The Crimean mountains are fraught with a lot of interesting and unknown. They protect the peninsula from the south side and delight with their sometimes bizarre forms. One of the most remarkable and memorable rocks is called Ak-Kaya. Ak-Kaya is located near the village of Belaya Skala in the Belogorsk district.
Geographical coordinates of the White Rock - Ak-Kaya on the map of Crimea GPS N 45.098056 , E 34.633333
Name Ak-Kaya translated from Crimean Tatar as "white rock". Moreover, it is under this name that it is better known among tourists and local residents. And the village white rock got its name precisely in connection with the proximity of Ak-Kaya. Approaching these places of the Belogorsk district, Ak-Kai simply cannot be overlooked. It is a steep white cliff with a very flat top. Ak-Kaya serves as a natural decoration of the Biyuk-Karasu river valley. The height of the White Rock reaches three hundred twenty-five meters, so if you go to its foot and look up, it will seem infinitely high. From a distance, Ak-Kaya looks perfectly flat, but in fact it is filled with many thresholds and ledges.
I must say that only the most courageous and trained climbers decide to conquer this peak. The white color of Ak-Kaya is due to the fact that it consists of limestone and sandstone, and is the result of their weathering and erosion. At the top of Ak-Kaya there are various natural grottoes and rounded niches, and below you can see rocky mounds and accumulations of large stones. Such an unusual and massive view of Ak-Kai attracts many filmmakers here. The rock became a film set during the creation of such films as "The Headless Horseman", "Apocalypse Code", "The Leader of the Redskins", "Escape to the End of the World" and some others.
In the second half of the ⅩⅩ century, the White Rock aroused considerable interest among archaeologists and researchers. At that time, excavations were carried out here, the course of which was led by Yu. G. Kolosov, an employee of the Institute of Archeology. Two dozen sites of ancient people were discovered here, which, according to researchers, belonged to the Mousterian era. Stone knives and tools were found on the rock. For the first time, the bones of Neanderthals were excavated here. There is also evidence that mammoths, giant deer, cave bears, saigas and other animals that are not typical of modern fauna once lived here. There is an assumption that settlements of Sarmatians and Scythians were located on Ak-Kaya.
How to get to the White Rock - Ak-Kaya
The easiest way to get to the White Rock is from the city of Belogorsk, in the north of the city, there is an exit towards the villages: Apple and White Rock, 4 km from Belogorsk and you are in the village of Belaya Rock, the Ak-Kaya rock simply hangs over the village, you can pass it or not notice it just not possible. A dirt road leads to the top of the mountain from the village, it lazily for several kilometers rises to a large plateau of the Ak-Kaya rock. there are many viewing platforms on the plateau, there are even viewing platforms for cars. In late spring and early autumn, the dirt road is very eroded, so it is best to get there by a four-wheel drive car, even in winter it is very dangerous.
In the middle of the wall of the White Rock there is a hard-to-reach cave called Altyn Teshik (“golden hole”). There are several legends about it, one of which says that the treasures of robbers are hidden there.
For many centuries, Ak-Kaya changed its destination every now and then. It was both a place of execution and a solemn swearing in, and a dwelling and even a military headquarters. White Rock is one of the most famous and visited.
Ak-Kaya or White Rock - not the most popular tourist place in Crimea. Meanwhile, its history is rich in significant events. From ancient times, the snow-white fortress served as a refuge for both the beast and man. The caves and grottoes of Ak-Kaya hide many secrets and archaeological discoveries, and the picturesque snow-white slopes of the mountain are a wonderful natural scenery, which is actively used by directors and artists.
hospitable mountain
In the southeastern part of Crimea, above the valley of the Biyuk-Karasu River, far from the popular resort places corner, stands the magical Ak-Kaya - a snow-white rock, the same age as mammoths and Neanderthals.
Once the mountain was under water, at the bottom of the boundless ancient ocean. In the thickness of its limestone, archaeologists have found confirmation of this - the fossilized remains of ancient mollusks and fish. The sensational discovery occurred more than 20 years ago. In one of the quarries of the mountain, the bones of an amphibious whale of 50 million years of storage were found!
When the waters of the mighty Tethys receded, the land rose, raising Ak-Kai above the Crimean steppes. Blown by the winds, washed by rains for hundreds of centuries, the rock changed its appearance, acquiring, in the end, bizarre outlines with pillars-towers and caves, similar to the loopholes of a fortress. Here, in harsh prehistoric times, all kinds of earthly creatures, including primitive man, found refuge. In the upper cave of Altyn-Teshik (translated as the Golden Nora), located at a height of 52 meters, many animal bones were found, among which the majority were the remains of mammoths, as well as stone tools. Not so long ago, another sensational discovery occurred: in the Golden Hole, during excavations, researchers discovered perfectly preserved skeletons of a Neanderthal woman with a child, who are 150 thousand years old!
Despite the inaccessibility of Altyn-Teshik, the flow of curious guests visiting the cave does not decrease. The Golden Burrow has acquired a lot of legends, according to one of which its 20-meter grotto was once the lair of a werewolf snake. In the cave, allegedly, there is a secret hole that stretches all the way to Feodosia. Another tale explains the "golden" nickname of the cave. According to it, a chest with gold is hidden in Altyn-Teshik. There are many who want to find treasures, however, so far no one has found the treasure ...
A fairy tale is a lie, but a hint to it. It is likely that the hidden bowels of the White Rock are indeed hidden precious caches. When exploring the upper and lower caves, tamgas were discovered - generic signs of the Sarmatians, indicating the presence of a warlike tribe in the caves of Ak-Kaya. Who knows, maybe one day, some lucky person will find a treasure with Sarmatian gold.
The foothills of Ak-Kaya are no less attractive place for treasure seekers. Closer to summer, various people with shovels flock to Karasubazar (as Belogorsk was called in ancient times), near which the rock is located. No wonder, because here is largest cluster ancient Scythian mounds, and among them, perhaps, there are rich tombs of Scythian kings.
By the way, once Karasubazar was a rich trading city through which the famous Silk Road passed. In 1666, the famous Turkish traveler Evliya Chelebi, who visited Crimea, wrote: “This city is located in the very center of Crimea. A river flows through it, and on it there are more than 100 rotating water mills. Throughout the city, springs gurgle and bathe gardens. In total there are 8 bridges made of wood... On both sides of the city, to the right and left of Karasu, countless orchards and vineyards are worthy of praise. In general, if we describe this city in detail, countless books will turn out, and this will become a hindrance to travel ... "
A significant section of the Great Silk Road from Sudak and Kafa through Karasubazar and Solkhat to the north - to Veliky Novgorod, was controlled by the powerful Tatar clan Shirin. In honor of the owner of the surroundings of the rock, a descendant of Genghis Khan, she was given another name - Shirinskaya. The noble family consisted of more than 300 murzas, the eldest of whom was elected, on top of the White Rock. The Shirin Beys were so influential that the Gireys gave their daughters as wives to their sons.
During the reign of the Khanate in the Crimea, the slave trade became one of the main sources of income for the local population. The surroundings of the White Rock were filled with the ringing of shackles. Those sentenced to death were mercilessly pushed from a height of 100 meters. Often they killed innocent hostages, demanding a ransom by blackmail. Twice Bogdan Khmelnitsky, captured in 1620, was brought to the White Rock. In front of his eyes, captives were thrown from the mountain, forcing him to ask the hetman not to delay with the ransom.
During the Russian war for the Crimea in 1777, the White Rock became the headquarters of the famous Russian commander A.V. Suvorov. A talented military leader, managing a 10,000th army of soldiers, managed to snatch victory from Kalgi-Sultan, which has several times superior forces. The enemy was taken by surprise. First, the Tatar courtyards, which were clearly visible from the mountain, were hit with cannons, and then the cavalry rushed over the rock, dispersing the Shirin army through the surrounding mountains. After, on the White Rock, the Crimean Khan Sahib Giray signed an agreement with Prince Dolgoruky, according to which the Crimea was declared independent of Turkey by the Khanate.
The result of Russia's 10-year war for the Crimea was also summed up on the White Rock. On June 10, 1783, Prince G.A. Potemkin took the oath of allegiance to the Russian state of the Crimean Tatar nobility. Then the city of Karasubazar became the administrative center of the peninsula.
At the top of the White Rock
A path leads to the White Rock along the eastern corner ledge. Being part of the Inner Ridge of the Crimean Mountains Ak-Kaya, from the side of the plain it has a height of 100 meters. In some places, the ascent makes travelers sweat a lot, but the efforts are rewarded with a stunning view. The top of the White Rock is a flat surface. In the east - a chain of ancient burial mounds. On the other hand - the valley of the Biyuk-Karasu River and, as if in the palm of your hand, Belogorsk. In clear weather you can see eastern part Simferopol, and in the distant haze, closer to the horizon, the ridges of the Main Ridge and the high massif of Karabi-Yaila stretch.
White Rock is beautiful at any time of the day. At night, especially during the full moon, the mountain looks mysterious and mystical, shining in the dark with the whiteness of its ledges. It is no coincidence that Ak-Kaya - favorite place shooting adventure films. Everyone's favorite Soviet feature films were filmed against the backdrop of the White Rock: "Headless Horseman", "Mirage", "Fifteen-year-old Captain", " Business people”, “Lobo”, “General Lukacs”, “Mustang pacer” and even “Cipollino” and many others.
There is no better place to film a western! By the way, those who want to feel like a cowboy can rent a horse. At the foot of the White Rock there is a horse farm. There, travelers will be offered to drink cool koumiss and ride a horse: In addition, there are rest rooms on the farm, so you can stop for a couple of days and try to find Sarmatian gold!
White Rock, or in Crimean Tatar, Mount Ak-Kaya is one of the most beautiful places Crimea. And for my taste - so maybe the most beautiful! At the same time, it is not as well-known as the sights of the touristic South Coast, but the views that open up here will leave in awe even those travelers who have been to a lot of places in the world. White rock is located in the vicinity of the city of Belogorsk, just four kilometers from the main highway of the Crimea, connecting Simferopol and Kerch. This massif is a sheer wall, formed as a result of the erosion of Paleogene limestones and sandstones, formed at that distant, distant time, when modern Crimea was the bottom of the ancient ocean. The height of the cliff from the foot to the top is 100 meters, while it looks unusually picturesque at any time of the day. During the day it is white, and if you arrive early in the morning or at sunset, then, illuminated by soft sunlight, the mountain shimmers with gold.
The bizarre relief of these places is somewhat reminiscent of the famous landscapes of the Western United States, and thanks to this similarity, the White Rock has become a filming location for many famous Soviet "westerns". The films "Headless Horseman", "Mustang Pacer", "Armed and Very Dangerous", "The Man from Capuchin Boulevard", the detective "Mirage" of the Riga Film Studio and many other Soviet and Russian films, the action of which according to the script takes place on " Wild West". White Rock is a stunningly interesting place, so I went there twice: first, just by car to take general views, and then drove to the very top of the cliff in an UAZ, inspecting the caves, grottoes and admiring the views from the highest point of the rock massif.
1. On the way to the White Rock there is another unique monument of nature and history - "Suvorov Oak". This tree is about 800 years old! And it was under it that more than 300 years ago Suvorov's headquarters was located during the battles with the Turkish sultan Shagin Giray in 1777. Here the commander received the envoys of the Turkish army during the negotiations. Despite the fourfold numerical superiority of the Turks, the battle ended with the victory of the Russian army and became an important stage in the events that ended with the annexation of Crimea to Russian Empire.
3. White rock. The landscapes are incredibly beautiful. Let's just love it!
4. A mighty sheer whitish wall seems to hang over the surrounding area.
5. On the opposite side of the ridge is a rock resembling a sphinx.
8. The steep slope of the White Rock is dotted with caves and grottoes formed as a result of rock weathering. Some of these caves can only be entered with climbing equipment.
17. Perhaps the most famous "postcard" photograph of the White Rock.
18. And now - we will climb to the top of the White Rock from a gentle slope, having examined several interesting places. The first of them is the ancient Scythian fortress Ak-Kaya, dating from the 3rd century BC - the 3rd century AD.
22. In addition to the remains of fortifications, some interesting adaptations of the everyday life of the Scythians have been preserved. Here, for example, is a hole in the rock where food was placed so that it would not spoil. A kind of ancient "refrigerator".
24. From here, the rock begins to rise smoothly - up to that very high and sheer cliff on three sides, which was shot in all its glory in photo 17. From above, magnificent landscapes of the Central Crimea open up.
25. Those distant mountains beyond the steppes are already South coast. Behind them is the Black Sea. 25 kilometers in a straight line.
27. Rocks compose a mountain in layers. Each layer is its own era. In some places, the underlying rocks are looser than the upper ones. This is how caves, grottoes or rocky arches hanging overhead, like this one, are formed.
28. Millions of years ago, the Crimea was the bottom of the ancient ocean, then there was a smooth uplift of the rocks. But the memory of those distant times is alive. The slopes of the White Rock are made of ancient shell rock.
30. Let's examine another grotto in the rock.
31. It is almost round in plan. It is cool here even in the heat, and water drips on the walls of the cave.
34. Another cave in an inconspicuous beam between neighboring hills. Archaeological studies claim that it served as a refuge for the ancient Neanderthals.
In Crimea, there are many attractions for every taste. There are mosques and waterfalls, gorges and monasteries, museums and cave cities, mounds and quarries, palaces and caves, dolphinariums, parks, gardens, fortresses, observatories, reserves, mud volcanoes, art gallery and even dormant volcano. You can live your whole life in the Crimea and not see half of it. So it happened with the White Rock. How many times, driving along the Feodosia - Simferopol highway, we saw it in the distance, not even imagining how interesting this place could be. This year we finally went on purpose. My school friend, and part-time Feodosia guide, Elena, went with us.
White Rock - Ak-Kaya, the most beautiful massif of the Outer Ridge of the Crimean Mountains. An almost hundred-meter sheer cliff of limestone rises on a conical base of white marls, indented deep ravines. This landscape, close to the chalk prairie, allowed Soviet filmmakers to shoot westerns and adventure films here: "The Headless Horseman", "The Man from Capuchin Boulevard", "Mustang Pacer", "Leader of the Redskins", "Chippolino", "Armed and very dangerous", "Kings and Cabbage".
Since 1981, it has been a natural monument of national importance. The entire area is of great interest to archaeologists. It was here that the remains of a Neanderthal man were discovered for the first time in the USSR. The caves of the White Rock served him as a shelter from bad weather, and its sheer cliffs helped to drive the beast during the hunt. And in a quarry where limestone was mined, in 1981, the bones of an ancient whale that lived 50 million years ago were discovered. This is the first such discovery not only in the Crimea, but throughout Eurasia.
Like most mountains of the Inner Range, this is a typical cuesta, that is, a mountain with asymmetrical slopes - gentle and steep. We drive from the side of the Golden Field and stop at the White Rock from its gentle side, along the road, which is marked on the map as the road to the quarry.
Of course, we did not miss the opportunity to drive closer to the Scythian mounds, of which there are a lot here, from very low to ten meters high. But we will return to this a little later. In this message, I will only talk about the landscape part of our walk. Archaeological deserves a separate story.
If you look to the north, this is the usual Crimean steppe.
which suddenly ends abruptly
revealing the vast valley of the Biyuk-Karasu River (from the Crimean Tatar - big black water).
Here she is, winding like a green snake
Along the entire cliff, you can see cracks separating large blocks from the main massif. Sooner or later they will collapse.
But destruction is ongoing. The white color of the rock is caused precisely by the fact that the rocks from which Ak-Kaya is composed do not have time to change color under the influence of natural influences. The mountain has a two-tier structure - the main massif is Paleogene limestone, and under it there is a cone-shaped slope, consisting of rocks intermediate between limestone and clay, that is, screes formed as a result of the slow destruction of limestone. We will see this later when we go down to the valley and look at the White Rock from below.
I do not risk coming closer to the cliff - a strong gusty wind literally pushes me unexpectedly in the back. Although I really want to go to the very edge and appreciate the height and beauty of the valley.
I must say that we were very lucky with the weather. The cyclone passing at this time gave dramatic landscapes and adrenaline sensations.
The sky is clearing up
then covered in dark clouds
I did not manage to get closer to these interesting boulders - in this place we literally "lay into the wind", trying to move.
With great difficulty, we got to the car and, having descended from the plateau, drove up to the grotto, marked on the map as "disc-shaped".
The grotto was quite large
and inside it is really disc-shaped!
In 1960-70, 20 sites of primitive man of the Mousterian era were excavated at the northern foot of the cliff. Found a large number of silicon points, knives, scrapers. Near the ancient hearths - the bones of extinct animals of the Crimea - mammoth, red and reindeer, saiga, primitive bull, wild horse, onager, etc.
In the upper part of the rock, weathering has created pillars, grottoes, oval niches. At the bottom - weathering products accumulate: scree, piles of boulders. In places, the erosion is restrained by thickets of wild rose and hornbeam.
We climb the scree to walk along the entire rock at the base of its steep upper part.
First small grotto
And this is a big grotto. Impressive, right? climb up without special equipment we didn't try.
At this time it started to rain.
If the trail was clay, we would not have gone far in the rain. But the loose rock only sagged under our feet.
Another big grotto. A hawthorn grows at the entrance.
Of particular interest has always been a cave located in the middle sheer cliff. Due to its inaccessibility, it has acquired legends and is called Altyn-Teshik, which means the Golden Hole. The entrance to it is located at a distance of 52 meters from the sole and 49 meters from the edge of the cliff.
The photo was taken by my husband on the phone, and these two figures on the left are us.
In the Middle Ages, the Tatar city of Karasubazar grew up 5 km from the rock. Today it is Belogorsk - a modest district town. And during the heyday of the Crimean Khanate, Karasubazar in its significance could be compared with Bakhchisaray. There was a large trading hub here. Numerous slaves captured in the northern lands were driven here, to the market. And at the top of the White Mountain in those days a place of execution was arranged. Convicts were thrown from a steep cliff. This gloomy spectacle was observed in 1620 by the young Bogdan Khmelnitsky. He spent more than a year in Tatar captivity in Karasubazar. He was often led to an ominous cliff, hoping in this way to induce him to more persistently write letters to his relatives asking for ransom. During the Russian-Turkish wars, the headquarters of A. V. Suvorov was located in these places. On the White Rock, the result of the centuries-old struggle of the Russian state for the Crimea was summed up. It was here that on June 10, 1783, Prince G. A. Potemkin ordered the Crimean beys and murzas to appear in order to take their oath of allegiance to the Russian state.
Here Lena shows the continuation of the trail. But due to strong wind and rain, we decided not to go on it.
and go straight down the slope.
And here is Ak-Kaya before us in all its majestic beauty.
By this time, the sky had completely cleared up.
We stopped on the bank of Biyuk-Karasu for a little snack. Does this "Big Water" seem too big? For the shallow Crimea, it is not so small.
Last look at the White Rock from the track.
About Scythian mounds, petroglyphs and meeting with archaeologists - in the next series. In the meantime, a short video.
They have not yet become truly “promoted”, although they can offer quite a lot to an interested tourist. Among them is the White Rock of Ak-Kaya, Crimea in a concentrated form in some way. It has everything - a rich history, exciting legends, the beauty of nature, the tricks of geology.
Where is the object located in Crimea?
This object has several names (Ak-Kaya - “white rock” in Tatar), including “Belogorskaya”. It is not difficult to understand its origin, since it is the nearest city to it, the attraction is located on the territory of its district. She rises on the shore.
Ak-Kaya on the map of Crimea
Origin of Belaya: from the bottom of the sea
The white rock in the Crimea got its most famous name because of the rocks that make it up. Limestone and sandstone are light in color, and the whole formation really seems white. She used to be the top on the bottom ancient sea Tethys, but with its disappearance turned into a peak on the surface. Water and air erosion gave the steep walls a significant resemblance to the walls of a man-made structure, such as a castle or a fortress. In the same way, a significant amount was formed.
The rock itself and its surroundings have been inhabited since ancient times. In the 60-70s. XX century archaeologists under the leadership of Yu.G. Kolosov, many bones of extinct animals and products of primitive man were found in its caves. Skeletal remains of a Neanderthal woman and a Neanderthal child have been found. The age of these bones is estimated at 150 thousand years. Later, the Scythians lived here (there are many mounds on the surface of the rock plateau) and Sarmatians (their tamgas, that is, tribal signs on stones, were found).
In the Middle Ages, these lands were owned by a noble family of Tatars - Shirin. At the top of the rock, its murzas elected their head. Sometimes it happened that medieval “revolutionaries”, noble Tatars, who were dissatisfied with one or another khan, also organized gatherings at this place. Also, the sheer walls of Ak-Kai were used as a convenient place for the execution of criminals or captives who did not want to pay the established ransom (it is separated from the valley by 100 m).
There is evidence that the then very young Bogdan Khmelnytsky, who was captured after the battle of Tsetsora in 1620, was brought to look at this procedure, so that the future hetman would quickly collect money for ransom. In 1777, A.V. set up his headquarters here. Suvorov (there was a Russian-Turkish war) and defeated the detachments of the Shirin clan. And in 1783, Prince Potemkin-Tavrichesky arrived here to take the oath to the Motherland from the noble Tatars, since the Crimea came under the rule of the Russian Empire.
Ak-Kaya often starred in Soviet cinema. She can be seen in such films as Mustang Pacer and The Headless Horseman, Armed and Very Dangerous, Witches Dungeon and many others. Directors were attracted by the unusual appearance of this place. For the same reason, photos of the White Rock are well known. Ak-Kaya has been considered a natural monument since 1981.
Fortress Zmeya-Gorynych
Like any remarkable place in the Crimea, the White Rock is extremely rich in legends and fairy tales. Most of them are about the cave called the Golden Hole - the very one where the bones of the Neanderthals were found.
It is considered something like the lair of the local Serpent-Gorynych, who for a long time threatened the beauties of the mountains. The cave cavity is also listed as a shelter for the Crimean forty robbers, who supposedly hid the stolen gold there. No one found this gold, but there are enough robbers around because of such stories - “black archaeologists” constantly rob Scythian barrows.
They say “in all seriousness” that the cave is very long and stretches underground not just anywhere, but all the way to it. True, the map argues against this version, demonstrating the distance separating the two objects.
What attracts tourists to the White Rock?
A tourist who wishes to visit the Ak-Kaya rock in the Crimea will definitely have a question, 
how to get there because good highways not at its highest point. There is a well-found path, which, however, some people manage to drive by car, but it should be borne in mind that it is quite steep, a satisfactory physical form is required to even walk along it. It's best to get help knowledgeable people and do not look for this path on your own. Caution is also needed for those who wish to visit the Golden Hole - the cave is difficult to access even without the machinations of the Serpent-Gorynych, so be careful.
Now in the village at the foot of the mountain there is a horse farm, so you can climb on horseback, trying on yourself the roles of the characters in the Headless Horseman. At the peak, even a non-specialist can see several mounds - there are a lot of Scythian and Sarmatian burials. It is not recommended for decent people to look for gold - "black archeology" is punishable. But the main thing that the reviews of the conquerors note is excellent views from the top. In addition to the surrounding valleys and mountain ranges The main ridge and, here you can see Belogorsk well, and in good weather - even part of it.
How to get to Ak-Kaya?
On public transport You can get to the White Rock in this way. First you need to get to Belogorsk - transport is regularly sent here from Simferopol, or Feodosia. Then, at the city bus station, find a minibus that goes to the village of Belaya Skala. Having left in the specified village, you will need to go north for several kilometers - focus on the bridge over the river. In this case, a map with the coordinates of the attraction will also help.
By car, you can get to Ak-Kaya from Belogorsk in this way:
Note to the tourist
- Address: Belaya Skala village, Belogorsky district, Crimea, Russia.
- Coordinates: 45.104946, 34.624031.
Tourists who have a broad outlook and are interested in folklore, history and geology, and who are not opposed to an active lifestyle, will definitely be attracted by the White Rock in Crimea. The place is multifaceted enough to satisfy the widest demands of its guests! A video of him is attached. Enjoy watching!
