Mount Cat is one of the symbols of Simeiz. It rises above the village, separating it from the Blue Bay. What is interesting about this natural object? What attracts the interest of a huge number of tourists to it? Where is Mount Koshka and how to get there? Today we will talk about a unique natural rock, which stands out for its height and bizarre shape against the background of other outcasts of the neighborhood: Swan Wing, Panea, Diva.
Mount Cat: photo and name history
Where does the name "Cat" come from? At first glance, everything is obvious, the rock is really similar in shape to this animal, which is pressed to the floor and is preparing to jump. But the name comes from the Turkic "Kosh-Kaya", where "kosh" means "pair", "kaya" - rock.
After the annexation of Crimea to the Russian Empire in the 18th century, the name was transformed by the Russian-speaking population into the more familiar "Cat".
Occur in writingsources and other names of this rock, for example, Baka, which means “toad”, many guides confuse and call the object “Kush-Kaya” (the cliff is located next to Laspi Bay on Cape Aya and translates as “bird rock”).
There is another Mount Koshka in Crimea, but this is how it was called by the people, it is located in the vicinity of the city of Sudak and is officially called Chatal-Kaya.
But in our article we will talk about a natural object, which is a landmark of the village of Simeiz.
Characteristic
The rock is the brightest and most interesting natural object in the Crimea. Mount Koshka is an outlier from the Main Ridge of the Crimean Mountains, which gradually moved along the slope to the sea. The modern look was formed about a million years ago.
The rock was a natural barrier separating the southern coast of Crimea. But after the construction of the Sevastopol-Y alta highway (1972), Mount Koshka was artificially divided into two parts (the height of the southern section is 255 meters, the northern section is 210 meters above sea level).
History of settlement
The mountain has been inhabited since the 4th century BC. On its top, the remains of Taurus settlements and the largest Taurian burial ground in Crimea (6-2nd century BC) have been preserved, in the scientific literature it is called "Crimean dolmens", they are located behind the highway.
Dolmens are box-shaped megaliths. Now it is not known for certain for what purpose they were built. According to one version, these are ancient burials, other scientists claim that they were usedfor religious purposes. Be that as it may, these are unique objects. Some blocks have a weight of about 5 tons, and it is not clear how they could be moved. It is also not clear to science how they could have been given the correct rectangular shape.
In the Middle Ages, there were several fortifications on Mount Koshka.
At the foot of the cliff, on Mount Panea, opposite the Diva rock, archaeologists discovered a monastery with the remains of a 10th-century basilica, as well as a crypt with Byzantine burials dating back to the eighth-tenth century.
In the 14-15th century, the Genoese rebuilt the monastery into their fortress "Panea".
Natural Monument
Mount Koshka has been a landscape monument since 1947. The rock and its slopes are covered with thickets of juniper, oak, pistachio, and strawberry. The air, saturated with the aroma of herbs and juniper, strikes with its purity.
The slopes of Mount Koshka is a gigantic museum of landforms. Stone chaos is mixed with stone peaks, towers and various karst formations. All landforms, flora and fauna are under special state protection, and, of course, Mount Koshka is a natural monument.
Legend
Crimea is full of mysterious myths and legends. The peninsula is one of the most beautiful corners of our country. Almost every stone here is covered with poetic and lyrical tales. This is not at all accidental! For many centuries this land was shaken by turbulent historical events. The people connected them with the monuments of spiritual and material culture, reflecting this in a peculiar way.in various myths. There are a huge number of legends associated with the history of the Crimea, here is one of them.
A hermit monk settled in the rocks of Simeiz. He did a lot of bad things in his life. He was a powerful, cruel, fearless and merciless warrior. Enemies and innocent people feared him. He ravaged cities and villages, brought death and grief to everyone he met on his way. He was especially cruel to girls.
But suddenly terrible visions began to torment him, he saw victims mutilated and chopped by him everywhere. And he decided to atone for his guilt by prayers and repentance, settling in one of the caves of the rocks of Simeiz.
The years passed and people began to forget about the bloodthirsty and cruel warrior. He was already known as a wise and righteous man, and some even considered him a saint. He forgot about his monstrous deeds and began to consider himself a righteous man. And pride took over. He began to look at people as being vicious and inferior.
And the devil, who has been hunting for the soul of a hermit monk for a long time, was waiting for this. He decided one day to test his stamina - has he really changed or just hides his cruelty, greed and depravity well.
The devil turned into a cat, and on a rainy night he meowed plaintively and scratched at the door of the hut. The old man took pity and let the animal into the house. So the cat began to live with him, she hunted at night, and slept during the day. In the evenings, she purred her songs, which painted fabulous pictures of a happy family life with relatives and children for the hermit. And the devil whispered in his ear that he could have all this, but he no longer had anything.will. The monk got angry and threw the cat out into the street.
Then the devil decided to test the old man again. On a beautiful day, when the hermit was fishing on the seashore, a beautiful naked girl came across to him in the net. The old man could not stand it and kissed her on the lips.
The sky was angry with the hermit for his blasphemy and hypocrisy, and as a punishment turned all three characters into stone. Since then, the Monk Rock and the Diva have been standing in Simeiz, and the Cat lurked behind them.
The legend itself has many allegories, it all depends on the narrator.
If we ignore the images of the myth, then geologically, these objects were formed as a result of the movement of the earth's crust. In Crimea, Mount Koshka is an outlier (as already mentioned), which broke away from the Main Ridge as a result of a break in tectonic plates. In ancient times, it belonged to a single massif - Ai-Petrinsky, breaking away from which it began to move towards the sea. Bizarre forms are explained by the weathering process. Of course, I really want to believe in a fairy tale, but the truth is more expensive.
There is almost nothing left of Monk rock. In Crimea in 1927 there was a strong earthquake, as a result of which it was covered with deep cracks. And four years later, a strong storm hit her. The monk suffered his last punishment, forever disappearing from the face of the earth. At the place where he stood, now you can see only shapeless giant blocks, and only the base remains of the rock.
How to get there
You can get to the mountain along the Sevastopol-Y alta highway. Herethere are both intercity and suburban buses.
There are several ways to get to Mount Koshka:
- On the path from the Blue Bay (it starts near the water park) you should get to the observation deck from which the ecological trail goes.
- From the road, go to the observation deck, which offers a beautiful panoramic view of Simeiz, the rocks of outcasts, the slopes of the Ai-Petri Yayla. The path then leads to the stone chaos.
- You can get to the observation deck by minibus No. 107, and from there continue your way to the mountain along the path.
- By car. From the highway there is a ramp to the observation deck, there are also places for parking cars.
You can choose the easiest way - this is an excursion from Simeiz.
The view on Mount Koshka is amazing: the endless sea surface, the Crimean mountains hanging over the coast, panoramic views, the power and grandeur of Ai-Petri, and of course, Simeiz. The feeling that you are in a fairy tale!
