Description of the attraction
Mount Ai-Petri is one of the sights of the Crimea. The name of the mountain in translation from Greek means "Saint Peter". This name is associated with the Greek monastery of St. Peter, located in the Middle Ages on the Ai-Petri plateau.
The height of Ai-Petri is 1234 meters above sea level. For the last 200 years, a piece of land where Ai-Petri is now located has been removed from under sea level a huge number of times, being exposed to exogenous influences, and then again plunged into the sea abyss. The depth of immersion was different each time, as a result of which silt and limestones appeared at the bottom, then they were transformed into clays and sandstones. About 150 thousand years ago, volcanoes operated in the vicinity of Ai-Petri, their remains can be observed in Foros and Molassa.
In the Middle Ages, people lived on the northern slopes of the mountain. On the plateau, many Paleolithic tools made of silicon (scrapers, knives) were found, testifying to the hunting of primitive inhabitants.
After the Turkish conquest at the end of the 15th century, the plateau mountains became empty and served only as pasture for livestock. Nowadays it is part of the Crimean nature reserve. There were no more settlements here, people chose more comfortable climatic conditions for life. In 1895, a meteorological station appeared at the summit, which was founded by a branch of the Pulkovo Physical Observatory.
The length of the cable car was 3.5 kilometers. There are no support towers between Sosnovy Bor and Ai-Petri stations; this distance is about two kilometers. This unsupported cable car span is considered the longest in Europe.
Interesting excursions are held on Ai-Petri. Tourists usually visit the Ai-Petrinsky meridian - a stone globe with accurate geodetic data, a viewing platform on the Shishko rock, a meteorological station, Mount Bedene-Kyr, Trekhglazka cave, equipped for excursions. On the slope near the highway from Yalta to Ai-Petri, you can see a "drunken" pine grove - a century-old Crimean pine forest, disturbed by a landslide.
There are excellent conditions for active tourism, horseback riding and camel riding, mountain biking, jeeps, paragliding, shooting military adventures and fantastic films.
Description added:
Mulia 2012-13-12
In the middle of the 19th century, it was decided to build not a cable car, but simply a road connecting the plateau with the foothills. The cable car was built from 1967 to 1987.
