Not far from Koktebel, 7 kilometers from the city on the top of Mount Koklyuk, there is an observation deck with a colonnade “Starfall of Memories”. The site offers a picturesque panorama of the Koktebel mountains - from Mount Klementyev to the Kara-Dag ridge. From here you can clearly see both the dormant volcano and Quiet Bay.
What kind of place is it?
The colonnade is a belvedere with three columns, which was erected in 1956. Its height is about six meters, diameter - four, made in antique style. The rotunda is also called the gazebo of the winds, and on the floor there is an image of a compass rose. This part of Koktebel truly has a unique air movement - it’s not for nothing that the Gliding Sports Center is located on the neighboring Klementyev Mountain, and it was here that the first Soviet para- and hang-gliding school appeared. In the depression, visible from Mount Koklyuk, air currents are born, which literally flow around the hills, and then unite at the highest point.
Due to constant winds, the strength of which reaches 40 m/sec, the structure requires regular restoration. After one of them in 1988, an inscription appeared on the pediment of the rotunda: “Starfall of memories.”
The height of the mountain is small for Crimea - 345 m above sea level. However, it is enough to see from the observation deck:
the beauty of the Barakol Valley (including the mysterious lake-salt marsh Barakol);
the bizarre slopes of Mount Koklyuk and its limestone natural sculptures, the so-called badlands, reminiscent of the profiles of sphinxes;
panorama of the village of Nanikovo;
waters of Quiet Bay.
On the steep rock figures of the mountain you can see a memorial plaque “To those who fell in the fight against fascism. 1941-1945".
To the left of the rotunda is Mount Klementieva, which is easily identified by paragliders soaring in the sky in “flying” weather. Famous pilots and glider pilots, as well as aircraft designers, once studied here. And the village at the foot of the mountain was called Planerskoye. The reason for this is the same unique air currents that Maximilian Voloshin (a Russian poet who lived in Koktebel at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries) wrote about: one day, throwing his hat into the air, he discovered that it did not fall, but took off.
Why “Starfall of Memories” is interesting for a traveler
Why visit this place? To see with your own eyes the amazingly beautiful panorama of the Barakol pit, the blue of the Echki-Dag mountain range and the ridges of the Karadag Nature Reserve, the sparkle of Quiet Bay and the salty expanse of Lake Barakol. In clear weather, the Kerch Peninsula, Cape Opuk and the Arabat Spit are visible from here.
It is especially beautiful on Mount Koklyuk in spring and late summer. As the cold weather passes, the forests begin to turn green and the steppe areas are full of flowers. In August, it is convenient to watch the falling stars and meteor showers from the rotunda.
How to get to Starfall of Memories
There are several roads leading to the colonnade. By car you can reach through the village. Podgornoye, then overcome the Uzun-Syrt ridge. Or move through s. Brave, but the road in this place is worse. There is a short route through the country roads of Old Crimea, but it is suitable for vehicles with all-wheel drive and only for driving in dry weather.
To get to the “Starfall of Memories” you need to walk about 2 km uphill, it is better to do this in comfortable shoes and clothes, with a supply of water and protection from the wind.
In general, we again - for the third time in four days of rest in Koktebel - went to Old Crimea. This time we were lucky; early in the morning, her old friend came to visit our owner Anna Olegovna to take her to Stary Crimea on family business.
While the forced reshuffling of things was taking place inside the car, we managed to walk among the numerous roses on the site and chat with the red-haired brothers Kuzma and Vasily, who were hilariously frolicking at our feet and strove to break out of the yard - where they were methodically shoved in to avoid uncontrolled wanderings in the absence of the owner . The brothers were left at home, and our company moved from Koktebel to Eski-Kyrym...
Anna Olegovna tried to explain to us the new road to the Green’s path and all sorts of branches from it - to Skalki and so on. But we had already laid out our route in our heads, and stubbornly began our journey along the already traveled streets - the memories of them were painfully pleasant. By the way, the walnuts lying on the road played a significant role in this!.. So we again walked along the same road, collecting and chewing nuts - and meanwhile the cloudy weather was beginning to clear up little by little. The sun was shining, our spirits were high, and we stopped at a shop on the corner, and in addition to pastries, we also bought a bottle of beer. A complete disgrace - beer in the morning, at the very beginning of the trip! We stood at a tent with a tightly closed window with a metal sheet; there was a small counter on which we placed our impromptu feast. The ubiquitous Crimean dogs guarded us in case of unexpected happy feeding, lying at our feet in the sun - the morning was becoming very languid, and Ilyich, painted with silver, in the park next door joyfully sparkled in the sun's rays.
But soon we were already crossing a ravine on the outskirts of the city and climbing to a hill from which, if you look back, the entire Old Crimea opened up in full view, very beautiful among the pyramidal poplars and against the backdrop of Agarmysh. We came out onto a familiar dirt road among red grasses. The dark rosehip bushes sported bright red berries, surprisingly tasty - you just had to manage to pick them without scratching your fingers on the harsh thorns...
Here is the intersection familiar from the day before yesterday’s hike - to the right to the famous Green’s path and to Koktebel, but we go straight, moving away from our house for now. The dirt road, straight as a takeoff, led to the ridge of the Sary-Kaya mountain, hitherto unknown to us. Sometimes there were crossroads that beckoned to Koktebel by a shorter (and also unexplored) route, and here and there cars stuck out of the grass abandoned among the bushes. People definitely flocked here, to these expanses overgrown with weeds - most likely, they hunted mushrooms in the grass.
And we kept walking and walking, Lena chewed rose hips, humming songs under her breath, it was very nice to hum to the sound of the wind, when there is space around you, and hardly anyone will hear you. The forest remained to the right, and deceptively close Koklyuk loomed ahead.
The road took us to a hill where we met the Safari Ranch antelope park - in addition to the antelopes, flocks of unfriendly dogs roamed outside the fence, accompanying us all the way with deafening barks - and it is not clear what kind of miracle prevented them from leaking through the numerous holes in the gates and fence, to get to know us better. We breathed a sigh of relief only when the ranch was left behind. Silence and goodness reigned around again. The walk was beautiful, the sunny expanses were clear, the mood was rosy.
On the left, rolling fields stretched out in smooth waves, plowed expanses bordered a green oval island, and a tiny tractor in the distant distance plowed the rocky ground. Even further away, the ribbon of the highway turned silver in places, and sometimes the sparks of moving cars flashed on it like barely visible fireflies. And very far, far away on the horizon were the white houses of Feodosia...
And when rows of low-growing trees stretched along the road, and it turned out that they were walnuts, we became even more animated. True, the trees were painful to look at. Their branches were barbarically cut down. It looked like the nuts were collected from them by simply cutting them down along with the branches. As we learned later, our assumption was correct... Alas!.. The nuts found in the fallen leaves were mostly eaten by mice, but we also had enough tasty nuts left - from those that remained on the branches. Carried away, Lena even lost sight of Andrei for a minute - and when she turned around in search, she discovered that he had already rushed along a barely noticeable path to the vineyards...
In a culinary sense, our trip was definitely a success! Even though the vineyard here is abandoned, and the grapes are not as sweet as in the state farm fields below, but still - the golden-honey clusters of late grapes are a real feast, and also so beautiful! These are not walnuts that have turned black from some plant disease. The grapes shone in the sun like amber, and what a thrill it was to find forgotten, slightly overripe bunches among the intricate carvings of leaves and tendril curls! This was exactly what our Anna Olegovna was talking about: washing your hands with grape juice... It really soon began to flow over your hands, fragrant and exciting.
And, of course, we collected a few sunny berries in a bag. Because we came across more of them than we had time to eat, and it was difficult to stop. But we realized our moderation very soon - when, joking about the prohibitory signs that had already been encountered heavily after our berry hunt, we suddenly saw a woman wandering from the depths of the vineyard. The lady was short and rather slender, but behind her back was a tightly stuffed bag, almost as tall as she was! And in front, symmetrically, hung a bag with a five-liter plastic bottle cut off at the top, which was also far from empty. The lady was bending under the weight of the burden, but she moved very confidently and purposefully. Well, this has become another color in the wonderful palette of today. Life is harmoniously arranged: even after the end of the harvest, the vineyards here give a delicacy to non-lazy people. Forgotten grapes will not disappear, just as apple harvests disappear along the ravines in our middle zone. The Crimeans will be pleased by having done it - for sure! - wine in their own cellars!
We walked and walked among the sun and space. It even got a little hot. To our right, against the backdrop of forested mountains, the expanse of the Imaret Valley began to open up. A bright patch of Lake Funduchok loomed. And in front of us, blocking our path to Mount Koklyuk, the peak of Mount Sary-Kaya rose. Of course, it was possible to go around it on the left, along the road. But this is not our method! We climbed up through the sagebrush, and in the calm, sheltered by the steep side of the mountain, it was already really hot.
We climbed to the top, crowned with a stone ridge. And when they looked around from it, they saw a beautiful picture of a hilly velor space of delicate greenish-ocher shades. And against this semi-watercolor background, splashes of bright red showed off a luxurious mackerel. Its magnificent winding trunk burst out right from behind a large white stone, and all this together: the mackerel, the stone, the valley below - was simply an incomparable picture.
It was here, near such a picturesque skumpia and a beautiful view of the valleys below and the Kara-Dag melting in the haze, we sat down to have a snack “with a view” - rejoicing that we had climbed this wonderful mountain...
At the top of Sary-Kaya we discovered a huge crater and a concrete pillbox miraculously surviving on its edge - it looks like there were serious battles here during the war.
The dirt road led us further, in a loop into the hollow, and up again. We walked, enjoying the beautiful clumps of trees near the road, the elegant rose hips in red beads of berries, and looked at the nearby airfield with planes and gliders...
And it was still warm and sunny, ahead was the top of Mount Koklyuk, and a white rotunda with the inscription “Starfall of Memories,” and our touching memories of a hare once scared here at sunset, nestling in a hole for the night...
Meanwhile, sunset was just around the corner. And that’s why the landscapes that opened up to us from the rotunda were achingly beautiful. Orange light and blue shadows mixed on the slopes of the mountain and in the valley below, and the Barakol rain depression stood out as a light oval, and through the bushes below the shadows crawled before our eyes, crowding out the glare of the sun. And Koklyuk’s powerful shadow darkened in the valley, and grew little by little, grew...
We looked at the path ahead of us, trying to guess, while it was visible to us from above, how to make it shorter without complicating it too much. We had to go down, and enter through the twilight into the night, and no longer see the road. But now it was so beautiful around that we couldn’t bring ourselves to rush.
Continuing to remember past visits here, we even tried to find a geocaching cache that had once been taken in the bushes under the trail. But this time they didn’t find it - there are a lot of people here, and the stash site began to look, to put it mildly, unpresentable...
But how the stones on the cliffs shone in the sunset rays! How gold they flashed against the background of the thick shadow! Well, it was impossible to tear yourself away from this spectacle! And from the menacing stone sculptures frozen on the side of the steep loose path - when the sun had already sunk below the horizon and the sky was painted orange-pink...
And then - down and down, carefully at first, then you can run, when the path finally opens up...
Wonderful views of the hilly terrain into which the dirt road plunged - as if into bizarre waves! And the twilight, not yet thick, beautiful, fragrant, disturbing the soul until it freezes and gives you goosebumps...
Above the melodious curves of the road, clumps of bushes, streaks of wire lines - Kara-Dag stood like an imperturbable wall. Wonderful evenings in this valley! I wanted to enjoy, absorb, remember every minute...
So the village of Nanikovo began to twinkle with lights, sleepy streets, barking of awakened dogs, a cozy smell of smoke that tugged at the romantics in our souls... How wonderful it was to walk along these deserted streets, plunging into the blue twilight! And here’s a surprise - a long fence painted with fantasies on the theme of “Yellow Submarine”! Is it possible to just pass by?! Not to take a couple of frames for memory - even at the cost of the peace of mind of another awakened dog?.. Moreover, these frames were destined to be the last for today - the light was inexorably melting into the approaching darkness.
A turn, the elusive and magical smells of open space... And Nanikovo sailed back, lost in the darkness of the path traveled. There is a field ahead, space, a star in the sky, bright, guiding... We turned around - once again! Where is the village, where are the lights?! A pair of fireflies blinked in the darkness and went out. Quirks of the relief... Well, now - forward, in the thickening night, under the lighting stars in the still dark blue sky... And the mighty silhouette of Tatar-Khaburga floats en masse on the right. And it doesn’t shift at all, because it only seems close. Well, now the forced march through the night!
We walked for a long time without lighting the lanterns. When the road under our feet became a barely visible light strip, we turned on the light. The world narrowed to a bright beam below. And Lena was constantly tempted to turn right, because here is Tatar-Khaburg, climbing and climbing, and behind it is a dirt road along which it’s a stone’s throw to the house! Dreams, dreams... Illusions of night space. Andrey reasonably assured that there were ravines and a river near Tatar-Khaburga, otherwise there would have been paths there marked on the map. It is unlikely that we will force these barriers at night, and even during the day. And this means that we have to cut all the way to the highway, approaching Koktebel with offensive legs, and not with an alluring hypotenuse. After all, the house is somewhere on the right, between Camel and Tatar-Khaburga, already hated in the night... Eh! So the confident dirt road beckoned me to the right, down, downhill. And they turned away, although Andrei protested. But there were cars going there, for some reason this path was going into the darkness under the side of the mountain! Why not check?..
We checked. A slightly alarming path down and down, among black bushes and grasses. The sound of water. We've arrived. The primer curled into a ring. Yes, this is just the way to the spring! That's it, there is no further progress. Reeds, sedges in the darkness. Indeed, it’s a river... Well, it’s your own fault! Now - back, up, onto the same road...
And again the path under the velvet-black sky. Oh, what a Crimean sky it is! When there is not a single light on earth, when there is no one nearby, only the valley and mountains... The abyss of stars, the radiance, the Milky Way... And I remembered how we tried in Tula to find a place in the depths of the park without light in order to observe the Perseids... Vain work. The lights of lanterns pierced through the chopped forest. And here - watch as much as you like! But there is no time, we must hurry. Our kind hostess is waiting for dinner, worried, and here we are - in the middle of the valley and the sky... Visibility is zero - we walked “on instruments”. Andrey, using the navigator on his smartphone, now uncompromisingly slowed down attempts to turn: it was too early... Moreover, on the sides there were finally failures of reservoirs - the darkness of emptiness in the darkness of the night. Both left and right. Now the main thing is not to miss the right turn among the primers, and not to turn early...
The dot on the screen at the fork in the road is our turn at last! The village is somewhere very close. A road over the water, a barrier, some kind of building... A car, figures, the light of lanterns in the face. "Who are you?! Where is this from?!” The man with the lantern is understandable. He is guarding the dam, and suddenly - two people from the darkness, from a clear night field! It would be nice if from the highway... “Can we go to Koktebel? Is it right if there?
Well, thanks to the kind man. Missed it. Although he asked around incredulously. It’s hard to believe the story that for some reason we were struggling in the dark on foot from Nanikovo... And then we, having got out onto the asphalt road, would have turned left onto the highway, as was originally planned and as the dam guard persistently advised. But that was not the case. Lena had few adventures. And so we headed - instead of the reasonable and long road around Mount Camel - straight along its slope. Along a strange road lined with concrete slabs. Leading over deep ravines to no one knows where, but for now in the direction of Koktebel.
Andrey had this road on his map. But, according to the map, it didn’t lead anywhere. After wandering around, it broke off for some reason and got lost in an empty, unmarked space. Andrei warned that this would not bode well. That the absence of roads and any markings on the map at all means one thing: difficult or completely impassable terrain! But Lena’s logic stubbornly whispered in her ears: there’s a hill ahead, and Koktebel behind the hill! He just has to be there! Even if its lights are not visible yet, we will rise higher... There we just need to cross a small height, and then there will be a path along which we once wandered to Khaburga. Well, such a mighty road made of concrete can’t just break off like that? In addition, a similar concrete road helpfully surfaced in my memory... So Lena thought, walking along the road that confidently climbed upward. Ahead, in the darkness, something tall shone, several lanterns shone with bright spots. The object looked abandoned, no one came out or called out. And the road began to climb upward more and more decisively. Brand new, as if laid yesterday. Among the emptiness and hills. And darkness reigned around - as before. There are no signs of a nearby village. Where is Koktebel? Where are the lights, where is the light of lanterns and windows?.. The road was going quite upward, it was getting hot - and already somehow a little creepy. Now it will climb up the mountain and end there, Andrei predicted. Lena was silent. She began to see what was happening in a somewhat surreal light. What devil brought her here? Why did she insist?.. Darkness, endless turns of the serpentine road of an unrealistically new road, a spot of light from a lantern underfoot... And something large, vaguely darkening ahead... A light flashed to the right, then another. Below, on the other hand, is not at all where Koktebel was expected. High-rise building... Two, three... Distant, somewhere below. And nothing more. What kind of trouble is this, where did this come from?.. And suddenly - a dark silhouette on the slope above your head. Dark in the dark, against the sky. Cross? It’s all strange, like it’s made of thorns, bristled... But what is it?
And then to the left, in the cleft of the mountain, houses and lights appeared.
At first we even passed through this ravine; it seemed like there was no way down there, it was steep and high. Then they returned and took a closer look. And a path was discovered. So ugly in the dark, narrow, unfaithful. Blurred. But we didn’t have to choose - we really didn’t want to check where our concrete would end. And we began our descent.
Everything turned out to be not as scary as it looked. A little adrenaline - and now we are already walking along someone’s fence... So here he is, Koktebel, really was nearby! It turned out, as it should be, right behind the slope of Mount Camel. It’s just that this mountain seems much larger up close than from the road. And, if the lighting in the city had been working properly, maybe we would even have seen a glow from the mysterious concrete road... We found ourselves in an unfamiliar part of the village, and still walked “by instruments”, looking for the correct, non-dead-end streets on the map. Leaving behind the mystery of the dark concrete road leading up the mountain. We, of course, still had to solve it. In the meantime, we walked along unfamiliar streets until we saw ahead the illuminated yellow bulk of a high-rise building, which every morning caused our indignation when leaving Anna Olegovna’s gate. Hooray! This was a landmark. What happened next was a matter of technique. Wander around in search of the shortest route, call the hostess that we are already nearby. And now - the path through the school, through the dark nooks and crannies of the streets, our bridge across the river near the house, a small detour to the store... And I couldn’t even believe that this strange night journey ended so quickly. Moreover, it turned out to be so close to our home! After all, when Lena froze to the point of goosebumps from the feeling of the unreality of what was happening and the unrecognizability of space - there, on the mountain under a strange cross - when it seemed that we had fallen out almost into some kind of parallel space, replaced by someone - at that very moment we were standing in several blocks from Anna Olegovna’s house! Very close, if you know the way from Partisan Mountain, the top of which we almost climbed. And this “cross”, which turned out to be not a cross at all, but a television antenna, is visible from all over the village! And the mysterious houses, which turned out to be the local “Santa Barbora,” were not surprising to Anna Olegovna. And she also revealed the mystery of the abandoned road to us that evening at dinner, in a cozy, warm kitchen... But this is a new story that we had to comprehend with our own feet the next day...
We had lunch in the vineyards of the Afmora plant. In 2009, citizens strongly did not recommend amphora-produced wines to us, calling them profanity and wire rod, but I really liked them then. By the way, technical grapes taste almost like real ones, only waterier. But along the road it’s free.
However, which is not technical, it was only 7 hryvnia. Other pickles, which the villages of Izyumovka and Bashtanovka were generous with (oh, those Crimean names....), were sold right on the highway, where there was a noisy market with a lot of goodies. Some of them were unknown to me and tasted strange.
The entrance to Stary Krym did not bode well - the road was still steadily creeping up, looking ahead, I will inform you that the city stretches on both sides of the highway for 7 km and we did not come across a single flat boater. The auntie in the stall, admiring our sad faces, said: “Why, you girls, as soon as you turn towards the monastery - there will be a dashing descent, about 500 meters for sure!”
The stop somehow hints that in addition to the turbulent khan's past and the amazing climate, which is discussed below, Eske-Kyrym is famous for the fact that Alexander Green spent the last years of his life here and was buried
At the end of Partizanskaya Street, the Green Path begins, along which in 1931 the writer went to Koktebel to visit Voloshin. We decided not to turn the ride into a slut and get to Koktebel in a roundabout way, leaving the trail for a walking trip around the Crimea, that is, for the future. But we got to Green’s house, where there is now a museum. And over the writer’s grave in the local cemetery, Frezi Grant runs along the waves
Now a little about the settlement itself. Wikipedia has written a lot about the architecture of Old Crimea, so I won’t repeat myself. I really liked the town - a little rundown, like all provincial towns of the former USSR, very shady, mostly one-story and somewhat sleepy. We drove into its streets on Saturday at about 5 pm - there were almost no people, no one was walking, no one was drinking beer on the benches, children were not running, grandmothers were not cracking sunflower seeds, the clubs and cafes were not sparkling with neon, not even the dogs turned their heads in our direction . Everything was closed, only at the exit there was an operating store where we bought water. In the Surb-Khach monastery, where we were heading, there was supposed to be a source, but darkness was approaching quickly, and the reserves were not much. At the same time we refreshed ourselves
And in the evening, a strange aroma, a mixture of pine needles, flowers, steppe herbs, some fragrant buns and salt, spread through the streets of Old Crimea. Later I read on the wiki that “the climate of Old Crimea is essentially a mild mountain climate. Located at the foot of Mount Agarmysh at an altitude of about 400 m above sea level, the city has received a well-deserved reputation as a very good healing place for pulmonary patients. Warming up during the day, Agarmysh creates in the evening there is an ascending air flow, which in turn leads to the fact that air from the Black and Azov seas, as well as air from the steppes of the Kerch Peninsula, comes to Old Crimea. Mixing with the air of a powerful forest area and the surrounding environs, sea air creates a unique climate eastern end of the Crimean mountains". Probably for this reason, the “tuberculosis” sanatorium “Old Crimea” arose here in the 20s of the last century, which is still successfully operating. A very beautiful building, by the way, in the Soviet style, lost among oak and walnut groves at the exit towards Belogorsk. Its illuminated pediment was the only bright point in the blackness of the old Crimean night. We admired it at dinner, from the slope of Monastyrskaya Mountain, and in the morning, Nadya took a photo of the panorama of the city.
We, of course, went to the Surb Khach monastery, of course up the mountain. The photos will be from the Internet, because we got to it in complete darkness, and wow, what luck, we managed to squeeze ourselves into a group of tourists who arrived by bus from Feodosia. Hit the face with a hoe and let's go. It was amazing. The Armenian monastery of Surb Khach has been operating since the 14th century; its stones are remembered by the Genoese, the Turks, the revolution, wars, pioneer bugles and tuberculosis patients. The monastery is now being actively restored; the remains of the old walls and new tiers, “built” in the same style, are clearly visible. I was very impressed by the restored cells - earthen floor, bunk and bedside table, stone walls and wooden shutters. There's not even glass. And yes, monks live in them. In a separate building is the monastery museum
The guide was a young novice, he spoke very interestingly about the differences between the Armenian Orthodox Church and the Russian Church, and answered in detail any, even the most stupid, questions. We walked around the yard, through the buildings, through the cemetery, and finally got to the church. It was something. There was no electricity, only candles were burning - from the outside everything looked as if we were in the Middle Ages, the smell of candles floated out of the windows of the temple, and the smells of the forest floated inside. While the people were praying, I looked around the corners of the church, where the light from the candles did not reach - almost everywhere was empty, there were very few icons or any decoration at all. Such a real church of the first Christians. I was delighted.
After the excursion, Nadya tried to ask to stay at the monastery, but we ended up spending the night in a clearing under a hazel tree, overlooking the city. I slept well until Nadya pushed me away, informing me that there were wild boars walking near the tent. I bravely grabbed a flashlight, and amid the roar of my heart muscle, I looked outside, directing the beam into the darkness. Your mother! At different heights in the bushes, several pairs of eyes moved evenly, everything crunched and snorted. While we, clinging to each other, were wondering what to do, one of the “boars” neighed and joyfully galloped to the center of the clearing, and the others followed him. Nadya, please sleep with earplugs!
In the morning we took another ride along Eski-Kyrym and moved to Koktebel through the village of Otvazhnoe, where the local Casanovas very persistently beckoned us to turn off the route into their drunken and stale arms. But our path lay upward, on the Uzun-Syrt plateau, or rather on Mount Koklyuk, the place from where the history of domestic gliding began, or rather continued, in the 20-30s. We weren’t able to visit the Gliding Museum in Koktebel, but we climbed the airfield, all the boarded-up buildings, collapsed gates and rickety fences. Training and demonstration flights still take place on the plateau, but everything bears the stamp of half-life and despondency. But we had a good time there, for the first time I saw a glider being lifted into the sky
Karadag Ophir is almost invisible
Mount Koklyuk ended with a monumental cliff with the “Starfall of Memories” rotunda hovering above the Koktebel Valley, a network of steep paths ran down from it down to the sea, but before we hit the downhill, we naturally had a bite and looked around the surroundings in a Napoleonic way.
Some sources mention that Korolev, while on a walk near the rotunda in 1931, proposed to his future wife. They also say that he personally participated in the All-Union glider competitions on Uzun-Syrt, where he flew himself and presented his gliders, including the SK-1 "Koktebel" and SK-3 "Red Star", specially designed and built for performing figures aerobatics. Today the iconic rotunda has been restored, and next to it the “tree of lovers” rustles with rags.
And then we went down to Koktebel, where one festival was just ending, a second was beginning, a third was getting ready, where the embankment was crowded with freaks of all stripes, into the crowd of which we immediately fit in, where everywhere there was a smell of delicious food, and a cell, the size of 2, 5x2 m with dilapidated trestle beds cost the same as our luxurious room in Feodosia.
The most joyful event in the Crimean campaigns is a hot shower. And goat cheese with flatbread. And the opportunity to lie openly on the pebbles of the beach, washed by clear sea water, drink wine from your throat, smoke and chat relaxingly on various abstract topics. And everyone around is doing the same thing - no conflicts, drunken screams, fines for drinking and smoking in a public place (I wonder how it will be in Crimea now; the law of June 1, presumably, must be observed here too). When you travel through the mountains and forests, you are constantly in a state of combat readiness, collected and extremely active, but here, on the blessed shores of Taurida, you are overcome by calmness, indifference and a feeling of incessant happiness.
Here, a man who looks like Voloshin is hitting on the ears of beautiful ladies
Voloshin's profile on the mountain
In general, after a bottle of magarach and half a kilo of cheese with grapes, we put on our swimsuits and climbed into the sea. The beach thermometer showed +15 air and +18 water, by our standards, quite decent temperatures, and we were the first to take water procedures that evening in the village of Koktebel. Looking at us, the citizens began to undress, and after half an hour the water was evenly covered with protruding heads with smiles from ear to ear, no one was in a hurry to stick other parts of their bodies out into the cold. In the end, we had to climb out and warm up, walking quickly to the very end of the embankment, where we buried our noses in the mountain that we had to go around tomorrow. The course was still towards Karadag...
Not far from Koktebel there is a very picturesque place “Starfall of Memories” located on the Crimean coast. Anyone who loves traveling must visit here at least once. Koktebel will enchant you with its magical atmosphere, from which the smell of independence and endless celebration emanates.
The Story of Memories Starfall
Back in 1956, on a mountain called Koklyuk, a belvedere was specially built for travelers. There they could afford to enjoy amazing views of the picturesque landscape.
Now on the mountain there is a pantheon of three columns, its height is approximately four meters. Initially, the semicircular structure was called the “Gazebo of the Winds.”
Photos
In 1988, this gazebo was reconstructed and after that it was given a different name, “Starfall of Memories.” The belvedere received a new name due to the fact that Koktebel, a gliding center, is located nearby. Once upon a time, well-known pilots, famous glider pilots and equally famous aircraft designers trained here.
When the time of year allows and warm weather sets in, from the heights of the “Starfall of Memories” you can see endless flights of gliders.
Picturesque landscapes and attractions
While in the belvedere “Starfall of Memories” you can enjoy breathtaking views of the mountain landscape of Mount Koklyuk. In spring, it is covered with a carpet of greenery and incredibly beautiful flowers, and the aroma of thyme and wormwood spreads in the air.
Below the mountain there is Lake Barakol. In the summer season, the lake is loose, marshy soil, and in rainy times it is a shallow body of salt water. Geologists cannot explain the origin of the lake, since in the entire history of the Barakol Valley there have never been rivers here.
To the south of the Barakol valley is the Ameret valley from west to east. Its length reaches all the way to the sea and gradually turns into Dead Bay. Behind the bay you can see the chain of Karadag mountains. The landscape of this area fascinates with the frenzy of shades of forest and mountain views, the smooth surface of the sea and the mountain landscape.
tree of lovers
There is a belief that if a couple of lovers ties a ribbon on a branch of a tree that grows next to the gazebo, their love will be eternal and will never pass away. It is not surprising that lovers from all over the world who have heard this legend come here.
In the city of Koktebel, at the very top of Mount Koklyuk, there is a landmark called “Starfall of Memories”. It is a semicircular arbor consisting of three columns. At the bottom they are connected by a common base, and at the top - by one vault, on which the name of the attraction is imprinted in large letters. On the base there is a wind rose, symbolizing a powerful element.
Photos from the meteor shower of memories:
Helpful information:
The gazebo was released in 1956. Her age is now sixty-one years old. The total height of the structure reaches six meters, while the columns themselves rise four meters. Mount Koklyuk is not too high, so the gazebo is located at an altitude of three hundred and forty-five meters above the surface of the plain. The colonnade is seven kilometers away from Koktebel.
Origin story
When the snow-white rotunda was erected on the top of the mountain, it was called the “Gazebo of the Winds.” At the same time, an image of a wind rose was made at the base of the colonnade. At that time, the structure was a symbol of an unusual manifestation of the air element. Due to strong winds, the structure requires regular restoration. In 1988, after another restoration, the gazebo was given a new name “Starfall of Memories.”
Terrain features
An unusual phenomenon is observed on Mount Koklyuk: here light things thrown into the air do not fall to the ground, but fly up. An amazing miracle occurs thanks to the ascending flows of air masses, which were first noticed by the pilot K. Artseulov, when his friend M. Voloshin took off and threw up his headdress. Strong winds always blow at the top of the mountain.
The ideal period for a trip to the “Starfall of Memories” is considered to be spring and summer. It is then that the forests located on the northern side of the mountain dress in green clothes, and the surface of the earth begins to dazzle with bright colors.
IMPORTANT!
In August you can see meteor showers here.
There is a belief that a wish made on a falling star will definitely come true if you make it in the “Starfall of Memories” gazebo.
What should you pay attention to?
The neighboring Klementyev Mountain is a favorite place for glider pilots. It was here that the Gliding Sports Center was opened after the amazing properties of the movement of air masses in this area became known. Now, being on the territory of the “Starfall of Memories” rotunda, you can watch the amazing spectacle of soaring gliders.
A visit to the Koklyuk hill is a must in order to forever imprint its natural beauty in your memory. From the top of the mountain where the colonnade is located, a stunning view opens up. Below lies the Ameret Valley, beyond which you can see Dead Bay. The Karadag mountain ranges are visible in the distance. The Barakol Valley will also amaze with its beauty, where the mysterious Barakol reservoir is located, the history of whose origin still raises questions in the minds of scientists.
“Starfall of Memories” is a popular place among couples. At the top, all worries and problems are forgotten, peace and harmony descend on people. Next to the gazebo there is a tree, almost completely hung with ribbons of different colors. Lovers have a legend associated with this tree - whoever ties a ribbon on its branches will forever preserve their fragile love feeling.
Video review:
NOTE!
Even the great Sergei Korolev himself, who discovered space to the world, proposed to his future wife on the top of Mount Koklyuk.
How to get there?
You can get to the Memories Starfall on your own using a bicycle or a suitable car. Some tourists prefer to leave the vehicle and walk up the mountain. You need to walk about two to three kilometers. It is impossible to get lost in these places; only one road leads to the attraction, and the columns are visible already at the foot. It is best to get there through the villages of Podgornoye or Otvazhnoe, and from Koktebel it is easier to come by taxi.
Starfall of memories on the map of Crimea
GPS Coordinates: 45°0’26″N 35°12’15″E Latitude/Longitude
