Tepe-Kermen is a cave city of Crimea. Cave city Tepe-Kermen in Crimea Cave city Tepe Kermen Crimea how to get there

The record holder of the Crimean Book of Records, Mount Tepe-Kermen is not only a curious geological object, but also an outstanding archaeological monument, which includes a unique cave city.

Deceiver Mountain

In the Kachinskaya valley between the villages of Mashino and Kudrino there is an unusual mountain called Tepe-Kermen. The truncated cone of the correct form has a height of 544 meters and is the only example of such formations in the Crimea. It is no coincidence that in 1999 the mountain was included in the book “Crimea. Book of Records. The outlines of the mountain formation are exactly the same as those of the active volcanoes of Kamchatka, Indonesia and Japan. In fact, Tepe-Kermen is not a volcano, but a remnant mountain, isolated from the Inner Ridge. For the deceptive shape of the mountain, they called it a deceiver.

The geometric outlines of the Tepe-Kermen peak resemble a triangle. One side of the stone prism is a rectangular cliff in the northeast direction, the other side is a cliff in the northwest direction. Interestingly, each of them coincides with a break in the earth's crust.

The mountain formation is amazingly picturesque. Against the backdrop of the mountains of the Main Range, Tepe-Kermen resembles a mysterious island sinking in misty lilac distances, but close up, the contrasting combination of forested slopes and sheer cliffs strikes the imagination.

The romantic outlines of the mountain once inspired the famous Russian painter K.F. Bogaevsky. Tepe-Kermen's sketches from life served as the basis for his painting "Altars". One of the sketches shows two pyramidal peaks of Tepe-Kermen and, in the background, Kyz-Kermen. The drawing was called "Altars in the Desert", as well as a section of the poetry collection of the poet M.A. Voloshin and the poem of the same name. It has lines like this

I will set up an altar in the wilderness

On the wide crown of the mountain.

The poet described the pagan worship of the Sun, and the artist saw in the strict outlines of Tepe-Kermen the likeness of an ancient altar. In the final version of the painting, the artist deviated significantly from the original sketches. He depicted not two, but three identical peaks, similar to volcano-shaped pyramids. So, the real landscape served as the basis for creating a fantasy world.

Fortress on the mountain

Translated from the Crimean Tatar, Tepe-Kermen means "Fortress on the Mountain." The same name is given to the ruins of a medieval city, covering the upper part of the mountain in several tiers. Once it was an impregnable castle, behind the walls of which the local population hid from enemy troops.

Numerous religious buildings of Tepe-Kermen gave rise to researchers to consider the fortress a monastery. However, today the prevailing opinion is that on Tepe-Kermen, this is a typical feudal castle. According to some researchers, it has features of the so-called "small towns".

The settlement existed from the 6th to the 14th centuries. It reached its peak in the 12th-13th centuries. The death of the settlement is associated with the raid of the Golden Horde in 1299.

Inspection of the cave city is very interesting. Like a honeycomb, holes of various sizes perforated the rocky peak. There are one-room, two, three and even four-room "apartments". The upper caves, located at the edge of Tepe-Kermen, served as combat casemates. Through the hollowed-out embrasures, the defenders of the fortress fired from a bow and threw stones at the enemy. On the plateau there are cisterns carved into the rock for storing water and cellars. The caves of the lower floor were used for economic purposes and as pens for livestock.

The caves are oval or round in shape. On the walls you can see the crossing furrows of the cuttings made with a pickaxe.

In ancient times, the caves had an entrance with a wooden door and windows. Some of them were connected by stairs and passages. Inside you can find pits for the hearth and something like beds.

On the southwestern side, the rock has a ledge hanging over the wooded slope of the mountain. Moving in a southerly direction, you can meet the largest cave. In front of it is a terrace leading to the entrance in the form of a doorway. Opposite the entrance there is a ledge with a niche, on both sides there are two thread-like recesses. Researchers believe that this cave was a pre-Christian temple, later converted into a Christian one.

Having plucked up courage and walked along the very edge of the cliff, you can get to neatly carved caves with an entrance in the form of a doorway. Most likely, they served mysterious cult purposes.

Tepe-Kermen holds the record for the number of carved cave structures. There are about 300 of them, which is extremely large for a small mountain (about 18,500 sq.m). This phenomenon is associated with the relative ease of processing the limestones that make up the mountain. Numerous cracks and decompression of limestones in the zone of tectonic disturbance weakened the strength of rocks and thus facilitated the cutting of caves.

Despite the huge number of caves on the top of the mountain, life in the medieval castle was concentrated on the Tepe-Kermen plateau. Today, the residential area of ​​the castle is densely overgrown with thorny bushes and trees, and the ancient buildings are barely visible. Once upon a time there were two-story buildings with outbuildings and sheds on the plateau. Nearby were equipped grain pits, pools for collecting and storing water, there were several churches and chapels. In confirmation of this, fragments of tiles, fragments of pithoi, amphorae, glazed plates and bowls of the 12th-14th centuries were found during archaeological excavations. Tepe-Kermen was inhabited by medieval Crimean Greeks.

In the north-eastern part of the top of Tepe-Kermen, a Christian one was cut down with three surviving columns. The temple arose approximately in the VIII - IX centuries. This is a relatively large cave temple. Its length is 10.5 meters, width - from 4.2 to 5.4 meters. The shape of the room is interesting, it is not elongated towards the altar, but along the north-south axis. The altar barrier occupies almost the entire central part of the room. The worshipers were seated in a semicircle in front of an altar surrounded by six roughly hewn columns. Relief crosses are carved on the outer walls of the pre-altar barrier. A ledge at the back of the altar served as an altar. At the southeastern wall of the temple, one can find two tombs carved into the floor, above them are the remains of a Greek inscription, in the corner is a baptistery (baptismal) which is a stone box with a cruciform recess. In a cave located below the church, researchers at the beginning of the century found many human bones. Most likely, in this place there was a tomb, or as it is also called an ossuary. Following an ancient tradition, bones taken from the tombs were piled here.

The cave temple has its mysteries. For a long time, researchers could not explain the purpose of an irregularly shaped window opening. The secret was revealed by accident. On the day of the celebration of Easter, when the rising sun illuminated the opposite wall of the cave, a clear shadow of the cross appeared on it.

There are several more cave and ground churches on the plateau. One of them, located at the southern end of the settlement, is a small chapel with a semicircular altar apse. Its walls are made of massive stone slabs up to 2.5 meters long and up to 1.3 meters wide. D.L., who studied it in 1969, Talis believed it was part of a monumental religious complex.

Official information
Medieval walled city in

Bakhchisarai region of Crimea,

7 km southeast of Bakhchisarai. Height 544 m

General information about Tepe-Kermen (according to published sources)

Name Tepe-Kermenis of Turkic origin: in translation from the Crimean Tatar it means "hill-fortress", "fortress on top" (tope- hill, summit Kermen- fortress). The same name is given to the remains of the medieval fortified city (according to other sources - the monastery) Tepe-Kermen, covering the upper part of the mountain in several tiers. The area of ​​the cave city is about 1 ha.

In fact, it was not a city, but rather a fortress-castle, on the territory of which the population of the district hid from enemy troops, which explains the lack of water sources.

The city existed from the 6th to the 14th centuries. It reached its greatest prosperity in the XII-XIII centuries. The concentration of artificial caves is high - more than 230. There is a cave church of the XII-IX centuries with carved crosses, graves, inscriptions in Greek. Traces of foundations are visible among the bushes and grass. The walls have not survived. According to some versions, the death of the city is tied to the raid of the Golden Horde beklyaribek Nogai in 1299.

It is still not clear from which source the inhabitants of the city took water. No wells have been found on the territory of Tepe-Kermen, and all known springs are located at the very foot of the mountain.

Tepe-Kermen is a lonely cone-shaped mountain on which people settled, reminiscent of a volcano in shape. It was part of the Inner Ridge, which is gradually being destroyed, and remained in the form of a lonely "Crimean Vesuvius" 543 meters high above sea level. Tepe-Kermen , from Turkic meansSummit-Fortress seen from afar..

It is believed that the fortress on this mountain began to be built in the VI century. On an insignificant area of ​​​​1.4 hectares, about 250 caves of various purposes were cut down: dwellings, warehouses, basements, defensive, religious (churches) and burial premises. After a trip to Tepe-Kermen, the impression remains that the city is oversaturated with caves, that the rock is thinned and is about to fall apart from these endless six-tier cavities that eat it up. From all sides of the horizon, the mountain looks like a slag heap of a mine, and from the east it looks like a huge ship cutting through a transparent ocean of air.

Walls here blocked only the most critical sections of the plateau, where there are no cliffs and where the enemy could easily climb the slope. In the same place, for reliable defense, casemate caves were hollowed out. The guardhouse in the south-west of the plateau could serve as the basis of a special watchtower.

Unlike Chufut-Kale, Tepe-Kermen was too uncomfortable for a normal, at least tolerable life. There are no wells here. Residents had to collect rainwater through a system of grooves in special stone cisterns. The city did not last long and then only as a military fortress. The remains of some buildings are visible on the plateau. In the central part of the settlement, archaeologists dug up the foundations of a four-room house, near the walls of which there were conical cut-outs of the 9th-10th centuries for the installation of clay barrels (pithoi).

It is interesting to see the cave church of the 8th century, carved into the northeastern cliff. The temple is rectangular, with rounded corners, a flat ceiling and a semicircular altar. Graves are carved into the floor.

The cave church has its own special sign - an irregularly shaped window opening, which can only be explained by those initiated into the mystery.cave city Tepe-Kermen. This is the secret, accidentally discovered by local historians. On Easter day, the rising sun shines through the window of the cave - and the exact shape of the cross appears on the opposite wall.

On the "nose" of the Tepe-Kermen plateau, a single vertical stone remained, from which a shadow falls on the site. Previously, it was a large cave with vaults ...

Tepe-Kermen- the least explored cave city. Only episodic excavations have been carried out here. Random finds include a coin from 1305, several bells, a pectoral cross, green and blue fragments of glass bracelets, a cheek-plate of a horse harness, fragments of a glass lamp...

Tepe-Kermen is a mountain-fortress that keeps many secrets. In Turkic, the name means "fortress on top". It is noteworthy that the cave city of Tepe-Kermen is called the "Crimean Vesuvius", since the height of the elevation reaches 543 m and resembles a volcano in appearance.

Photo of the cave city Tepe-kermen:

Archaeological value of the settlement

The history of the outlier mountain is full of secrets, because so far very little is known about this area of ​​Crimea. This is the least studied area of ​​ancient Taurida, since excavations were carried out sporadically. It is assumed that more valuable finds are possible. For example, quite recently, the largest treasure of coins was found in the cave settlement of Chufut-Kale. And it became a discovery of the European scale.

Important!
The assumption of new finds is justified: cave passages connect many household premises.

The following premises are located in Tepe-Kermen:

• warehouses;
• caves in the form of cellars;
• caves for ritual ceremonies;
• military and defense facilities;
• dwellings of the local population.

The area of ​​the monument is 1 ha, including the caves. Good location - 7 km southeast of Bakhchisarai - attracts a stream of tourists. But it is still impossible to call this historical monument a city, because there are no reservoirs in sufficient quantities.

Main relic and historical background

On the territory of the settlement, 230 artificial caves have been preserved, in which the local population hid from raids. The cave fortress served as a reliable defense until 1299, but it fell under the onslaught of the Golden Horde ruler Nogai.

Some of the caves were used for keeping livestock, which were pastured in the nearby valleys. The plateau is covered with ruins, but inside the settlement the foundations of residential buildings are tolerably preserved.

The origin of the settlement began in the 6th century, and it flourished in the 12th-13th centuries. From this era there was a monument - a church, inside which there are burials and inscriptions in Greek. The peculiarity of the monument is the presence of a baptistery. A font with a cruciform bath, intended for ceremonies, has been preserved. The columns of the inner altar barrier are crowned with capitals, which gives the whole building a special majesty.

The Church keeps a secret that is in the sphere of sacred knowledge. At Easter, a rising ray of the sun penetrates the window of the sanctuary, and on the opposite side the image of the cross appears. The mystery of the phenomenon has not yet been revealed.

Video review:

How to get to Tepe-kermen?

The easiest way to climb the hill is from the north side, from where two main trails lead. On the northeastern side of the mountain, paths lead to the top. They walk along the mountain, of course, on foot, to see all the sights.

Getting there using a map or navigator is very easy. You need to get to the village "Kudrino". If you go by bus, then it is better to leave Bakhchisaray, from the bus station. From the village to the mountain - a few minutes on foot. Any local resident will tell you how to get to the cave city of Tepe-Kermen. On the way, another amazing place awaits the traveler - the skete of Anastasia the Solver.

According to the research of archaeologists, the settlement is a kind of capital of this area of ​​Crimea. Local residents flocked here - Alans, as well as other peoples. Visiting Tepe-Kermen, you can truly feel like a pioneer.

Tepe-Kermen on the map of Crimea

GPS Coordinates: 44°42’54″N 33°55’50″E Latitude/Longitude

The cave city of Tepe-Kermen in Crimea is perhaps a very significant and remarkable object of this kind on the territory of the peninsula in general and in the vicinity of the ancient khan's capital in particular. Among other such complexes located in the Bakhchisarai region, it may not be the most visited, but it occupies a place of honor due to the picturesque view of the rock where its premises are carved, the stunningly beautiful area of ​​the Kachinskaya Valley.

Archaeologists who conducted research within the boundaries of the ancient settlement tend to consider it the main point of these places, comparing it with a kind of capital of the Alans and other peoples who lived here, who obeyed and recognized the authority of local rulers. Unfortunately, the history of the attraction is not well known, but excavations on its territory and the clearing of numerous structures continue. We can say that in the near future all the mysteries of this amazing place will be opened!

Where is the settlement located in the Crimea?

The cave city of Tepe-Kermen is located in the southern part of the peninsula, on the territory of the Bakhchisarai region. It is located within a charmingly beautiful valley, near the village of Kudrino, 7 km southeast. On the way to the memorial, tourists pass the amazing Kachi-Kalyon Monastery.

Tepe-Kermen on the map of Crimea

The history of the city in the caves

Historians and archaeologists attribute the appearance of Tepe-Kermen to approximately the same time as the emergence of another famous cave city - that is, to the end of the 6th - beginning of the 7th centuries. Its construction was connected with the rapid advance of the Byzantines to Northern Tauris. In the first centuries of its existence, it was predominantly a fortress, where a numerous, strong garrison of Goth-Alans was located.

A little later, a large number of residential premises and religious buildings were carved here, and the settlement itself, in a lonely mountain towering above the Kachinskaya Valley, was surrounded by a fortress wall. But this happened not earlier than the 10th century, after most of the agricultural settlements in the district fell under the blows of the presumably Khazars, who included Tepe-Kermen in the kaganate.

Like other archaeological sites, Tepe-Kermen reached its highest development and power during the Khazar Khaganate, although the majority of its population were Christians. In the 11th century, after the fall of the Khazar state in the Crimea and the establishment of Byzantine rule, the rise of the cave center continued, and by the end of the century it became one of the most densely populated on the peninsula.

But the prosperity of the city was short-lived. Already in the XIII century, like most of the cave and land settlements, it was captured and destroyed by the troops of the Horde Khan Nogai. After that, the complex fell into complete decline, over the next decades it was gradually abandoned by the majority of the inhabitants, by the end of the 14th century it was abandoned and never revived.

For some time, Christian churches continued to function in the depopulated Tepe-Kermen, which were used by the inhabitants of the surrounding villages. When in 1475 the Crimean peninsula came under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, the Turks finally destroyed the shrines of Christians, after which a period of complete oblivion began, which lasted almost 500 years. In 1969, the settlement was rediscovered by D. Talis, who began to carry out archaeological excavations.

What is interesting about Tepe-Kermen?

Now the cave city of Tepe-Kermen in the Crimea, like other interesting places on the peninsula, is a landmark and tourist attraction that attracts a lot of visitors. The current ancient policy is about 250 grottoes and caves carved into 3 tiers, occupying a total area of ​​just over 1.2 hectares. It is the second largest among its own kind in the region - after, the number of caves of which reaches almost 300 units.

Until today, two roads leading to the settlement have been preserved, used by residents since ancient times. The northern one, which was once the main and quite lively, has even preserved the traces of the wheels of the wagons, which crashed deep into it, the remains of the gates and fortifications. These ruins evoke mixed feelings - on the one hand, these are almost the only ground structures of Tepe-Kermen that do not fit well into the general landscape, on the other hand, they amaze with their monumentality even in such a deplorable state.

Most of the buildings have a residential, economic and religious purpose, their walls are often covered with hardly distinguishable inscriptions in Greek and Hebrew, but some fragments can still be read.
Interestingly, not a single well has yet been found on its territory, but there are dozens of gutters and pools carved on a flat plane, apparently designed to collect rainwater. On the slopes of the mountain, a little lower than the main structures, there is a well-preserved necropolis with numerous crypts and tombstones, which, unfortunately, was completely plundered.

The most interesting objects of Tepe-Kermen are the remains of three churches, now only foundations and small sections of walls remain from them, and they are interesting as the only ground buildings of the settlement. They have a small area and conventional names dating back to the beginning of the 20th century, but these are the most striking reminders of the cave complex. Two of them - the "church with a baptistery" and the "church with a sacristy" - are somewhat better preserved, the third, destroyed to the ground, does not even have a conventional name.

How to get to the cave city?

The cave fortress in the vicinity of Bakhchisaray is a monument of medieval architecture and urban planning.

Geographical coordinates of Tepe-Kermen on the map of Crimea GPS N 44.715895 E 33.931037

Today Tepe-Kermen works like an open air museum. Visiting. in the summer, paid. Ticket price for adults - 100 rubles, for children - 50 rubles. There is no telephone for inquiries in Tepe-Kermen. A consultation can only be obtained at the entrance from the forester. During the off-season, admission is free.

How to get to the cave city Tepe-Kermen

Get to Tepe-Kermen you can from Bakhchisarai: go to the street. Building, along it you move towards the exit from Bakhchisaray, to the village of Predushchelnoye, then Bashtanovka, Mashino and the final point - Kudrino. In the village of Kudrino, you are looking for a tourist camp. It's not difficult to find it on the highway. The distance from Bakhchisaray to Tepe-Kermen is 10.7 km. If you do not want to get on your own transport, then there is a minibus from the city center to Kudrino and you can also get by taxi.

From the tourist camp, the ascent along the path to Tepe-Kermen begins. The rise time is on average 30-40 minutes. The trail is marked and it is almost impossible to get lost. Also, from the tourist parking lot you will be offered to go up to Tepe-Kermen on an off-road vehicle. Price from 500 to 1000 rubles. depending on the time of year and vehicle load.
The second option to get to Tepe-Kermen is from Bakhchisarai on foot. From Bakhchisarai you head towards the Assumption Monastery, then go uphill to the Chufut-Kale fortress, cross Chufut-Kale through and through, exit through the Eastern Gate, follow the path for about 4.5 km. and you also get to the tourist parking and the checkpoint (forester's booth, who collects money for entry).

History of Tepe-Kermen

History of Tepe-Kermen originates from the split of the Roman Empire, from the appearance of Byzantium. The northern border of Byzantium ran along a part of the Crimean peninsula, from the South of Crimea to the territory of the future Bakhchisaray. In the 4th-5th centuries, it was on these borders that the first outposts began to appear, which in the 5th-6th centuries would become fortress cities: Chufut-Kale, Tepe-Kermen and Eski-Kermen.
Since the Tepe-Kermen fortress served as a guard post on the border of Byzantium, the city was formed as a fortress according to all the rules of that time. The city was located in a remote place, in our case on the Tepe-Kermen mountain of the same name. The height is 246 m or 540 above sea level. Also, an important role was played not only by the height of the mountain, but also by its impregnability.

On three sides it has a rather steep slope, which is not easy to climb. It is rather difficult to carry out military maneuvers or a siege. It is for these reasons that a small outpost becomes a fortress by the 6th century, and later, from the 11th to the 13th centuries, it turns into a large city, by the standards of that time.

Cave city Tepe-Kermen located on the plateau of the mountain of the same name. The area of ​​the plateau is 1.1 hectares. The city is built in several tiers. At the very foot of the mountain, small caves begin, which were previously connected with the middle of the mountain by wooden structures. In the middle part of the mountain, all the caves were adapted for the defense of the city. They housed archers and other defenders of the city. The lower part served mainly. for a subsidiary farm - premises for livestock and forage stocks. But the upper plateau was intended for living quarters, small cells for monks and directly for temples. So, for example, in the North-East of the plateau there is the largest Christian temple of the 7-9th century AD. According to archaeologists, the temple was founded by fugitive preachers from the Roman Empire, during the time of iconoclasm in Rome. Unfortunately, more accurate information about the temple has not been preserved, as well as the name of this city.

The name Tepe-Kermen appeared in the 16th century and is translated from Turkic as the Fortress on the top, but historians do not yet know what this place was called during Byzantine times.
On the territory of Tepe-Kermen, according to today, there are about 246 buildings. But this figure is very figurative, due to the fact that this area, although known since ancient times, is still little studied. The approximate date of the disappearance of the city is known - 1299, during the raid of the Golden Horde. But this is not confirmed by historical facts and has no historical justification.
So, for example, the German archaeologist Johann Erich Tunmann writes that at the turn of the 16th century, life in Tepe-Kermen, practically. calmed down. That is, it turns out that 300 years of the history of the city is simply not known.

Excursions to Tepe-Kermen.

Thinking about whether it is worth visiting Tepe-Kermen with a guide or on your own, you can answer this: depending on what you expect from a trip to the fortress. If you want to take good pictures and walk around, then most likely you should not take a tour. You will not go astray from the path, all sights are signed and have a brief history on billboards near significant places, and most importantly, your costs will be at least 100 rubles. for the entrance. If you want -1000 rubles. for lifting on an off-road vehicle. But on the other hand, you will not be limited by time for a photo and a walk.

But if you decide to choose the option with a guide, you will get a fairly high-quality digression into history, from Byzantium to the kingdom of Theodore and the devastation of these lands, during the time of the Golden Horde. The tour lasts on average from 1-2 hours, and the amount of information will be very extensive, and in most cases visual. In general, the choice is yours.