Description of the attraction
Many legends are associated with Miskhor. Local legends are reflected in the numerous monuments of the village. The sculpture titled "The robber Ali Baba and the girl of Arza", as well as the sculpture "Mermaid" standing on a rock nearby, invariably attract the attention of tourists. The Mermaid and the fountain were designed by A. Adamson, an outstanding sculptor of the early twentieth century.
According to legend, in ancient times he lived in the village of Miskhor Abiy-aka. He had a hut near the sea, and worked all day in his vineyard. His fellow villagers respected him, as Abiy-aka was a hard-working, modest and honest man.
Abiy-aka carefully looked after melons and vineyards, protected them from diseases and drought. But most of all he cared about his daughter, the beautiful Arza. The villagers admired the beauty of Arza. The old man Ali Baba was watching her more closely than others.
Many matchmakers came to Abiy-aka, but returned with nothing. All Arza's thoughts were about a guy whom she once met at the fountain. One day matchmakers came from that guy. Arza's parents cried, but they agreed. Arzy finally wanted to go down to the sea and say goodbye to the fountain. She went down and, listening to the splash of the waves, began to remember her childhood.
The girl did not notice that strangers were watching her, she did not see that the fountain was surrounded on all sides. The pirates grabbed their precious booty and ran to the boat. Then Ali Baba triumphed: he would sell his captive to the Sultan's palace and receive a lot of gold.
Abiy-aka rushed to Arza's cry, the guests and the groom ran after him. But they were late, Ali Baba's boat was heading for Istanbul. Crying was in the village, everyone felt sorry for Arza. Not only people yearned for Arzy. Her favorite fountain is dry.
Arzy was brought to the slave market in Istanbul. Ali Baba was lucky here too. The girl was bought by eunuchs from the Sultan's palace. Arzy greatly missed in the sultan's harem, cried all days, avoided wives, eunuchs. Her strength was melting. Soon a boy was born to her, but this did not bring her comfort. After a year has passed since the robbers kidnapped her, Arzy, together with her child, climbed the Seraglio tower and threw herself into the waters of the Bosphorus. And on the same evening, a mermaid with a child came to the Miskhor fountain for the first time.
Since then, once a year, exactly on the day on which Arzy was kidnapped, the fountain flowed stronger, and at the same moment a mermaid appeared from the water. She drank water from the fountain, sat on the bank, played with the stream, stroked the stones and looked sadly at her native village. And then she again plunged into water and disappeared for a whole year.
