The cave city Tepe-Kerman in the Crimea: what is it famous for and how to get there?

Tepe-Kermen is one of the most mysterious places in the south-west of the Crimean peninsula. In ancient times it was known as the fortress of Gothia. This is a cave city, the least studied by science, because it is especially attractive and attractive to tourists.

The appearance of Tepe-Kermen is attributed by scientists to approximately the end of the 6th - the very beginning of the 7th century. Most likely, his appearance was directly related to the rapid advance of the Byzantines in the territory of Northern Tavrida. For the first few centuries, the hill fort served as a fortress, in which a large army of Got-Alans was located. Later, houses began to be built here, and the building itself was tightly surrounded with a solid red wall - it happened already in the 10th century, immediately after the vast majority of the Crimean villages fell under the Khazar military attacks, as a result of which Tepe-Kerman was included in the structure kaganate.

It is believed that it was in the Khazar Kaganate that Tepe-Kerman was able to reach its greatest prosperity, despite the fact that most of the population were Christians. In the XI century, after the fall of the Khazars in the Crimea and the transfer of land under the rule of Byzantium, the flowering of the cave city continued. By the end of the twelfth century, it was already one of the most densely populated in the entire peninsula.

However, this well-being was relatively short - in the XII century. Tepe-Kerman was captured and completely defeated by the Mongol troops of the powerful Khan Nogai. At the time of the yoke, the territory fell into decay, the inhabitants left these places, by the end of the XIV century. the town was finally abandoned and was no longer restored.

For some time, in the Tepe-Kerman became deserted, Christian churches still operated, where residents of all the surrounding villages came to serve. In 1475, when the Crimea passed under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, Turkish troops finally destroyed all Christian shrines, from that moment began a period of total oblivion, which lasted for 500 years. Only in the middle of the last century, the archaeologist Talis again began to conduct excavations here and thus attracted the attention of tourists and lovers of active rest to this place.

Today, Tepe-Kerman, like many other places of interest on the Crimean peninsula, is considered a historical and natural landmark and a popular tourist destination.

The ancient settlement is now more than 200 caves and grottoes built in 3 tiers. The largest grottoes and caves make up about half of their total number; historians rank them among the earliest. In these caves there is something like a hollow with a dimple - presumably they were used as a manger. Here there are protrusions with holes, which, most likely, were used to tie up cattle.

In the caves you can often notice the so-called “Stone rings” are circular projections in the ceiling with holes that resemble fragments of rings inserted into a large boulder. Some caves have an entrance in the form of a hatch, a spacious impression is made by spacious cellars with doors, their total number is slightly over 50, they are tiny rooms without windows.

There are a number of rather small caves, whose height is lower than a man’s height — their purpose is unknown. Once on the top of the plateau, do not forget to pay special attention to the unusual sights of this amazing place.

• Residential caves - they are a tunnel-labyrinth of hozblok and rooms in the lower part.

• Gatehouse temple with its surviving sacristy room and an abundance of graffiti made, however surprising, in Hebrew. By the way, it is this fact that gives historians reason to assert that Tepe-Kerman was represented in the past by one of the Karaite settlements.

• Cave temple with a small baptismal, massive columns, bas-reliefs, an altar, a font and an altar. It is noteworthy that the font here is quite large and rather designed for a teenager or an adult, this indirectly confirms the theory that Tepe-Kermen was erected at the moment when the entire population of Crimea began to convert to the Christian faith around 16th century. The height of the room is slightly more than 2.5 m.

• Crypt - a place associated with a rather unusual burial rite of the dead, which existed at that time. The fact is that initially the body of the deceased person was placed in a tomb, and when his flesh was completely destroyed, the clergy washed the skeleton, and then moved it to the crypt, this room remained until our time.

• Casemates - most likely, it was from this place that archers repelled attacks on the fortress.

• Sun stone - it is a lonely boulder standing on the edge of a cliff, covered with runic symbols. There are many legends about his mission, but not one of them has been confirmed, therefore it remains only to guess what role this stone played in ancient times.

Each Tepe-Kerman cave is beautiful and connected to others through tunnels, passages and steps, and due to the so-called “light windows” it is always bright inside, it is simply impossible to get lost. During archaeological excavations, traces of ancient land structures were discovered, in particular, a large house of 4 rooms was erected on the plateau, a small room with a staircase - the period of their construction dates back to about the 12th century, the upper masonry was made of ordinary stone later - in the 14th century.

Near the cave discovered a unique plate with the faces of Christian saints. A foundation of a small chapel made of roughly hewn logs was found near the southern part of the plateau.

From ancient times, 2 major roads lead to the settlement from ancient times - in ancient times the northern one was the most popular. It is well preserved to our times, here you can even see the prints of the wheels from the old wagons and carts, the ruins of individual fortifications and ancient gates.

These ruins make the most ambiguous impression on tourists - on the one hand, they represent almost the only Tepe-Kerman buildings on the ground, on the other - are in extremely poor condition, but even so, they are striking in their epicity and monumentality.

Tepe-Kermen is a pyramid-shaped remnant, which, when viewed from the map, is in the Bakhchsarai district of the Crimean Republic. There is a natural-historical monument located 7 km to the south-east from Bakhchisarai and about 2 km separates the site of ancient settlement from Kyz-Kerman, if you move to the northeast.

In the past, the outcrop was part of the Crimean ridge, but due to tectonic processes and geological transformations, the summit split, now it stands alone at 540 km above sea level, the difference with the adjacent valleys is about 250 m. Tepe-Kerman is located 2 km from the village of Mashino and rises above the valley of a small mountain river Kacha. The size of steep cliffs from the southern and western sides reaches 12 m.

Tepe-Kerman is located at the very top of the mountain in the valley, which people inhabit since ancient times.This is a picturesque and very fertile place, whose inhabitants were actively engaged in farming here. To get better from Bakhchisaray or Simferopol, the stop should be made near the village of Preduschechnaya. This is an amazingly beautiful village, the special attention of tourists is attracted by the sheer mountain Tash-Air, which seems to float in the air.

After the Ultimate, you can go further and stop near the village Bashtanovka - in this place you should admire the remains of the ancient Christian monastery Kachi-Kalyon. In the Middle Ages, the monastery monastery was located here, the novices of which were actively involved in winemaking. Nearby is the cave city Kyz-Kerman, which received the name of the Maiden's Fortress among the people.

The final stop should be the village of Mashino, from which a flat, unpaved road leads to Tepe-Kerman.

You can reach this monument of archeology and by other means, having started from Chufut-Kale, a small cave town. In this case, you need to go past the Karaite cemetery of Balta-Tiymez. Travelers say that this road is much more scenic. It is desirable to go to Tepe-Kerman in April-May, when the valley near the cave is literally filled with the spicy smell of rich herbs and flowers, this place is especially beautiful in dry, clear weather.

Keep in mind that the cave town represents architectural monument so entrance to its territory is paid.

Then you can watch a video story about a tour of Tepe-Kerman.