Stone fairy tale. The Valley Of Ghosts Demerji

Do you believe in ghosts? There are many stories of ghosts living in castles or abandoned houses. And in Crimea, not far from Alushta, there is a place where ghosts meet in the open air. That's what it's called: Ghost Valley. In fact, of course, its inhabitants are not ghosts, but strangely shaped rocks. There are several hundred of them, and many have names given by tourists and locals. There is a Dwarf, a giant, and even Catherine the Great.The mountain itself, on which this fabulous place is located, is called Demerdzhi or, in Tatar, Kuznets-mountain. The ancient Greeks, who once lived in this area, called it Funa, that is, “Smoking”. Probably, from a distance, it resembled a giant forge, hence its second name.Like any interesting place in the Crimea, this mountain has its own legend:

Once upon a time, this land was attacked by nomads. Among them was a skilled blacksmith. When they reached the Smoking mountain, the warlords decided to build a forge on its top. There the blacksmith forged new weapons for raids day and night. From the fire of the forge dried up rivers and springs, and local residents began to send ambassadors to him with a request to stop work. The first messengers were killed. The last to go to him was a beautiful girl named Maria. After hearing her request, the blacksmith only laughed, and wanted to grab Maria. She began to resist, and the Smith got angry and killed her.Then the mountain gave way, shuddered, split, and swallowed the forge. The blacksmith and Maria turned to stone. They are now reminded of a boulder similar to the profile of a girl, and a stone pillar - a Giant with a diameter of 5 meters and a height of 25 meters. This is all that remains of the Blacksmith.

If you forget about legends and turn to scientific facts, Demerdzhi once rose from the bottom of the ocean and consists of sedimentary rocks of different densities, and stone sculptures - the product of weathering and leaching. But that doesn't make them any less interesting. During the day, along with the movement of the sun, the appearance of the stone pillars themselves changes, and you can see new and new images in them.But one Ghost still haunts the Valley of Ghosts - the Brocken Ghost. This is an optical phenomenon, the shadow of a person on the surface of fog or clouds. It seems huge, and sometimes you can see rainbow rings around it-Gloria. Because of the movement of the clouds, it seems that it moves independently of the”host". In Crimea, this natural phenomenon can only be seen here.Fantastic landscapes attract not only tourists, but also filmmakers. Here was filmed the famous scene from “the Caucasian captive”, where Nina dances on a stone and sings a song about bears. This boulder is located at the very entrance to the Valley of Ghosts. On the back side, a ladder is even attached to it, and anyone can climb up and feel like an athlete, a Komsomol member and just a beauty.Nearby grows a Nikulin Nut, from which the Coward, the Fool and the Experienced watched Nina and Shurik, preparing for the kidnapping. They called him Nikulinsky because of an unpleasant episode: the branch from which the script was supposed to fall hero Nikulin, broke in the wrong place, and the actor broke his arm in the fall. Filming had to be suspended until his recovery.

Here, Director Vladimir Popkov filmed several episodes from the film “Hearts of Three”. Demerdzhi played the role of the South American Cordillera, in the depths of which lived a tribe of Lost souls.Getting to the Valley of Ghosts is easy. You can come with a tour or on your own from Alushta to the village with the Sunny name of Luchistoe, and then about 30-40 minutes on foot. So if you want to watch the whimsical play of light on stone sculptures and look at the sea and Alushta from a bird's eye view, the Valley of Ghosts is waiting for you.

Author: Maria Astakhova