The Crimean Mountains ( uk, Кримські гори, translit. ''Krymski hory''; russian: Крымские горы, translit. ''Krymskie gory''; crh, Qırım dağları) are a range of mountains running parallel to the south-eastern coast of

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a p ...

, between about from the sea. Toward the west, the mountains drop steeply to the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

, and to the east, they change slowly into a

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the temperate gras ...

landscape. The Crimean Mountains consist of three subranges. The highest is the Main range. The Main range is subdivided into several masses, known as yaylas or mountain plateaus (''Yayla'' is Crimean Tatar for "Alpine Meadow"). They are: * Baydar Yayla * Ay-Petri Yayla * Yalta Yayla * Nikita Yayla *

Hurzuf Gurzuf or Hurzuf ( uk, link=no, Гурзуф, russian: Гурзу́ф, crh, Gurzuf, gr, link=no, Γορζουβίται) is a resort-town (urban-type settlement) in Yalta Municipality of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, a territory recognized b ...

Yayla * Babugan Yayla * Chatyr-Dag Yayla * Dologorukovskaya (Subatkan) Yayla * Demirji Yayla * Karabi Yayla

Highest peaks

The Crimea's highest peak is the Roman-Kosh (; , crh, Roman Qoş) on the Babugan Yayla at . Other important peaks over 1,200 metres include: * Demir-Kapu ( uk, Демір-Капу, russian: Демир-Капу, crh, Demir Qapı) 1,540 m in the Babugan Yayla; * Zeytin-Kosh (; , crh, Zeytün Qoş) 1,537 m in the Babugan Yayla; * Kemal-Egerek ( uk, Кемаль-Егерек, russian: Кемаль-Эгерек, crh, Kemal Egerek) 1,529 m in the Babugan Yayla; * Eklizi-Burun ( uk, Еклізі-Бурун, russian: Эклизи-Бурун, crh, Eklizi Burun) 1,527 m in the Chatyrdag Yayla; * Lapata (; , crh, Lapata) 1,406 m in the Yaltynska Yayla, Yalta Yaylası; * Northern Demirji ( uk, Північний Демірджі, russian: Северный Демирджи, crh, Şimaliy Demirci) 1,356 m in the Demirci Yayla; * Ai-Petri ( uk, Ай-Петрі, russian: Ай-Петри, crh, Ay Petri) 1,234 m in the Ay Petri Yaylası.

Passes and rivers

The passes over the Crimean Mountains are: * Angarskyi Pass (752m) near Perevalne, on a road from Alushta to Simferopol * Baydar Gate (503m) near Foros, connecting Baydar Valley and the sea coast * Laspi Pass (350m) near Cape Aya, on a road from Yalta to Sevastopol. 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, and the highest waterfall in Crimea.

History

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 The Gravettian was an archaeological industry of the European Upper Paleolithic that succeeded the Aurignacian circa 33,000 years BP. It is archaeologically the last European culture many consider unified, and had mostly disappeared by 2 ...

culture. The fossils have cut marks suggesting a post-mortem defleshing ritual.

Gallery

Image:Karabi_mountain_plateau.jpg, Karabi mountain plateau Image:Karabi_mountain_plateau2.jpg, Karabi mountain plateau Image:Karabi_mountain_plateau3.jpg, Mountain plateau of Karabi Image:Chatyr_dag_plateau2.jpg, Mountain plateau of Chatyr-Dag mountain Image:Crimean mountains.jpg, Crimean mountains

References

External links