Description of the attraction
At a distance of about five kilometers from the city of Alushta, there is one of the most beautiful places on the Crimean coast - Mount Kastel, which rises 440 meters above sea level. The mountain got its name from the fortress, which in ancient times was located on its top, now there is practically nothing left of it. An ancient legend says that the fortress served as the last refuge of the legendary ruler of ancient Sugdaya - Queen Theodora. When her principality was captured by the Genoese, the noble Theodora with her loyal subjects took refuge in Kastela, where she died in battle, betrayed by her own brother.
Mount Castel is a truly unique natural monument. Here you can find a variety of vegetation, ranging from rare species of snowdrops, medicinal herbs and ending with unique vines that envelop the trunks of ancient trees, descending an emerald waterfall from the tops of the trees to the very bottom. The slopes of the mountain are covered with evergreen shrubs - jasmine, cistus, butchery, and a rare species of fern grows on the mountain - a thin-leaved anagram.
Although since the 30s of the last century, archaeological scientists knew about the existence of ancient remains of aqueducts and a triple row of wall fortifications, excavations have never been carried out on Kastel, which probably made it possible to preserve the unique population of small-fruited strawberries, which grows only on this mountain and represents tremendous scientific value.
Kastel, like Ayu-Dag, are failed volcanoes: the earth here reared up and formed a bowl-shaped depression, but there has never been an eruption, it's just such a freak of nature. On the southern slope of the massif, nature has formed an original form of ribs, ridges, bastions, various talus and a chaotic arrangement of stone placers. Geologists here find various minerals - calcite and pyrite, which are widely used in school collections to study rocks in geography lessons.
The sea currents at the foot of the mountain give the large pebbles an oval shape; this place is popular with tourists and is called the "Granilnya of Golovkinsky". From the top of Kastel, a stunning view of the southern coast of Crimea opens, from here you can see the western part of Ayu-Dag and almost the entire coast, right up to the eastern side of the Sudak Mountains.
You can climb Mount Kastel by two routes: from Vinogradnoye on the side of the highway, or from Lazurnoye along the sea coast. The second path is traditionally considered more difficult and dangerous, but the magnificent mountain landscapes that open before the amazed gaze will not leave indifferent any tourist.
