Yayla Mountains
Encyclopedia
The Crimean Mountains is a range of mountains
running parallel to the south-east coast of Crimea
, Ukraine
, between about five and eight miles (13 km) from the sea. Toward the west, the mountains drop steeply to the Black Sea
, and to the east, they change slowly into a steppe
landscape.
Crimean Mountains consist of three subranges. The highest is the Main range. Main range is subdivided into several massives, known as yaylas
or mountain plateaus (Yayla is Crimean Tatar
for "Alpine Meadow"). They are:
The Crimea's highest peak is the Roman-Kosh on the Babugan Yayla at 1545 metres (5,068.9 ft). Other important peaks over 1,200 metres include:
The most important passes over the Crimean Mountains are:
Rivers of the Crimean Mountains include the Alma River
, Chernaya River
, and Salhir River
on the northern slope and Uchan-su River
on the southern slope which forms the Uchan-su waterfall
, a popular tourist attraction and highest waterfall in Ukraine.
Archaeologists have found the earliest anatomically modern humans
in Europe in the Crimean mountains' Buran-Kaya caves. The fossils are 32,000 years old, with the artifacts linked to the Gravettian
culture. The fossils have cut marks suggesting a post-mortem defleshing ritual.
Mountain range
A mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...
running parallel to the south-east coast of Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, between about five and eight miles (13 km) from the sea. Toward the west, the mountains drop steeply to the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
, and to the east, they change slowly into a steppe
Steppe
In physical geography, steppe is an ecoregion, in the montane grasslands and shrublands and temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biomes, characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes...
landscape.
Crimean Mountains consist of three subranges. The highest is the Main range. Main range is subdivided into several massives, known as yaylas
Yayla
Yayla is Crimean Tatar and Turkish for alpine meadow or mountain plateau. Cognate words with identical meaning exist in other Turkic languages...
or mountain plateaus (Yayla is Crimean Tatar
Crimean Tatar language
The Crimean Tatar language is the language of the Crimean Tatars. It is a Turkic language spoken in Crimea, Central Asia , and the Crimean Tatar diasporas in Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria...
for "Alpine Meadow"). They are:
- Baydar Yayla
- Ay-Petri Yayla
- YaltaYaltaYalta is a city in Crimea, southern Ukraine, on the north coast of the Black Sea.The city is located on the site of an ancient Greek colony, said to have been founded by Greek sailors who were looking for a safe shore on which to land. It is situated on a deep bay facing south towards the Black...
Yayla - NikitaNikita, UkraineNikita is a townlet in Crimea, Ukraine. It is known for the Nikitsky Botanical Garden named after the settlement.Originally it was a village of Nikita owned by a landowner Smirnov, bought by the state in 1811 for the creation of the botanical garden. During the times of the Soviet Union the...
Yayla - GurzufGurzufGurzuf or Hurzuf is a resort in Crimea, Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea.Gurzuf is a former Crimean Tatar village, now a part of Greater Yalta. It was made famous by Alexander Pushkin who visited the place in 1821. The famous ballet master Marius Petipa died here...
Yayla - Babugan Yayla
- Chatyr-Dag Yayla
- Dologorukovskaya (Subatkan) Yayla
- Demirji Yayla
- Karabi Yayla
The Crimea's highest peak is the Roman-Kosh on the Babugan Yayla at 1545 metres (5,068.9 ft). Other important peaks over 1,200 metres include:
- Demir-Kapu 1,540 m in the Babugan Yayla;
- Zeytin-Kosh 1,537 m in the Babugan Yayla;
- Kemal-Egerek 1,529 m in the Babugan Yayla;
- Eklizi-Burun 1,527 m in the Chatyrdag Yayla;
- Lapata 1,406 m in the Yaltynska Yayla, Yalta Yaylası;
- Northern Demirji 1,356 m in the Demirci Yayla;
- Ai-PetriAi-PetriAi-Petri ; is a peak in the Crimean Mountains. For administrative purposes it is in the Yalta municipality of Crimea....
1,243 m in the Ay Petri Yaylası.
The most important passes over the Crimean Mountains are:
- Angarskyi PassAngarskyi PassThe Angarskyi Pass is a mountain pass of the Crimean Mountains on the Crimean peninsula of southern Ukraine. The pass is the highest point on the Simferopol–Alushta roadway, at above sea level. It takes its name from the Angara River, a tributary of the Salhir.During the Middle Ages, only a small...
near the Perevalne village, on a road from AlushtaAlushtaAlushta is a resort town in Crimea, Ukraine, founded in the 6th century by Emperor Justinian. It is situated on the Black Sea on the road from Gurzuf to Sudak, as well as on the Crimean Trolleybus line....
to SimferopolSimferopol-Russian Empire and Civil War:The city was renamed Simferopol in 1784 after the annexation of the Crimean Khanate to the Russian Empire by Catherine II of Russia. The name Simferopol is derived from the Greek, Συμφερόπολις , translated as "the city of usefulness." In 1802, Simferopol became the... - Baydar Pass near Foros, connecting Baydar ValleyBaydar ValleyThe Baydar or Baydari valley sprawls for 16 km north-east in the Balaklava Raion of Sevastopol, Crimea. It is the source of the Chernaya River and the location of the Chernaya River Reservoir, Sevastopol's largest body of fresh water. Prehistoric menhir-statues still dot the landscape. A highway...
and the sea coast - Laspi PassLaspi PassThe Laspi Pass is the highest point of the Sevastopol-Yalta highway in the Crimea. The mountain pass offers views of Cape Aya and Laspi Bay of the Black Sea, situated just 700 meters to the south. It is dominated by a cliff named after Nikolai Garin-Mikhailovsky, a Russian writer who helped build...
near Cape Aya, on a road from YaltaYaltaYalta is a city in Crimea, southern Ukraine, on the north coast of the Black Sea.The city is located on the site of an ancient Greek colony, said to have been founded by Greek sailors who were looking for a safe shore on which to land. It is situated on a deep bay facing south towards the Black...
to SevastopolSevastopolSevastopol is a city on rights of administrative division of Ukraine, located on the Black Sea coast of the Crimea peninsula. It has a population of 342,451 . Sevastopol is the second largest port in Ukraine, after the Port of Odessa....
.
Rivers of the Crimean Mountains include the Alma River
Alma River (Ukraine)
The Alma is a small river in Crimea that flows into the Black Sea. Its mouth is located half-way between Yevpatoria and Sevastopol. Alma is the Crimean Tatar word for an "apple". Near the Alma river the allied British, French, and Ottoman armies defeated the Russians under Prince Aleksandr...
, Chernaya River
Chernaya River (Ukraine)
The Chorna, Chornaya or Chorhun River , which translates from the Ukrainian and Russian as "Black River", is a small river in Crimea, Ukraine. Its length is 34,5 km....
, and Salhir River
Salhir River
The Salhir River is the longest river in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Ukraine. Its length is 204 km, and its drainage basin is 3,750 km². The average discharge of the water is 2 m³/s....
on the northern slope and Uchan-su River
Uchan-su (river)
Uchan-su , is the river which flows in the South Coast of Crimea. The name translates from the Crimean Tatar language for 'swift water' .The river runs into the Black Sea in the center city of Yalta...
on the southern slope which forms the Uchan-su waterfall
Uchan-su (waterfall)
Uchan-su , is a waterfall on the river Uchan-su on the southern slopes of the Crimean Mountains. The name translates from the Crimean Tatar language for swift water....
, a popular tourist attraction and highest waterfall in Ukraine.
Archaeologists have found the earliest anatomically modern humans
Anatomically modern humans
The term anatomically modern humans in paleoanthropology refers to early individuals of Homo sapiens with an appearance consistent with the range of phenotypes in modern humans....
in Europe in the Crimean mountains' Buran-Kaya caves. The fossils are 32,000 years old, with the artifacts linked to the Gravettian
Gravettian
thumb|right|Burins to the Gravettian culture.The Gravettian toolmaking culture was a specific archaeological industry of the European Upper Palaeolithic era prevalent before the last glacial epoch. It is named after the type site of La Gravette in the Dordogne region of France where its...
culture. The fossils have cut marks suggesting a post-mortem defleshing ritual.
External links
- Crimean mountains - view on all parts of mountains of Crimea
- Mountains of Crimea - Great collection of Crimean mountains from private mountain guide Sergey Sorokin