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 pop ...
, 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, Roma ...
, and to the east, they change slowly into a steppe 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
Yalta (: Я́лта) is a resort city on the south coast of the Crimean Peninsula surrounded by the Black Sea. It serves as the administrative center of Yalta Municipality, one of the regions within Crimea. Yalta, along with the rest of Cri ...
Yayla
*
Nikita
Nikita may refer to:
* Nikita (given name)
* Nikita, Crimea, a town in Crimea
* Nikita the Tanner, a character in East Slavic folklore
Film and television
*''Little Nikita'', a 1988 film
* ''La Femme Nikita'' (film), also known as ''Nikita'', a 19 ...
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
Chatyr-Dag ( crh, Çatır Dağ, uk, Чатир-Даг, russian: Чатыр-Даг) is a mountainous massif in Crimea, near the Simferopol-Alushta highway. In the Crimean Tatar language ''çatır'' means tent and ''dağ'' means mountain.
Overvi ...
Yayla
* Dologorukovskaya (Subatkan) Yayla
* Demirji Yayla
* Karabi Yayla
Highest peaks
The Crimea's highest peak is the
Roman-Kosh
Roman-Kosh (, russian: Роман-Кош, uk, Роман-Кош, sep=comma, same=yes) is the highest peak of the Crimean Mountains.
See also
* List of European ultra prominent peaks
This is a list of all the mountains in Europe with ultra-prom ...
(; , 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
Ai-Petri (, russian: Ай-Петри, uk, Ай-Петрі, sep=comma) is a peak in the Crimean Mountains. For administrative purposes it is in the Yalta municipality of Crimea. The name is of Greek origin, and translates as St. Peter ( el, Άγ ...
( 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
The Angarskyi Pass ( uk, Ангарський перевал; russian: Ангарский перевал; crh, Anğara boğazı) is a mountain pass of the Crimean Mountains on the Crimean peninsula. The pass is the highest point on the Simferopol ...
(752m) near
Perevalne
Perevalne ( uk, Перевальне; russian: Перевальное ( Perevalnoye); crh, Anğara, Ангъара) (until 1945, Angara) is a village in Crimea, a disputed territory recognized by a majority of countries as part of Ukraine but ad ...
, on a road from
Alushta
Alushta ( uk, Алушта; crh, Aluşta; ) is a city of regional significance on the southern coast of the Crimean peninsula which is within the Republic of Crimea, an internationally recognized ''de jure'' part of Ukraine, but since 2014 a ''de ...
to
Simferopol
Simferopol () is the second-largest city in the Crimean Peninsula. The city, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, and is considered the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. However, it is ...
*
Baydar Gate
The Baydar Gate (elevation ) is a mountain pass in the Crimean Mountains connecting the Baidar Valley with the Black Sea coast. It is enclosed by Mount Chelebi (657 m) and Mount Ckhu-Bair (705 m). The old Yalta-Sevastopol highway, dating from the ...
Laspi Pass
The Laspi Pass (Ласпинский перевал) (350m) is the highest point of the Sevastopol- Yalta (South Coast) highway in the Crimea along the former route H19 renamed as 67K-1. It is located where the route enters the Yalta wooden mountai ...
Yalta
Yalta (: Я́лта) is a resort city on the south coast of the Crimean Peninsula surrounded by the Black Sea. It serves as the administrative center of Yalta Municipality, one of the regions within Crimea. Yalta, along with the rest of Cri ...
to
Sevastopol
Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...
Salhir River
The Salhyr or Salgir ( Cyrillic: Салгир; ) is the longest river of the Crimean Peninsula. Its length is 204 km, and its drainage basin is 3,750 km². The average discharge of the water is 2 m³/s.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
Early modern human (EMH) or anatomically modern human (AMH) are terms used to distinguish '' Homo sapiens'' (the only extant Hominina species) that are anatomically consistent with the range of phenotypes seen in contemporary humans from exti ...
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 ...
culture. The fossils have cut marks suggesting a post-mortem defleshing ritual.
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 pop ...