), it is
included in the Yalta Reserve
The Baidarsky reserve is the largest
reserve in the southwestern part of the Crimean Mountains. It includes
the Baydarskaya Valley, the Black River basin and 45 km of hiking
trails.
Demerdzhi is a remarkable yayla of the Crimean mountains,
known for its stone natural idols up to 25 m high. The most famous place
of their accumulation is the "Valley of Ghosts". A well-known filming
location for the films "Prisoner of the Caucasus", "Sportloto-82" and
many others. Between it and two other large mountain ranges
(Karabi-Yayla and Tirke), the Khapkhal Gorge was formed, on the
territory of which the Khapkhalsky reserve was discovered.
The
Kazantip Nature Reserve is a hollow with a diameter of several thousand
meters.
The Karadag reserve is the ruins of an extinct volcano, half
of which fell into the sea during the last eruption many tens of
millions of years ago.
The Crimean Reserve is the largest and oldest
reserve on the peninsula, which includes the highest mountain ranges of
Crimea, including Chatyr-Dag.
The Opuk Nature Reserve is a unique
landscape, rare for the Kerch Peninsula.
The Tarkhankutsky National
Natural Park is lost in the westernmost part of the peninsula. It is
interesting for its rugged rocky coastline with several picturesque
bays. The rest of the park is occupied by ascetic steppe with minimal
vegetation cover. Among other things, the Tarkhankut peninsula is famous
for its strong winds, which attracts fans of windsurfing and
kitesurfing.
Crimean monuments are numerous and varied. Although tourists usually
come here just for the sake of the sea or, in extreme cases, for
mountain hiking, you can’t neglect historical monuments in Crimea - many
of them are unique, you won’t see anything like it anywhere else.
The ancient Greeks actively settled on the Crimean coast, so the
ruins of ancient cities number dozens here. The largest and most
interesting monument of archeology is Tauric Chersonese in Sevastopol.
The scale of the ancient city, combined with the magnificent sea coast,
will not leave indifferent even those who are skeptical of any ruins.
After the ancient Greeks, some Crimean cities became Byzantine, and
later Genoese colonies. Powerful fortresses were erected here, of which
the fortress in Sudak is best preserved: defensive fortifications of the
XIV-XV centuries. not uncommon for Europe, but there were few fortresses
of this size and few where they are so wonderfully inscribed in the
mountain landscape. There are also old Byzantine churches in Crimea -
one in Kerch, two in Feodosia.
After Byzantium and the Genoese in
the Crimea, the Tatar period continued for several centuries. The Khan's
palace and several other buildings in Bakhchisaray, the cave cities of
Chufut-Kale and Mangup-Kale, a mosque in Stary Krym, mosques in
Evpatoria, Feodosia and Simferopol remained from him. Each of these
monuments is one of a kind. Everything that has been preserved in
Tatarstan, Bashkiria and the Urals was built much later and bears the
inevitable traces of Russian influence. The Tatar architecture of Crimea
is completely different, it is completely authentic and, on the
contrary, has a Turkish tinge.
Another layer of national
architecture is the heritage of the Karaites: a movement that professes
its own version of Judaism. The Karaites broke away from the Jews a very
long time ago, around the 9th century. From the very beginning there
were few of them, and there are even fewer left. They live in Lithuanian
Trakai and Crimean Evpatoria, where you can see Karaite temples - kenas.
And the oldest surviving kenas are also in the Crimea, in Chufut-Kale
near Bakhchisaray.
Armenians also lived in the Crimea, whose
architecture is found in the monastery of Surb-Khach in the vicinity of
Old Crimea, as well as in several Armenian churches in Feodosia. Of
course, this is not at all the same level as in the historical territory
of Armenia, but it is pleasant and interesting to look at. Probably, the
Crimean Surb-Khach is the northernmost of the Armenian monasteries.
Since the end of the 18th century, Crimea has been under the rule of
Russia, which developed this region in two directions. On the one hand,
palaces and luxurious dachas were built on the southern coast. On the
other hand, numerous military fortifications appeared. The latter are
now destroyed after they played their historical role in two wars (the
Crimean and the Great Patriotic Wars), making Kerch and Sevastopol
cities of military glory, where, with all your desire, you can’t avoid
immersing yourself in military history, the apotheosis of which is the
submarine base turned into a museum in Balaklava - a completely unique
place, carved right into the rock. The palace and park aspect of the
Russian heritage is abundantly represented in the villages of Greater
Yalta - the Vorontsov Palace in Alupka, the Livadia Palace in Livadia of
the same name: all these are wonderful places for walking. Fans of urban
architecture will also find something to do. Buildings from the times of
the Russian Empire have been preserved in Simferopol, Evpatoria and
Kerch, and the center of Sevastopol - although built from scratch after
the war - is a magnificent and unlike anything architectural ensemble.
Already in the 19th century, Crimea became a popular holiday
destination, where poets and writers liked to come. Chekhov, Paustovsky,
Alexander Grin, Maximilian Voloshin lived in the Crimea. If you are
interested in literary history, don't miss the Chekhov House Museum in
Yalta, the Voloshin Museum in Koktebel, and the numerous literary
museums of Stary Krym and Feodosiya.
There are several different
natural zones on the territory of Crimea, so the whole Crimea is one big
natural attraction. The climate of the southern coast is almost
subtropical. For residents of the northern latitudes, palm trees and
cypresses growing on the streets are a curiosity in themselves, so
simple walks through forests and parks are already of considerable
interest. The best place to get acquainted with southern nature is the
Nikitsky Botanical Garden near Yalta. Mountains come close to the coast,
of which the easiest to conquer is Ai-Petri - a large plateau at an
altitude of 1200 meters above sea level. In the Crimean mountains there
are numerous waterfalls (of which the most popular is Uchan-Su in the
vicinity of Yalta) and picturesquely located cave cities, carved right
into the rocks. Some of them can be reached in half an hour, others are
ideal for small mountain hikes. The nature of the Crimean mountains is
by no means homogeneous. The wooded mountains between Bakhchisarai and
Yalta are replaced in the west, in the vicinity of Balaklava, by almost
bare slopes and high cliffs that break right into the sea. You will see
similar landscapes in the Eastern Crimea, between Sudak and Feodosia,
where, in particular, the extinct volcano Kara-Dag is located - a
reserve with a unique nature.
Steppes begin to the north of the
Crimean Mountains. At first glance, they are dull and monotonous, but
nature lovers and connoisseurs of discreet landscapes will love this
area no less than the Crimean Mountains. Especially picturesque are the
bare hills in the vicinity of Kerch, where there are even mud volcanoes
and oil fields at Cape Kazantip. The Arabat Spit is also interesting - a
narrow spit stretching for more than 100 km along the entire Azov coast
of Crimea. There are beautiful beaches and quite wild countryside.
Vorontsov Palace - the most visited by tourists palace built for the
Governor-General of the Novorossiysk Territory, Count M. S. Vorontsov in
the middle of the 19th century, is located in the city of Alupka. The
palace organically fits into the surrounding mountain landscape. It was
built in the spirit of English architecture, and the building contains
elements of various eras, from early forms to the 16th century.
Livadiya
Palace - the summer residence of the royal family (Romanovs).
Bird
home -
The Khan's Palace is located in the city of Bakhchisarai,
halfway between Simferopol and Sevastopol. From the 16th to the end of
the 18th century it was the residence of the Crimean khans and served as
the center of the political, spiritual and cultural life of the Crimean
khanate. The Khan's Palace is a whole city in miniature. To this day,
two mosques (Big and Small), a mufti's house, a khan's cemetery,
official buildings, living quarters for khans, servants, a harem, six
courtyards, 14 fountains of different times have survived here. You can
book a tour of the palace.
Marble Cave - the cave was discovered in
1987 on the slope of the Chatyr-Dag mountain range. According to
speleologists, the Marble Cave is one of the five most beautiful
equipped caves on the planet. The length of the cave passages is more
than 2 kilometers, of which one and a half kilometers are equipped for
visiting. You can get to the Marble Cave from Simferopol, having reached
the village of Krasnolesye, or Marble.
Emine-Bair-Khosar Cave is a
vertical type karst cave, located near the Marble Cave. Opened in 1927.
The Valley of Ghosts is an area located on the top of Mount Demirdzhi,
which is often called a miracle of nature, and about which there are
many legends. Here is a group of randomly scattered rocks, which, over
the years, under the influence of the wind, have acquired unusual
shapes. The most famous rock is called "Catherine's head". Psychics
consider this zone to be anomalous. By car, you can easily get here
along the road leading to the village of Radiant (from Alushta or
Simferopol).
The ancient city of Chufut-Kale - the city arose around
the 5th-6th centuries. It is located in Bakhchisarai next to the Khan's
Palace and the Assumption Monastery. The most preserved and visited of
the "cave cities". The Sarmatian tribe of the Alans and their
descendants who converted to Christianity lived here until the 15th
century. The city has multi-tiered caves, the mausoleum of the daughter
of Khan Tokhtamysh Janike-khanum, ancient defensive walls with gates,
prison casemates where the Tatars kept noble captives, large and small
Karaite kenasas.
The Grand Canyon of Crimea is a unique natural
formation that arose as a result of a tectonic fault and a long “work”
of the water of the Auzun-Uzen River, which for many years formed the
bottom and walls of the canyon. Its depth exceeds 320 m, length 3.5 km,
width in some places does not exceed 3 m. It is located 5 km southeast
of the village. Falcon Bakhchisarai region.
Rock "Golden Gate" - a
rock of an unusual, arched shape, got its name due to the fact that at a
certain angle of incidence of sunlight, it really seems to be golden.
She is often depicted on souvenirs about the Crimea. Passage through the
arch of the Golden Gate on a small boat promises the fulfillment of the
most secret desire. The height of the arch is 15 meters. Located near
Koktebel.
Sudak Fortress - The first
fortifications were built here by the Byzantines in the VI-VII
centuries. Then the Khazars owned the fortress, in the X-XII centuries.
the Byzantines again. In the XIII century. Sudak (Sugdeya) becomes the
center of the Venetian colony. Most of the structures that have survived
to this day belong to the Genoese period, which is why it is often
called "Genoese". The Sudak fortress was a rather powerful structure.
From the south and west it is practically impregnable. It is surrounded
by two independent defensive lines from the northeast. The lower
defensive belt, about a kilometer long, consists of massive walls 6-8 m
high and up to 2 m thick, fortified with 14 combat towers.
Tauric
Chersonesus is located to the
west of the center of Sevastopol. In the first half of the VI century.
BC e. natives of the ancient Greek city of Heraclea (the territory of
present-day Turkey) founded the city of Chersonesos. By the beginning of
the III century. BC e. it becomes one of the largest policies of the
Northern Black Sea region. Chersonese in its heyday was a large port
city surrounded by powerful walls; trade, craft and cultural center of
the entire western coast of Crimea. On the territory of the reserve you
can see the settlement with the ruins of walls and buildings, a museum
with two departments, an exhibition of holograms, the majestic Vladimir
Cathedral.
Nikitsky Botanical Garden -
Massandra
-
Fort Kerch (Fort
Totleben) -
Yalta Zoo "Fairy Tale" —
Adjimuschkay quarries -
(Kerch).
Aivazovsky Art Gallery - (Feodosia).
Panticapaeum -
excavations of the capital of the Bosporan kingdom on the city of
Mithridates (Kerch).
The Red Cave is one of the largest karst caves
in Crimea. The first half a kilometer is equipped for excursions, which
is convenient for tourists descending underground for the first time.
Kerch Historical and Archaeological Museum (founded in 1826). Includes a
golden pantry with treasures of the Bosporus kingdom.
Surb Khach
(Holy Cross) is an Armenian monastery (XIV century) in a forest near the
Old Crimea.
The Kerch Lapidarium is one of the largest collections in
the world.
Taigan is an open-air lion park in Belogorsk. 58 lions and
over a hundred other animals. http://taigan.com.ua/.
Swan Islands is
a branch of the Crimean Reserve. Migratory birds stop here during their
travels.
Things to do
Active recreation - Almost all areas of active
recreation are developed in Crimea, except, perhaps, rafting on the
rivers - these are mountain hikes, mountaineering, horseback riding
tours, bicycle tours, jeeping, hang gliding, diving and all other types
of marine entertainment.
Event tourism (festivals) - many festivals
take place in Crimea every year. KAZANTIP, Krym Music Fest, Genoese
Helmet, Jazz Koktebel, Neighbor World, Bosporan Agons, Live in Blue Bay,
International Bike Show, Yalta Prime Rally and many others.
Therapeutic (medical) tourism - medical conditions in the Crimea are
created by the climate, the sea and a large number of healing springs,
mud resorts.
Wine tourism - in Crimea, in almost all regions, there
are wineries (there are more than 10 in total) with their own
specialization.
beach holiday
Educational tourism - Crimea is
often called "the world in miniature" or "an open-air museum". Here the
historical paths of many peoples and civilizations crossed, many
natural, historical, architectural monuments have been preserved.
Gastronomic tourism - local cuisine has been accumulating the culture
and cooking traditions of many peoples living in Crimea for centuries.
As a result of a long national neighborhood, the cuisine of the
peninsula intertwines the culinary characteristics of the North and
South, East and West.
Before the trip, given the tense relations between Russia and
Ukraine, as well as the fact that the vast majority of countries in the
world consider Crimea to be Ukrainian territory, a responsible traveler
can be recommended to get acquainted with the law of Ukraine “On
Ensuring the Rights and Freedoms of Citizens and the Legal Regime in the
Temporarily Occupied Territory of Ukraine” and Decree of the Cabinet of
Ministers of Ukraine No. 367 dated June 4, 2015, in order to assess
personal risks.
According to these documents, entry into Crimea
from the territory of the Russian Federation is prohibited. The
Ukrainian side officially allows visiting Crimea only through the
checkpoints "Kalanchak", "Chaplinka" and "Chongar", if you are traveling
by car, or through the checkpoints "Kherson", "Melitopol", "Vadim" and
"Novoalekseika", if you have chosen train.
Everyone, except for
citizens of Ukraine, according to these regulations, should have not
only identity documents, but also a special permit issued by the
migration service of Ukraine. However, only those who have close
relatives living in Crimea, or who have their own real estate on the
peninsula, can obtain such permission. You can also get permission for
official reasons (implementation of diplomatic functions or other work
activities). You will not be issued a permit if you indicate a desire to
take a vacation as the reason for visiting Crimea.
Ukraine can
fine violators of this order, or even initiate a criminal case. In
addition, a foreigner who enters Crimea in circumvention of these rules
in order to damage the national interests of Ukraine may become persona
non grata. The Ukrainian side can also apply to the EU with a request to
ban such a foreigner from visiting the Schengen area.
By plane
The only operating passenger airport is located in Simferopol, has a
regular connection with Moscow and St. Petersburg. In summer there are
flights to many other Russian cities. Flights to Simferopol are
subsidized, so during the season tickets sell out pretty quickly. There
are practically no international flights.
The Sevastopol airport
"Belbek" does not have the infrastructure to receive passenger flights;
as of 2018, it is used only by the military and business aviation.
By train
Railway communication with Ukraine has been terminated,
so trains can enter Crimea only through the Crimean bridge. Currently
(July 2020) the following routes operate:
007/008 St. Petersburg -
Moscow - Voronezh - Rostov - Simferopol - Sevastopol
028Ч/028С Moscow
- Voronezh - Rostov - Simferopol
075/076 Yekaterinburg - Kazan -
Penza - Rostov - Simferopol
142Е/142С Yekaterinburg - Chelyabinsk -
Ufa - Samara - Volgograd - Rostov - Simferopol
525E/525S Kislovodsk -
Pyatigorsk - Krasnodar - Simferopol
551/552 Vologda - Yaroslavl -
Ivanovo - Penza - Rostov - Simferopol
Suburban train Anapa - Kerch (6
times a day, two hours on the way)
A trip by train Moscow-Simferopol
will take 33 hours, St. Petersburg-Sevastopol - 43. Tickets for these
trains can be bought not on the Russian Railways website, but on the
website of the Grand Express carrier company.
From Kyiv, the
Kyiv-Novoalekseevka train remains a popular way to get to Crimea. A
ticket will cost about 150 UAH in a reserved seat and up to 450 UAH in a
compartment. Then you need to overcome another 30 km by bus to the
Chongar checkpoint, from where you will have to walk several kilometers
to the Russian border guards, or for 10 UAH you can take a bus that
travels through the so-called neutral zone. Also, as an option, you can
take a taxi from the Novoalekseevka station to Dzhankoy, Simferopol,
Sevastopol or Yalta, this is convenient because you will be taken by car
through passport control, but it is also more expensive.
The
second option is by train to Kherson, then by bus about 150 km more to
the Kalanchak checkpoint. The cost of a ticket for the Kyiv-Kherson
train will be about 120 UAH in a reserved seat car and up to 300 UAH in
a compartment car. The cost of the bus is about 80 UAH.
By car
From Russia: Traveling across the 19 km Crimean Bridge from mainland
Russia to Crimea takes about 15 minutes. The Kerch ferry crossing
between Crimea and the Caucasus continues to operate for all types of
transport, although it has practically lost its meaning. In connection
with the construction of the Tavrida highway and the low capacity of the
existing highway, traffic jams are not uncommon, which are especially
pronounced on the Primorsky-Beregovoe-Feodosiya section (at the end of
2018, a section of the Tavrida highway was opened to bypass this
direction).
From the territory of Ukraine:
From Kherson along
the highway E97 through the Kalanchak border crossing.
From Novaya
Kakhovka along the regional road through the Chaplinka border crossing.
From Melitopol on the highway E105 through the Chongar (Salkovo) border
crossing.
All border crossings are round-the-clock, designed for both
passenger and freight transport. Please note that everyone, except for
citizens of Ukraine, needs permission from the State Migration Service
to cross the border!
The R-47 road from Genichesk through the
Arabat Spit is closed to traffic.
By bus
From the territory of
Russia: bus service connects Crimea with many cities of the Krasnodar
Territory and the Rostov Region, and sometimes with more remote regions
of the Russian Federation. Buses follow the Crimean bridge.
From
the territory of Ukraine: despite the fact that you won’t be able to buy
a ticket for direct flights to Crimea at Ukrainian bus stations, there
are many companies that organize bus transportation from many cities of
Ukraine (including from Kiev, Chernivtsi, Kharkov, Donetsk, Zaporozhye,
Kherson) to the Crimea. The principle of operation: the bus goes to the
border, passengers pass it on their own, and on the other side of the
border another bus is waiting for them. It is worth noting that in
Crimea, tickets for these directions can be bought directly at the box
office of bus stations.
Since you have to walk, you should pay
attention to the Kalanchak checkpoint, where you have to walk only about
800 meters. Buses from Kherson cost about 40 hryvnias to Kalanchak.
Travel time will take more than 2 hours.
On the ship
The only
non-Russian port that can be reached from Crimea is Zonguldak (Turkey),
departing from Evpatoria (2015).
There is also a port in
Sevastopol, but there is no regular sea passenger communication with it.
Suburban electric trains
Trains operate on the following routes:
Simferopol - Bakhchisaray (travel time 45 min) - Sevastopol (travel time
about 2 hours)
Simferopol - Saki (1 h 30 min) - Evpatoria (2 h 15
min)
Simferopol - Dzhankoy (2 h 30 min) - Salt Lake (2 h 50 min)
Feodosia - Dzhankoy (3 h 20 min) - Armyansk (6 h)
Kerch - Dzhankoy (5
hours)
Buses
The most developed type of transport (there is a
direct connection between almost all the cities of the peninsula), so it
is also the main way to travel.
The bus schedule can be viewed on
the GosAvtobus website, where you can also buy online tickets, payment
is made by Visa and Mastercard cards issued by Russian banks. The ticket
can not be printed, but simply presented electronically upon boarding.
Intercity trolleybuses
In Crimea, there is the longest and most
picturesque mountain trolleybus route in Europe Simferopol - Alushta -
Yalta. Travel time to Alushta - 1 hour 30 minutes, to Yalta - 2 hours 30
minutes.
The official currency is the Russian ruble.
Several Russian
banks operate, including RNKB, Genbank, Kraibank, Rossiya Bank, Rublev,
and others. As a rule, bank branches work on weekdays from 9:00 to
17:00, on weekends Almost all branches are closed. The largest Russian
banks (Sberbank, VTB, Alfa-Bank, etc.) are not represented in Crimea.
There are no ATMs either, so it will not work to withdraw money from,
for example, social cards and Maestro cards of Sberbank, which work only
at Sber ATMs. Most branches have currency exchange offices.
ATMs
are installed in most bank branches, retail outlets and some other
institutions. Only Russian rubles are issued. Commission for withdrawing
money from third-party ATMs may be charged by the bank that issued the
card, and rarely exceeds 1% or 100 rubles per transaction.
In
2014, MasterCard and Visa suspended operations with bank cards in
Crimea. However, after the creation of the "National Payment System"
they can be used again. However, this is only true for cards issued by
Russian banks. Cards of foreign banks, most likely, will not work.
The PRO100 cards of the UEK payment system (among other system
participants: Sberbank, Uralsib, Bank of Russia and the local RNKB) and
Mir are working. In addition, you can cash out money using Zolotaya
Korona cards (at ATMs of BaikalBank, Krayinvestbank and FIA Bank) and
UnionPay (at ATMs of BaikalBank and Krayinvestbank).
Most large
commercial establishments have terminals for paying with bank cards. But
their level of penetration is still low.
Eating in Crimea is pleasant and relatively inexpensive. You can have lunch for 120-150 rubles (2014), and in good cafes and restaurants, prices for hot dishes start at 140-160 rubles. Alcoholic drinks are also inexpensive: a glass of local wine costs 40-50 rubles. Typical Crimean fast food is chebureks. They are made with meat, cheese, vegetables, and sometimes with everything at once and are sold for 30-50 rubles apiece.
Dozens of different peoples live in Crimea, many of them with their
own unique culinary traditions. The most common cuisine is still the
usual Russian-Ukrainian, there are also many establishments with Crimean
Tatar cuisine, which has an abundance of dishes with exotic names. Very
rarely, but still you can find - Karaite and Jewish cuisine, the cuisine
of the Crimean Germans.
The modern Crimean Tatar cuisine was
influenced by the Central Asian one, when in the second half of the 20th
century the Crimean Tatars began to return from Uzbekistan. Lagman,
shurpa and samsa are typical products of such influence. With the
development of mass tourism, culinary traditions gradually merged into a
single whole, so what is offered in some establishments under the guise
of national dishes is often a variation on the theme of “oriental”
cuisine. Although truly authentic national dishes are not so common, the
usual selection of "oriental" dishes is also quite unusual for most
travelers.
The well-known shurpa and lagman are usually served
for the first, as well as ufak-ash (or yufak-ash - broth with tiny
dumplings) and berdzhimek shorbasy (lentil cream soup).
The main
dishes are pilaf (characteristically, boiled veal can be used), dolma
(sarma) from grape leaves (yaprak sarmasy), cabbage (pahana sarmasy) or
pepper (beaver dopmasy), shish kebabs (shish kebabs) and kebabs stewed
with beef or chicken vegetables. Dough products stuffed with meat are
popular: chebureks (chibireki), yantyk (a type of cheburek fried in a
dry frying pan and smeared with butter), chir-chirs (Karaim pasties with
both meat and vegetables), kubete (meat pie with potatoes and onions),
Turkish flatbread pite (pide), kobete, burma, lochum. Dried meat kakach
and bastyrma, kavurma (finely chopped lamb fried in internal fat with
onions).
For sweets - kurabye (biscuits cooked in butter and sour
cream) and baklava (made from puff pastry, rather than the more familiar
Azerbaijani version), as well as sheker kyiyk (sugar handkerchiefs -
"brushwood" type cookies) and cevizli boynuzchykhlar (bagels with nuts)
.
Unlike Tatarstan, the concept of halal food is not used in
Crimea, however, there is no pork in real establishments of national
cuisine, and the attitude towards alcohol is strict - it simply does not
exist there.
Fish is not so typical for Tatar cuisine, but, of
course, it is very common. Black Sea fish are mullet, pelengas and small
red mullet, which is usually fried and eaten whole, like smelt. Rapans
are numerous in the Black Sea - large mollusks added to salads, pilaf or
served as a separate dish. Mussels are also very common.
In the Crimean drinks, the segregation of different national cultures
was clearly manifested. Soft drinks have undergone a strong Tatar
influence. Throughout the Crimea, green and herbal teas are prepared and
sold; this is one of the most typical Crimean souvenirs. Coffee culture
is reminiscent of Turkey at all. Unlike Russia and Ukraine, where coffee
from the machine is becoming more common, in Crimea it is customary to
brew coffee on the sand. However, you will find authentic oriental
coffee houses and oriental sweets attached to them only in Bakhchisarai:
in other cities, the matter is limited to good oriental coffee brewed in
a cezve, but you will not find a special oriental aesthetics.
From cold drinks, in addition to ordinary juices and soda, in the Crimea
you can find something more interesting: sherbet (oriental lemonade),
khoshaf (dried fruit compote), fermented milk drinks: katyk, also known
as yogurt and ayran (or yazma - katyk, diluted salted water with
garlic).
Among the national drinks, buz (or bose) is also known -
a non-alcoholic or low-alcohol thick sweet and sour drink made from
millet, wheat or corn flour, served for dessert. Buza is a very distant
analogue of kvass or even beer: depending on the exposure, the strength
of the booze can reach two or three or even five degrees (hence the
“buzz”). A special version of buza is maksym (or makhsym), which is made
from fried ingredients, often with the addition of fat, sugar and
spices.
The culture of winemaking was founded in the Crimea
by the ancient Greeks. There are four types of local alcoholic drinks:
ordinary wines, fortified wines, champagne and cognacs. They are sold in
Crimean Wine stores, which are found everywhere, as well as tasting
opportunities. You can buy wine and brandy in bottles or on tap. The
draft version is slightly cheaper and is great for those who drink
alcohol for the sake of it (it won't take long). The rest should pay
attention to bottled drinks, since they are also inexpensive: wine from
100 rubles per bottle, cognac - from 150 rubles per 0.5 liter. You can
buy wine from your hands, but in this case, the effect will come even
faster, and the result is likely to be disappointing.
Crimean
wines can be dry, more often semi-dry, and even more often dessert and
semi-sweet; sometimes red, but more often white. Although good red
grapes ripen in Crimea, the choice of dry red wines is relatively small.
The selection of white wines is somewhat more interesting. In the
Crimea, the French variety Aligote has taken root, which you will not
find anywhere. There are also Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc, all good white
wines, but drinking them is a kind of lottery. Some Crimean producers
manage to give ordinary white wine a sherry flavor, so be prepared for
surprises and treat what is happening with humor.
Fortified wines
are a kind of signature Crimean product. In Crimea, the production of a
wide variety of fortified wines is developed: from the banal Cahors to
port, Madeira and sherry borrowed in Europe. All of them are more often
white than red, unlike, for example, from Portugal, where everything is
exactly the opposite. In principle, fortified wines are the best for
Crimean producers: Massandra wines are generally a brand and, in a
sense, the best Crimean wine. The most famous brand is Red Stone White
Muscat, a very fragrant liqueur wine. You can also buy aged
40-50-year-old wines at prices ranging from a thousand rubles and more
per bottle. Equally fine vintage wines are produced by Magarach and
Solnechnaya Dolina. Other Crimean producers (Inkerman, Koktebel, etc.),
on the contrary, specialize in ordinary wines, but they also have
vintage varieties.
Of the sparkling wines, the most famous and
popular brand is Novy Svet, founded by Prince Golitsin in the Russian
Empire and produced in the village of the same name near Sudak.
Champagne wines "New World" are produced using natural fermentation
technology.
Finally, the Crimean cognac is produced with a
different number of stars, but, most likely, will leave you indifferent.
Koktebel, Ai-Petri, Crimea... All of them differ mainly in the shape of
the bottles, and the taste is quite commensurate with the low price. In
any Crimean store, along with the local one, they sell Georgian or
Armenian cognac, and you will not regret choosing it.
Mobile operators
In connection with the sanctions regime, several
local operators were created, operating exclusively on the territory of
the peninsula. Of these, Win Mobile and Volna Mobile will be the best
choice, as operators with the largest coverage areas and an extensive
sales network. As an additional option, you can buy an MTS SIM card in a
local store, the native region for which will be Crimea and the
Krasnodar Territory.
✦ "Win Mobile". ✉ The operator with the
largest coverage area, operating at frequencies previously owned by MTS
Ukraine. 3G networks (and in large cities and resort areas on the coast
- and LTE) are available in most of the peninsula. Accordingly, in the
presence of 3G / LTE, the mobile Internet works very quickly, and in
their absence, you have to be content with slow EDGE / GPRS. Call rates
are below the national average.
✦ "Wave mobile". The coverage covers
most of the Crimean peninsula. Mobile networks of the second, third and
fourth generations are available. Starter packs can be purchased at
sales centers and distributors.
✦ Krymtelecom. Mobile networks of
the second and third generations are available. You can buy SIM-cards
only in sales centers.
12 STS. Mobile operator of the Sevastopol City
Council. Mobile networks of the second and third generations are
available. SIM cards are only available at sales offices.
Telephone codes:
+7-978-9ХХХХХХ – “Win mobile”
+7-978-0ХХХХХХ,
+7-978-1ХХХХХХ, +7-978-7ХХХХХХ, +7-978-8ХХХХХХ – MTS Krasnodar
+7-978-16X-ХХХХ – Intertelecom
+7-978-254-ХХХХ, +7-978-333-3ХХХ –
SevMobile
+7-978-40X-ХХХХ – Krymtelecom
+7-978-555-ХХХХ,
+7-978-556-ХХХХ— Volna Mobile
If the network matches, then the
call is considered at intranet tariffs, if not, then it is charged as a
call to another operator.
You can top up your account in
self-service terminals (with a rather large commission of 7-10%), in
mobile communication stores or online.
Russian operators (+7)
Subscribers of Russian mobile operators MTS, Beeline, Megafon, Tele2 are
served at national roaming rates. The same as when visiting other
regions of Russia.
Despite the fact that there are no specialized
service centers of the MTS company on the peninsula, you can buy MTS SIM
cards of the Krasnodar Territory with the code 978 and the only tariff
plan Super MTS Krasnodar Territory and Crimea from distributors with
cheap calls within the Crimea and Krasnodar edge.
Ukrainian
operators (+380)
Operators "Vodafone Ukraine", "Kyivstar" and
"lifecell" do not have their own networks on the peninsula, roaming is
also not provided. Subscribers can only be offered to buy local SIM
cards.
Fixed line
New Russian phone numbers have been
introduced: +7 365 (Crimea), +7 8692 (Sevastopol).
At the same
time, it is impossible to get through from Ukraine, the USA and some
other countries to these new numbers, since calls to them are blocked by
operators of these countries.
If you are traveling around the Crimea by your car, then take into
account the rather aggressive driving style of local drivers. The
continuous dividing strip on the Crimean roads is drawn simply “for
beauty”.
In the rain, the Crimean roads become decently slippery,
as the installed signs warn.
Since ancient times, the name Taurica (Greek: Ταυρικῆ) has been
assigned to the peninsula, which comes from the name of the most ancient
tribes of the Taurus, who inhabited the southern part of the Crimea. The
modern name "Crimea" began to be widely used only after the 13th
century, presumably by the name of the city "Kyrym", which, after the
capture of the Northern Black Sea region by the Mongols, was the
residence of the governor of the Khan of the Golden Horde. It is also
possible that the name "Crimea" came from the Perekop isthmus (the
Russian word "perekop" is a translation of the Turkic word "qirim",
which means "ditch"). During the existence of the Genoese colonies of
Taurida (1266-1475), the peninsula was called the Office of Romania, as
well as the Genoese Gazaria, by the middle of the 15th century due to
the large number of Armenians, who by 1400 accounted for 2/3 of the
number of all inhabitants of the possessions of the Genoese Republic in
the Crimea, the peninsula in the sources of that time they began to call
Maritime Armenia (Armenia Maritime) or Greater Armenia (Armenia Magna).
The etymology of the word "Kyrym" is unclear, and there are several
versions of its origin:
Distortion of the ancient name of the
Cimmeria Peninsula (lat. Cimmerium)
From the ancient Turkic word
*qurum ("protection, defense")
From Ancient Greek κρημνοί (flint,
"rock")
From the 15th century, the Crimean peninsula began to be
called Tavria, and after its annexation to Russia in 1783, Tavrida. The
entire Northern Black Sea region was also called - the northern coast of
the Black and Azov Seas with adjacent steppe territories.
The peninsula protrudes deeply into the Black Sea, which is washed
from the south and west; The Crimean peninsula is separated from the
Black Sea of Azov, which washes it from the east. The coastline of the
Crimean peninsula exceeds 2500 km; of which almost 50% are in the Sivash
region, 750 km in the Black Sea, and about 500 km in the Sea of Azov.
The peninsula is connected to the mainland by a narrow (up to 8 km)
Perekop Isthmus, along which highways and railways are laid, as well as
the channel of the North Crimean Canal and high-voltage power lines. To
the east of the Perekop Isthmus, the Lithuanian Peninsula of Crimea and
the mainland peninsula Vostochny Rog are connected by a dirt dam, along
which an improved dirt road has been laid. To the east, through the
Sivash water area, along the dam connecting the Crimean Cape Dzhangara
and the continental Cape Kutara, an asphalt road and a high-voltage
power line were laid; to the east, a dirt road passes through the
Chongar Strait along a dam and a dam, further to the east a railway
passes through the strait along a dam and a bridge, and in the eastern,
narrowest part of the strait, an automobile bridge is thrown over it,
along which a highway passes; in the east of the Sivash, an automobile
bridge is thrown over the channel of the Big arm of the Genichsky
Strait, connecting the northern tip of the Crimean spit Arabatskaya spit
with the continent. The Crimean Bridge passes through the Kerch Strait,
providing a land connection between Crimea and the Taman Peninsula.
The area is about 26’860 km², of which 72% are plains, 20% are
mountains and 8% are lakes and other water bodies.
From a
geological point of view, the Crimean Peninsula is the southern part of
the Ukrainian crystalline shield of the East European Platform, within
which the Scythian plate and the Crimean folded region stand out.
According to the nature of the relief, the peninsula is divided into three unequal parts: the North Crimean Plain with the Tarkhankut Upland (about 70% of the territory), the ridge-hilly plains of the Kerch Peninsula with the manifestation of mud volcanism and the mountainous Crimea, stretching in three ridges - the Main (southern), Inner and Outer (northern), separated by longitudinal plains.
Mountain structures of the Crimea are part of the Alpine folded
geosynclinal region. The folded region of the Crimean Mountains is a
large blocky uplift, the southern part of which is lowered below the
level of the Black Sea. It is composed of intensely deformed
Triassic-Jurassic flysch deposits and more quietly occurring Upper
Jurassic carbonate and sandy-argillaceous Cretaceous, Paleogene and
Neogene strata. Deposits of iron ores, various salts, flux limestones,
etc. are associated with them.
The main ridge of the Crimean
Mountains is the highest (1545 m, Mount Roman-Kosh), it is a chain of
individual flat-topped limestone massifs (yayl), separated by deep
canyons (see Grand Canyon (Crimea)). The southern slope of the Main
Ridge stands out as the Crimean sub-Mediterranean. The Inner and Outer
ridges form the Crimean foothills.
Roman-Kosh - 1545 m;
Demir-Kapu - 1540 m;
Zeytin-Kosh - 1534 m;
Kemal-Egerek - 1529 m;
Eklizi-Burun - 1527 m;
Angara-Burun - 1453
m.
The northernmost point of Crimea is located on the Perekop Isthmus, the southernmost point is Cape Nikolai, the westernmost point is Cape Priboyny (Kara-Mrun) on Tarkhankut, and the easternmost point is Cape Lantern on the Kerch Peninsula. The distance from west to east (between the capes Kara-Mrun and Lantern) is 326 km, from north to south (from the Isthmus of Perekop to Cape Nikolai) is 205 km. The length from west to east is 360 km, from north to south - 180 km. The center of the Crimean peninsula is located near the village of Azov.
The banks are accumulatively aligned. The length of the coastline is
980 km, of which 76% are abrasion shores (that is, where rocks were
destroyed under the action of waves).
The largest bays on the
coast:
Black Sea:
Karkinite,
Kalamitsky,
Feodosia.
Sea of Azov:
Sivash,
Kazantip and
Arabatsky.
In the east of Crimea is the Kerch Peninsula,
in the west - the
Tarkhankut Peninsula,
in the south - the Herakleian Peninsula,
in
the north - Tyup-Tarkhan.
The total length of land and sea borders is
more than 2500 km.
Constant observations in the naval bases of the Black Sea Fleet have
been carried out since the end of the 18th century, a network of weather
stations was deployed in the second half of the 19th century.
Crimea, despite its relatively small territory, has a diverse climate.
The climate of Crimea is divided into three subzones:
Steppe Crimea
(most of Crimea, north, west and center of Crimea).
Crimean mountains
the south coast of Crimea
The climate of the northern part is
temperate continental, on the southern coast - with features similar to
subtropical. The average temperature in January is from -1 ... -3 ° C in
the north of the steppe zone to +1 ... -1 ° C in the south of the steppe
zone, on the southern coast of Crimea from +2 ... +6 ° C. The average
temperature in July and August of the South Coast and the eastern part
of Crimea: Kerch and Feodosiya is +23…+27 °C. Precipitation varies from
300-400 mm per year in the north to 1000-2000 mm in the mountains.
In summer (in the second half of July) in the steppe part of Crimea,
the daytime air temperature reaches +35…+37 °C in the shade, at night up
to +23…+25 °C. The climate is predominantly dry, seasonal dry winds
prevail. The Black Sea warms up to +27 °С in summer. The Sea of Azov
warms up to +28 °С.
The steppe part of the Crimea lies in the
steppe zone of the temperate climate. This part of the Crimea is
characterized by long dry and very hot summers and mild, little snowy
winters with frequent thaws and very changeable weather. The Crimean
mountains are characterized by a mountain type of climate with a
pronounced zonality in height. Summers are also very hot and dry, while
winters are wet and mild. The southern coast of Crimea is characterized
by a sub-Mediterranean climate. Snow cover is only temporary, it is
established on average once every 7 years, frosts only during the
passage of the Arctic anticyclone.
257 rivers flow through the territory of Crimea (the largest are Salgir, Kacha, Alma, Belbek, Indol, Biyuk-Karasu, Chernaya, Burulcha). The longest river in Crimea is Salgir (220 km), the most full-flowing is Belbek (water flow rate is 1500 liters per second). There are more than 50 salt lakes in Crimea, the largest of them is Lake Sasyk-Sivash - 205 km². The Black Sea artesian basin is located. The steppe part is indented with canals for irrigation. The largest of them, the North Crimean Canal, was blocked by Ukraine in 2014; in 2022 it was unblocked by Russia during the fighting in the Kherson region.
The basis of the irrigation systems of the Crimea, as well as the
water supply of the cities of Kerch, Feodosia, Stary Krym, Sudak,
Simferopol, Shchelkino and rural settlements of the Leninsky and
Kirovsky districts, is the main North Crimean Canal (NCC) and large
branches extending from it.
Main channels:
North Crimean Canal
(SKK)
Razdolnensky Rice Canal (RRC)
Azov Rice Canal (ARC)
Krasnogvardeiskaya branch (KGV)
Black Sea Canal Branch (PMC)
Connecting channel
Saki Canal
Western Black Sea Line (ZCHV)
channel RF-2
Natural resources
The natural reserve fund
includes 158 objects and territories (including 46 of national
importance, the area of which is 5.8% of the area of the Crimean
peninsula). The basis of the reserve fund is made up of 6 protected
areas with a total area of 63.9 thousand hectares - the Crimean National
Park (natural reserve), "Swan Islands", Yalta Mountain and Forest Nature
Reserve, Cape Martyan, Karadagsky, Kazantip, Opuk nature reserves.
According to the Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology of the
Russian Federation Sergey Donskoy, oil reserves in the territory of
Crimea amount to only 47 million tons, gas - 165.3 billion m³, which is
a fairly significant indicator, and besides. there are 18.2 million tons
of gas condensate. According to him, there are 44 deposits of
hydrocarbon raw materials on the territory of the peninsula, including
10 oil, 27 gas and 7 gas condensate. In addition, there are 5 gas fields
and 3 gas condensate fields on the Black Sea shelf, and 6 gas fields on
the Azov shelf.
Deposits of minerals: mineral salts, building
materials, combustible gas, thermal waters, iron ore. Natural
recreational resources are of the greatest importance: mild climate,
warm sea, therapeutic mud, mineral waters, picturesque landscapes.
Indolo-Kuban oil and gas region
Black Sea-Crimean oil and gas
region
Kerch iron ore basin.
The fauna of the Crimea is a unique complex of species with a high
level of isolation from other geographically adjacent faunas of the
Caucasus, the Balkans and the mainland of Ukraine. It is characterized
by a high level of endemism, a combination of mountain-forest (the
largest connections with the Western Caucasus) and plain-steppe
(connections with the mainland Azov) faunal complexes. In the fauna of
the Crimea, a number of species have been identified, the distribution
of which in Eastern Europe is limited only by the Crimea.
About
2400 species of plants grow in Crimea, of which 77 species are trees.
There are a few more shrubs - 113 species. 118 species of Crimean plants
are included in the Red Book or recognized as reserved by the decision
of local authorities.
The formation of the ethno-cultural diversity of Crimea was determined by three historical and geographical territories. Numerous nomadic peoples came to the peninsula from the Eurasian steppes for many centuries. Ancient culture came to Crimea from the Mediterranean and the southern Black Sea shores and ethno-cultural influence was exerted by Byzantium, Turkey, and Armenia. From the territory of Eastern Europe, Germanic tribes and East Slavic peoples came to Crimea.
The oldest known population of the mountainous and southern coastal
parts of the Crimea are the Taurians.
From the XII century BC. e. the
steppe Crimea was inhabited by peoples conventionally referred to as
Cimmerians.
VIII-IV centuries BC. e. - Greek colonists penetrated
into the Crimea, who founded Panticapaeum (VII century BC), Feodosia,
Chersonese (V century BC), created the Bosporus kingdom; the steppe part
of the peninsula was inhabited by the Scythians.
III-II centuries BC.
e. - the center of the Scythian state (Scythian Naples, located in the
place of present-day Simferopol) moved to the Crimea from the Dnieper
region under pressure from the Sarmatians who migrated from the east.
108 BC e. - under Mithridates VI (c. 132-63 BC), the Bosporan kingdom
became part of the Pontic kingdom.
63 BC e. - The Pontic kingdom was
conquered by Rome, the Crimean cities came under the control of the
Romans. The independence of the Bosporus state was returned. The
beginning of the domination of the Roman power in the Crimea.
257 -
Crimea was subjugated by the Goths, the Scythian state was destroyed.
370s - 380s - the invasion of the Huns, who passed by the Bosporan state
and fell upon the "Gothic state" of Germanaric.
IV-V centuries - the
gradual restoration of the power of the Roman (Byzantine) Empire over
the mountainous part of Crimea. The Goths who survived the invasion of
the Huns accepted the power of Byzantium. The Bosporus state existed
until the beginning of the 6th century. During the second half of the
5th and the beginning of the 6th century, the "protectorate" of the
Hunnic tribe of the Utigurs, who returned from Europe after the collapse
of the Hunnic Union, spread to the Bosporus. In the 520s-530s, Byzantium
established direct power over the Bosporus.
The end of the 7th
century - almost all of Crimea was captured by the Khazars, except for
Chersonesus, which remained under the rule of Byzantium.
The turn of
the 8th-9th centuries is the raid on Surozh (Sugdeya) by the legendary
Varangian prince Bravlin.
X—XI centuries The southeast of the
peninsula with the center in Kerch is part of the ancient Russian
Tmutarakan principality.
XIII century - the power of Byzantium
weakened; part of its possessions passed to the Genoese, part became an
independent principality of Gothia (Theodoro).
XII-XV centuries -
there was a settlement by Armenians of several regions of Crimea; formed
an Armenian colony. At the same time, church sources mention the Alans
in the Crimea. As the historian M. V. Tamamshev testifies, “with the
approach of Mongol rule to decline, Armenians moved in masses to the
Crimea, where there were so many of them that some geographers began to
call the Crimean peninsula - Armenia maritima.”
1239 - Crimea was
conquered by the Mongol army of Batu Khan. Steppe Crimea became an ulus
of the Golden Horde.
1299 - the invasion of the Crimean troops of the
Golden Horde Beklyarbek Nogay, who ruined several large urban centers.
XIV - the middle of the XV century - the wars of the Genoese with the
Principality of Theodoro for the lands of the southern coast of Crimea.
XIV - the middle of the XV century - many Circassians settled in the
eastern regions of Crimea in the Genoese period.
1441 - an
independent Crimean Khanate was formed.
1475 - The Ottoman army under
the command of Gedik Ahmed Pasha conquered the Genoese possessions and
the Principality of Theodoro. The Crimean Khanate fell into vassal
dependence on the Ottoman Empire.
1774 - according to the
Kyuchuk-Kaynardzhy peace treaty, the fortresses of Kerch and Yenikale
went to Russia, the Crimean Khanate was declared an independent state
and the former Ottoman possessions on the peninsula (Southern and
South-Eastern Crimea) passed to it.
1778 - Suvorov resettled the
Armenians and Greeks from the Crimea to the Azov province.
April 8
(19), 1783 - the Russian Empress Catherine II signed the Manifesto on
the annexation of Crimea to the Russian Empire.
1783 - Sevastopol was
founded, the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Empire was created.
1853-1856 - Crimean War (Eastern War).
November 1905 - Sevastopol
uprising led by Lieutenant Schmidt.
Mass terror in the Crimea
(1917-1918).
1917-1920 - Civil War. On the territory of Crimea,
“white” and “red” governments replaced each other several times,
including the Soviet Socialist Republic of Taurida, the Crimean Soviet
Socialist Republic, the Crimean People's Republic and others.
1920-1921 - the so-called Red Terror in the Crimea.
October 18, 1921
- The Autonomous Crimean Soviet Socialist Republic was formed as part of
the RSFSR.
1921-1923 - famine in the Crimea, which claimed more than
100 thousand lives (of which more than 75 thousand Crimean Tatars).
On June 16, 1925, the Artek pioneer camp was established.
1941 In
May-July, the 9th separate corps of the Odessa Military District was
stationed in the Crimea. Since September, in the Crimea, the troops of
the 51st Separate Army took part in the hostilities against the German
invaders. Among the troops of the army were the 9th Rifle Corps, the 3rd
Crimean Motorized Rifle Division.
September 12, 1941 - July 10, 1942
the defense of Sevastopol.
1941-1944 - the occupation of the Crimea
by Nazi Germany and Romania.
December 26, 1941 - May 15, 1942
Kerch-Feodosia landing operation, which ended in the defeat of the
Soviet troops.
January 5 - 8, 1942 Evpatoria landing operation, which
ended in the defeat of the Soviet troops.
May 16 - October 30, 1942
the defense of the Adzhimushkay quarries by the remnants of the Crimean
Front of the Red Army.
October 31 - December 11, 1943 Kerch-Eltigen
landing operation to liberate the Kerch Peninsula.
April 8 - May 12,
1944 Crimean offensive operation, which ended with the defeat of the
troops of Nazi Germany and the liberation of Crimea.
1944 - the
deportation of the Crimean Tatars (May 18), Armenians, Bulgarians and
Greeks (June 26).
On February 4–11, 1945, the Yalta Conference of the
leaders of the three great powers of the anti-Hitler coalition took
place.
June 30, 1945 - By decree of the Presidium of the USSR Armed
Forces, the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was abolished
and the Crimean Region was created. On June 25, 1946, the abolition of
autonomy was approved by the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, and
settlements on the peninsula and in adjacent areas were also renamed.
1948 - by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR,
the city of Sevastopol was separated into a separate administrative and
economic center (a city of republican subordination).
On February 19,
1954, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the
Crimean region was transferred from the RSFSR to the Ukrainian SSR.
1978 - the constitution of the Ukrainian SSR was adopted, in which the
city of Sevastopol was listed as a city of republican subordination of
the Ukrainian SSR.
1987 - the mass return of the Crimean Tatar people
to Crimea from places of deportation began.
February 12, 1991 -
according to the results of the all-Crimean referendum, which was
boycotted by the Crimean Tatars returning to the peninsula from places
of deportation (held on January 20, 1991), the Crimean region was
transformed into the Crimean ASSR as part of the Ukrainian SSR; in 1992,
the autonomy was renamed the Republic of Crimea, and in 1994 - the
Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
2014 - the annexation of the peninsula
(within the borders of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of
Sevastopol that had developed by that time) by Russia.
The main sectors are industry (more than 530 large and medium-sized
enterprises), construction, energy, agriculture, including grain
growing, vegetable growing and melon growing, horticulture and
viticulture and animal husbandry, trade, healthcare.
The tourism
and resort sphere is developed.
Each city in Crimea is connected to other settlements by bus routes.
There are intercity trolleybus routes (on the route Simferopol airport -
Simferopol - Alushta - Yalta, see Crimean trolleybus). There is a tram
in Evpatoria.
Yalta, Feodosia, Kerch, Sevastopol, Chernomorskoe
and Evpatoria are connected by sea routes. In Sevastopol, boats run
between the North and South sides, which are public transport. The
railway lines Salt Lake - Sevastopol (with a branch to Evpatoria) and
Armyansk - Kerch (with a branch to Feodosia) connect Crimea with the
continent.
The peninsula is washed by two seas. The ports of the
Black Sea are Evpatoria, Sevastopol, Yalta, Feodosiya and Kerch. The
Azov coast has no transport significance.
The peninsula is
connected with the Krasnodar Territory of Russia by the Crimean Bridge -
a transport crossing consisting of parallel road and railway bridges;
the highway Taurida A291, Kerch - Sevastopol (250.75 km) originates from
it.
Crimea is one of the few regions of Eastern Europe that joined the
culture of ancient Greece and Rome during their heyday. The Crimean
culture of the Middle Ages is closely connected with Byzantium and the
Mediterranean. The ruins of Chersonese, founded in ancient times, which
have survived to this day, are a legacy of ancient Greek and early
medieval Byzantine architecture. The medieval culture of the peninsula
is imbued with the influence of Muslim culture, in particular Tatar and
Ottoman architecture.
The peninsula has always been a place where
representatives of various peoples settled, such as Scythians and
Greeks, Romans and Byzantines, Bulgars, Khazars, Cumans, Pechenegs,
Armenians and Goths. In Crimea, on the basis of local and alien
elements, Crimean Tatars, Urums, Krymchaks and Karaites were formed.
After the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Empire, Russians,
Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Germans and other peoples began to appear on the
peninsula.
The names of the artist Ivan Aivazovsky, writers and
poets Alexander Pushkin, Adam Mickiewicz, Alexei Apukhtin, Leo Tolstoy,
Anton Chekhov, Maximilian Voloshin, Alexander Grin, Arkady Averchenko,
Sergei Sergeev-Tsensky, Ivan Bunin, poetesses Lesya Ukrainka, Marina
Tsvetaeva and Yulia Drunina, Crimean Tatar educator Ismail Gasprinsky.
The traditional confessions of Crimea include Orthodoxy, Sunni Islam, Judaism, Karaism, as well as Catholicism and Armenian Apostolic Christianity. As of 2009, 1,362 religious organizations (37 in 1988) of fifty denominations and religious denominations were registered in Crimea; there were more than 1330 religious communities, 9 spiritual educational institutions. 690 religious buildings were used or owned by religious organizations. From 1991 to 2009, 166 religious buildings were built, including 80 mosques.
Minor planets (814) Tauris (lat. Tauris) and (1140) Krymia (lat. Crimea) (the first in honor of the ancient name, the second - the current one), discovered by astronomer Grigory Neuimin at the Simeiz observatory on January 2, 1916 and December 30, 1929, respectively.
Large scientific centers are located in Crimea - oceanographic (in
Sevastopol and Kerch), ecological and biological (Karadag biological
station), historical and archaeological, balneological, general medical,
agricultural and wine-making, military-space, aviation and naval
profiles. Universities - Crimean Federal University named after V. I.
Vernadsky, Sevastopol State University, Crimean Engineering and
Pedagogical University, which conduct research on a wide range of
issues. The Crimean Astrophysical Observatory and its branch, the Simeiz
Observatory, are located in the south of Crimea.
Projects for the
creation of a university in Crimea date back to the 19th century, but
only in 1918, thanks to the efforts of the Crimean scientific community,
the Taurida University was opened. In 1922, the agrarian faculty of the
university separated into the Crimean Agricultural Institute of Special
Industries. In 1931, the Crimean Medical Institute was opened, leading
its history from the medical faculty of the Tauride University that
existed in 1918-1922. After the war, there was a shortage of qualified
technical personnel, in order to fill it and contribute to the growth of
the Crimean industry, the Sevastopol Instrument-Making Institute (later
the Sevastopol National Technical University) was created on the basis
of the Odessa Polytechnic Institute. In 1993, the Crimean Engineering
and Pedagogical University was established in Simferopol in order to
train specialists from the peoples who returned from the places of
deportation, in 2001, with the support of the Moscow government, the
Black Sea branch of Moscow State University was opened in Sevastopol.
The history of Crimean healthcare goes back to antiquity. After a long break associated with the barbarian invasions, Crimean medicine was revived at the end of the 13th century in the form of the St. John's Hospital in Feodosia. The true heyday of Crimean medicine came in the second half of the 19th century, when the healing properties of the mud of Saki Lake, the climate of the foothill forests and the South Coast, curing tuberculosis, were discovered. With the growth of living standards, the frequency of epidemics decreased, the plague left the Crimean coast. In recent times, it has been possible to drastically limit the spread of malaria, the Crimea has become a comfortable and safe place to live, well-provided with medical and preventive and sanatorium-resort institutions.
The beginning of the development of Crimea as a resort dates back to
the second half of the 19th century. With the improvement of transport
links, it became easier for residents of the Central provinces of the
Russian Empire to get to seaside resorts. At the turn of the century,
there was a boom in the construction of summer residences: cottages,
villas and palaces. Preserved to this day, they are one of the
characteristic features of the Crimean cities.
A new, massive
stage in the history of Crimean tourism is associated with Lenin's
decrees; Crimea becomes the "All-Union health resort", receiving
hundreds of thousands of tourists. After 1991, the resort specialization
has changed dramatically, now beach and active holidays are preferred to
sanatorium treatment. Unorganized tourists significantly outnumber
vacationers in sanatoriums.
Famous resort areas:
Southern
coast of Crimea - Yalta and Alushta regions.
West coast -
Evpatoria-Saki region.
Southeast coast - Feodosia and Sudak regions.
The Crimean mountains and forest lands are under state protection.
The following reserves and sanctuaries are organized on a part of the
territory of the peninsula: the Crimean nature reserve, the Yalta
mountain-forest nature reserve, the Martyan cape nature reserve, the
Karadag nature reserve, the Kazantip nature reserve, etc.
In the 19th century, mountain tourism began to develop in the Crimea. Earlier than in other parts of the Russian Empire, football became popular. In the 1920s, southeastern Crimea became the birthplace of Soviet gliding. The traditions of Greco-Roman wrestling associated with the name of Ivan Poddubny and chess are strong in Crimea. At the beginning of the 19th century, sailing and diving were developed. Cycling on the highway is popular, the climate and relief of the peninsula are favorable for training and gatherings of cycling teams.