Valley of Ghosts
The Crimea Peninsula is located in South Ukraine and borders the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. Its territory has long been a cradle of ancient people and civilizations. Tourists are impressed not only with incredible views of the ruins of forts and the remnants of pagan cultures, but also with monuments created without human touch. The Valley of Ghosts is one of such natural wonders of the Crimea.
If you are going to the Crimea, you are well advised to visit the town of Alushta, which is located on the southeast coast of the peninsula. It takes 10 minutes by car to get to Demerdzhi Mountain, which can be found by you on the road from Alushta to the village Luchyste. In former times this mountain used to be called “Funa” meaning “fuming”. Maybe it’s got that name because of the fog often coming over its slopes. The Valley of Ghosts is thought to be there. There is a legend about originality of the valley’s name. It is said that many years ago at the place of the mountain a forge of a cruel and bloodthirsty Chornoborod was situated. Weapons he forged there, were the most durable, and warriors carried this weapon were invincible. A small village situated nearby often suffered from the raids of the barbarians. One day a young girl came to Chornoborod and begged him to spare her village, but he just laughed and killed her. Spirit of the Mountain could not stand such wickedness and erupted lava flows from its subsoil that covered the forge with people inside it. Now on the mountain you can see stone sculptures, which due to its form, play of shadows and fog resemble human figures. A boulder 25 meters long, called Veleten’ (Giant) resembles the cruel blacksmith, and next we can note a figure of the murdered girl. These "ghosts" in the valley, there are hundreds more. These stone statues are about 800 million years old. They were formed by the weathering of limestone rocks. Tourists who stay overnight in the Valley of Ghosts, assert that at dusk or in fog the outlines of stone casts look very realistic and scary.
Demerdzhi Mountain is known not only for the Valley of Ghosts, but also for ruins of the fortress Funa still standing there, where the Feodoro Kingdom used to be. Jur-Jur Waterfall can be seen in Khapkhal Gorge, and the southern slopes are remarkable for "Stone chaos", formed from boulders while the earthquake of 1933. These places were filmed in some episodes of a famous Soviet film "The Caucasian Prisoner". The tree, from which, according to the script, an actor Yuri Nikulin fell, now bears his name. Here is a stone on which an actress Aida Vedischeva sang a famous song "Somewhere in this world."
The Valley of Ghosts on Demerdzhi Mountain is just one of many charming places located in the Crimea. The southern peninsula with its unique location is a great place for active recreation or leisure. Fresh mountain air, a huge number of parks and reserves, interesting landscapes and, of course, seascapes await you!
