Welcome to Ukraine - Accomodation - Crimea

The Crimea, a collection of historical and natural wonders

The Crimean peninsula, located in the south of Ukraine, has always been a crossroads between East and West, a melting pot where the histories of the Byzantine Empire, the Golden Horde, the Tatars and the Cossacks intersected, leaving everything from early Christian churches to Muslim mosques. Archeologists claim humans first appeared in this area tens of thousands of years ago. The Crimea later attracted Scythians, Visigoths, Hellenes, Goths and other ancient tribes. Indeed, the Crimean peninsula was even a strategic stop-over along the Silk Route.

The peninsula features a unique combination of mountains and sea, rivers and lakes, boundless steppe and abundant forests. Located almost exactly between the equator and the North Pole, the peninsula is washed by the waters of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. Owing to the Crimean Mountains, a subtropical oasis developed on the southern coast of the peninsula. The Crimean southern coast is as spectacular as anything you could see in Nice and other Mediterranean resorts in terms of scenery, and also with respect to the number of sunny days a year. The coast will greet you with typical subtropical flora, such as palm trees, figs, and magnolia. Much of the flora here is ancient and rare, and botanists have long regarded the Crimea as a place of special interest. The well-known Nikitsky Botanical Gardens near Yalta has a collection of 1,400 species and 300 varieties of plants representing a full range of the world’s flora.

The Crimean shores are dotted with numerous landmarks, such as ancient settlements, hidden towns and sanctuaries, monasteries and mosques, from the ruins of Chersoneses in Sevastopol to the Byzantine fortresses in the Alushta Valley, the Genoese fortifications near Sudak and Balaklava, and the Vorontsovsky, Massandra, and the Imperial Livadia Palace near Yalta, where Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt met for their historical 1945 summit. All are open to the public.

Walking along the seashore, one cannot help admiring the stunning mountain landscapes. The great Crimean Canyon is considered a natural wonder. The 150 million-year-old Kara-Dag volcano range will stun you with its peaks, walls, towers and grottoes. The Demerdji mountain top actually changes color as the day passes. Fantastic monsters, stone idols, strange birds and animals can be seen in the maze of its steep and rugged slopes. The Crimea boasts over 900 caves, many man-made or cultivated as remote retreats. The Marble Cave, for example, is located on the slopes of the Chatyr-Dag plateau and is officially ranked among Europe’s top five most beautiful and well-maintained caves.