Miskhor
Miskhor is a picturesque resort area on the southern coast of Crimea, part of the Big Yalta. Miskhor is a coastal strip that stretches for 10 kilometers between the resort villages Gaspra and Koreiz. In translation from Greek, the name “Miskhor” means “middle settlement”. Legally, Miskhor is not considered an independent settlement, but is considered a part of Koreiz. Travelers love these places for the clean warm sea, good pebble beaches, pine forests, healing air and a wonderful mild climate.
- Highlights
- History of Miskhor
- Legend of the Miskhor mermaid
Features of nature and climate - Beaches of Miskhor
- Miskhor Park
- Cable car
- How to get there
Highlights
There are no entertainment centers and attractions in the resort village. People come here for the sake of leisurely beach vacation, sea walks and sightseeing tourism. In Miskhor there are pharmacies, souvenir stores and stores where you can buy food, household trifles and resort goods. And those who need to buy vegetables and fruits cheaper, go to the market in Koreiz or go to Yalta.
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One of the visiting cards of Miskhor is the monument to the mermaid, which appeared thanks to the local legend about the beautiful Arza and the old Ali Baba. In the coastal zone is a real miracle of garden and park art – the luxurious Miskhor Park. Vacationers at the resort are very fond of walks under laurels, Himalayan cedars, cypresses, almonds and magnolias.
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Hidden in the greenery of trees are beautiful villas built in the late XIX – early XX century. In many of them nowadays are located boarding houses and sanatoriums. The decoration of this part of the South Coast of Crimea is rightly considered a magnificent palace Dulber, built by the famous Yalta architect Nikolai Krasnov. Not far from it is another creation of Krasnov – the beautiful Yusupov Palace. Both architectural monuments are built in the popular in the beginning of the last century neo-Mauritanian style.
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In Miskhora open ropeway, which can easily climb the mountain Ai-Petri. Passenger elevator is popular with tourists and is listed in the Guinness Book of Records for the longest in Europe carrying cable. The distance between the supports on one of its sections is 1670 meters.
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Fans of active recreation in Miskhora can go diving or go on a boat trip along the coast. The surroundings of the Crimean resort provide all opportunities for exciting climbing, rock climbing, roupjumping and skydiving. In addition, for tourists staying in Miskhor, organize horseback riding tours, ATV rides, as well as informative bus tours to the best sights of the South Coast of Crimea.
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History of Miskhor
The Legend of the Miskhora Mermaid
Once upon a time, a black-haired beauty named Arzy lived on the seashore. Everyone admired her beauty, but especially the old merchant Ali Baba admired the girl. When Arzy grew up, she fell in love with a simple shepherd. He asked the girl to marry him and got her father’s consent. Before the wedding, the beauty went down to take water to her favorite fountain by the sea, but evil people sent by Ali Baba were waiting for her there. They seized Arza, brought her by boat to Istanbul and sold the girl at the slave market.
The eunuchs bought the beauty for the sultan’s harem. Arzy gave birth to a son to the ruler, but did not stop pining for her relatives and lover. One day she could not stand it, climbed a high tower and threw herself from there with her son in her arms into the sea. After that, a mermaid with a child in her arms began to swim to the Miskhora fountain.
Beautiful and sad legend is dedicated to a sculptural group on the embankment of Miskhora. It was created according to the project of Estonian sculptor Amandus Adamson in 1903.
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Features of nature and climate
From the north, Miskhor is closed by the steep slopes of the Ai-Petri massif. Yayla rises high above the Crimean coast and reliably protects the resort area from cold winds. Thanks to this, Miskhor is considered the warmest place on the peninsula. Here prevails subtropical climate of the Mediterranean type.
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Miskhora Park
The amazingly beautiful park zone occupies an area of 21.3 hectares. Its history began at the end of the XVIII century. In those days, there was a forest growing here, and the best architects and gardeners of Europe worked to create a park on the territory of the estate of Counts Witte. They managed to skillfully weave ornamental plantings into the coastal relief and skillfully used natural rock piles and rock ledges to design green landscapes.
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Thanks to the skill of gardeners, a real work of park art has turned out, causing admiration of everyone who has ever been to Miskhora. Straight alleys in the park are intersected by winding walkways, and groups of shady trees replace picturesque open lawns. More than 300 species of trees and shrubs, brought from different parts of the world, are planted in the green zone.
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The longest alley of Miskhor Park is planted with slender cypresses. On it walked S. Rakhmanov, F. Chaliapin, L. Tolstoy, V. Nemirovich-Danchenko and A. Chekhov. And nearby there is a picturesque palm alley, laid in the days of Prince Naryshkin.
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In the park of Miskhora are benches and gazebos. There is a popular with tourists color-music fountain, summer theater and dance floor. Almost the entire park area is laid out on flat terrain, so it is not difficult to walk on it for both kids and the elderly.
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Cable car
Not everyone can climb the high Ai-Petrinskaya yaila by mountain trails or automobile road, but everyone can do it by cable car. The construction of a passenger elevator in Miskhora began in 1967, and its opening took place in 1988.
.Nowadays the cable car works all year round, and by it you can very quickly rise to a height of 1153 meters above sea level. The lower station of the elevator “Miskhor” is located on the Alupka highway. It is built near the shore, at a height of 86 meters above sea level. The intermediate station is called “Sosnovy Bor”, and the final station is called “Ai-Petri”. From the mountain plateau there is a magnificent view of the entire coast from Yalta to the western outskirts of Simeiz.
.The passenger cabin, which seats up to 40 people, goes up in just 15 minutes. In the lower part of the cable car angle of ascent is small, but near the mountain slopes it increases to 46 °. The trip in the cabin is very exciting, because the cable car cables are stretched over the picturesque pine forests of Yalta mountain forest reserve.
.The elevator is open without interruption and weekends: from 11.00 to 15.00 on the ascent and from 11.00 to 16.00 on the descent. Children under 6 years old can ride the cable car for free. Everyone can go down from Ai-Petrinskaya yaila by cab.
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How to get there
Miskhor is 12 km away from the center of Yalta. There is no railroad nearby, so you get here only by land transport or by sea.
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The nearest airport is located in the administrative center of Crimea – the city of Simferopol (94 km). The international terminal receives flights from various Russian cities. From Simferopol to Miskhor it takes an hour and a half to get to Miskhor by cab.
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In order to get from the capital of Crimea to Miskhor by public transportation, the best buses are “Simferopol – Simeiz”, which stop at the Miskhor bus station. You can also use other buses, however, they follow the top – on the South Coast Highway – and do not go down to the village. Most buses from Simferopol depart from the bus station “Kurortnaya-2”, located near the railway station. To get to it from the airport, you need to get to the city by trolleybus, bus or shuttle bus.
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Those who plan to come to the peninsula on the “Unified ticket” of Russian Railways should take a ticket to Yalta. In this case, the passenger gets by train to Krasnodar or Anapa, changes to a bus and arrives in Crimea via the Kerch crossing. From Yalta to Miskhor there are buses No. 47, 102, 107 and 115. In addition, from Yalta’s embankment to Miskhor you can take pleasure boats or voyage boats.
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