- Sanctuary of Inal Kuba
- Lake Ritsa with living water
- Dolmens
- Abandoned palace-sanatorium of Prince Smetsky
- Assir restaurant with waterfalls
- Cave monastery in the village of Okhtar
- Tkuarchal ghost town
A small piece of land south of Sochi, washed by the Black Sea, is Abkhazia. Already calm, fearless, ideal for a quiet, measured rest. Gagra, Pitsunda, Gudauta, Sukhumi - choose the resort of your choice! Gagra is famous for noisy parties, Pitsunda is chosen for families with children, Gudauta is known for its luxurious "wild" beaches, Sukhumi is suitable for fans of active sports and excursion tourism. It would be a mistake to think that, apart from the promoted cities and traditional sights, Abkhazia has nothing more to offer its guests. It is a special pleasure to look for unusual places in Abkhazia, which sometimes only local residents are aware of.
A significant advantage of rest in Abkhazia is the absence of a large number of tourists. Many see this as one advantage: the whole world with amazing beaches, lush nature, endless blue sea belongs to them. Others notice the disadvantages: many remote natural or historical sites are difficult to get to. But this is not a reason to refuse to visit the unexplored corners of Abkhazia.
Sanctuary of Inal Kuba
Far from the coast, in the mountains is the village of Pskhu, in the vicinity of which you can find several interesting objects that are considered unusual. One of them is the sanctuary of Inal-Kuba.
The mountain is named after a local hero, Prince Inal, to whom history attributes the unification of several local tribes. According to legends, the prince is buried somewhere here, but no one will desecrate the sanctuary in search of his grave.
One must behave decently on the mountain, for she can take cruel revenge. Anyone who kills an animal on it will lose one of the pets. Once, a couple of reckless lovers shot in the winter on Mount Inal-Kuba. It doesn't matter that the young people were aiming at the icicles. After which time they died from a burst fired from a machine gun. The culprit was never found.
In front of the mountain there are large stone slabs for sacrifices. A little deeper in the forest, a wooden hut was built, where representatives of the ancient Abkhaz clans often come to pray.
in the village of Pskhu, tourists who dream of visiting local attractions usually arrive on a corn truck. The plane arrives in the morning and lands on a chamomile field. On the way back, he will go 7 hours after arrival. This time will be enough for walking around the village. The cost of a plane ticket is 3000 rubles. From the village of Pskhu to the sanctuary, you will have to walk about 5 km. If you do not want to overcome this path on your own, then contact the local residents who can give you a lift.
Lake Ritsa with living water
Lake Ritsa, located in the mountains near the border with Russia, was formed as a result of the descent of a glacier and a fracture of the earth's crust. To see this reservoir, one should climb to a height of 950 meters.
Until the second half of the 19th century, no one in civilized countries even suspected its presence. And in the 40s of the last century, specialists from the Ahnenerbe, a German organization that were looking for mysterious artifacts for the Reich, appeared here. The Nazis decided that there are springs with living water in deep caves under Lake Ritsa. She was taken out from Ritsa in cisterns and transported to Germany for experiments in breeding a new, strong, healthy nation.
People come to Lake Ritsa, formed as a result of the descent of a glacier many centuries ago, for several reasons:
- look at the color of its water, which is constantly changing. In summer, the waters of the lake are colored greenish, which by autumn acquires a beautiful blue hue. In winter, the water in Ritsa seems sky blue;
- ride a catamaran. In fact, nobody swims in the lake. The maximum that is allowed to tourists is to fish and take a ride on a pleasure boat;
- visit the dachas of the secretaries general of the Soviet Union. Many leaders who ruled the USSR preferred rest in Abkhazia on the shore of a mountain lake to other resorts;
- be surprised at the presence of a road that leads to a point by the lake, where there are no settlements. Until now, none of the residents of the nearby villages can clearly explain who and when built it.
Lake Ritsa is considered a fairly popular attraction in Abkhazia, so excursions are organized here. You can sign up for them in Gagra, Pitsunda, Sukhumi. You can also get to Lake Ritsa by your own or rented car. The road goes along the coast. Near the Bzyb river, you need to turn inland.
Dolmens
Pagan structures - dolmens - are scattered throughout Abkhazia. The most accessible one is located in Sukhumi, in front of the local museum. It was moved to its current location using a crane.
Most of the Abkhaz dolmens resemble low houses made of huge slabs. Some have holes that covered the stone plugs. Current researchers of local dolmens suggest that evil spirits were locked in these places of worship.
Groups of dolmens have survived near some Abkhaz villages. It is interesting to look at them for any tourist. In the already mentioned high-mountainous village of Pskhu, there are dolmens built 5 thousand years ago by an unknown people. A stone labyrinth can be seen near one of the local pagan buildings. The dolmen itself was damaged by treasure hunters. Only the side walls, 3 meters long, were left of it.
There are other chains of stones 50 meters from the dolmen. The tallest of them rises a meter above the ground.
If you want to see the dolmens, but there is little time or the weather does not allow wandering around in search of them, then you can simply go around the temple in the village of Pskhu. There is also a low dolmen behind it.
in summer, you can drive from Sukhumi to Pskhu by off-road vehicle. The journey will take about 6 hours. He will deliver a small plane to Pskhu much faster. He departs from Sukhumi twice a week, brings his passengers in the morning, and then picks them up in the evening.
Abandoned palace-sanatorium of Prince Smetsky
Abandoned buildings and even entire abandoned cities are not uncommon in Abkhazia. Such objects always attract tourists who dream of colorful photographs.
The palace of Prince Nikolai Smetsky is located in a mountainous area in the vicinity of Sukhumi. The owner of this complex has done a lot for the development of Sukhumi as a resort. The sanatorium palace was built in 1900. It was intended for recreation and treatment of tuberculosis patients. The palace complex consists of two buildings - a white and a red building, connected by a gallery. Now it is completely hidden behind the climbing plants.
The red building of the palace-sanatorium of Prince Smetsky could simultaneously receive up to 250 patients. The structure, with its external appearance reminiscent of a romantic Gothic palace, is deployed to the south. Most of the rooms have a magnificent view of the Black Sea.
People left the sanatorium during the Georgian-Abkhaz military conflict. Now the building is not guarded by anyone. Any traveler can enter under its vaults. It should be borne in mind that the palace collapses rather quickly without supervision, so at any moment a part of it can collapse.
the palace-sanatorium of Prince Smetsky is located in the resort village of Gulripsh, where regular buses go from Sukhumi (travel time - 10-15 minutes). The sanatorium, surrounded by a lush abandoned park, can be found about half a kilometer from the center of Gulripsh.
Assir restaurant with waterfalls
Imagine: a beautiful gorge with a turquoise river flowing through it. Here and there gazebos with tables belonging to the Assir restaurant have been built right above the water. Waterfalls can be seen from the open gazebos, creating a romantic atmosphere. No music - just the sound of water and quiet heart-to-heart conversations. However, sometimes dances are also arranged here - on a special dance floor against the backdrop of stunning nature.
Between the gazebos, you can move along the hinged bridges. These suspended paths lead to the most picturesque corners with observation decks. Walking a little further along the gorge, you can get to a mountain lake with crystal clear water. Swimming is allowed here in summer.
To get to the gorge, you have to buy an inexpensive ticket. Many tourists are content with just seeing the waterfalls and do not stop to taste the food served in the Assir restaurant. Others come specially to taste the dishes of the national Abkhaz cuisine. For example, excellent kebabs, delicious khachapuri and hearty eggplant snacks are served here.
The gorge is located near the village of Chernigovka. You can get here in two ways. The easiest way is to join a sightseeing bus tour. The cost of such a trip will be about 500 rubles. The second option is to rent a car. On it you should go from Sukhumi along the coast to Machara, where you turn onto a road that runs perpendicular to the coastline. In the village of Merkhaul, the desired road leading to the Assira waterfalls goes to the left.
Cave monastery in the village of Okhtar
The cave monastery, carved into the rock at a height of 50 meters above the ground, is located in the Abkhaz village of Okhtar. The exact date of the appearance of caves suitable for life at this height is unknown. It is believed that until the 12th century, local residents used it to hide from the raids of robbers and to protect their property, firing back from a height. For this, special loopholes were built, from which the path leading to the caves was perfectly visible. Then, around the 12th century, monks settled here.
The monastery, abandoned for some reason, began to be studied only in the 19th century. Then a solid bridge was erected to climb to the lower caves.
Further study of the monastery cells allowed scientists to assume that the monastery complex was abandoned in the Middle Ages.
Most tourists firmly believe that access to the top without special devices used by climbers is impossible. In fact, some of the inhabitants of Okhtara can serve as guides and show the way up the cliffs.
How to get there: the village of Okhtar, where the cave monastery is located, is located a couple of tens of kilometers from the Gudauta resort. If you go by bus along the Sukhum highway, then approximately in the area of the village of Barmysh, at the banner "Trout farm" you need to get off and then walk a kilometer. Buses do not go directly to the Okhtar village. But you can easily come here by taxi.
Tkuarchal ghost town
The rather large city of Tkuarchal was simply not lucky with its location. It was built in the mountains too close to the Georgian border, therefore, when hostilities began between the Georgians and the Abkhaz, the city was under blockade for 10 months. They did not shoot or explode mines here, but many residents could not stand the stress and left their homes themselves.
If in 1989 the population of Tkuarchal numbered about 22 thousand people, now about 5 thousand live in the city.
Tourists love Tkuarchal very much. This is a real, almost deserted city with dilapidated buildings, grassy streets, abandoned toys in playgrounds.
Travelers are shown first of all:
- frozen at a high altitude, two trailers of the cable car, which in the past lifted people from the lower city to the upper one. Now you have to go or walk along the road;
- an abandoned amusement park with rusted carousels;
- the destroyed complex of the state district power station, which is generally guarded, but the watchmen are allowed to gawk at the remains of the buildings of all comers.
from the railway station Sukhumi to Tkuarchal three buses run a day. They all run in the morning. Although the city is only 80 km apart, the bus overcomes them in about 2.5 hours. The trip will cost about 150 rubles. It is best to arrive at the station in advance in order to have time to take a seat. Minibuses go to Tkuarchal from the city of Ochamchira, which is located on the Black Sea coast south of Sukhumi.
