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RussiaWhat to Expect and Is It Worth Visiting
The ancient fortress city of Eski-Kermen is one of the not very popular and little–known among mass tourists historical sites in the vicinity of Bakhchisarai, which we confidently recommend for a mandatory visit. However, there are some difficulties with visiting it: to get to the ancient city, you will have to go by your own transport or with an individual tour, but inexpensive group excursions do not go here. We will tell you more about everything in detail and in order.
Translated from the Crimean Tatar, Eski-Kermen means "old fortress", although it could be successfully called an "impregnable fortress", because it is located on an impregnable rock up to 30 meters high. The remains of the cave city occupy the plateau of this mountain, in some places located above steep cliffs up to 20 m high. The city consists of many structures: chapels, combat casemates, tombs. There are outbuildings: cattle stalls, cellars, grain pits. All this is part of one museum complex and is visited by one ticket.
This place has a long history, because it was founded in the VI century. And already at that time, a rock staircase was created on the territory of Eski-Kermen, consisting of 84 steps and leading to an impregnable plateau. Initially it was only a defensive fortress, but over the centuries a whole city with streets, houses, temples was formed here. In the XIV century, the life of the city gradually fades away, and at the end of the century the city was finally abandoned after another raid by Emir Edigey.
Many artifacts of the past have been lost, but some of them are still available for viewing. So, in the "Church of the Assumption", built here from the XIII to the XIV centuries., there is a fresco painting. The most famous buildings of the cave city are the temples of the "Three Horsemen" and the "Assumption", the siege well, the Main City Gate, the basilica, the northern sentinel complex.
Interestingly, the famous film "9th company" was shot in Eski-Kermen. The action of the film is based on real events and takes place in Afghanistan, but the remains of local rock structures, which you will probably recognize immediately if you have seen this film, were perfect for some of the filming.
How to visit Eski Kermen
Entrance to the Eski-Kermen complex is paid, tickets are purchased at the ticket office at the entrance, and only for cash (prices are lower). After buying tickets, you can go to the entrance, which will take you up the stairs to the cliff plateau, where, in fact, all the interesting places are located. To navigate while walking, you can use the navigator in your smartphone with Organic maps, OSM, Maps.me or Yandex.maps, where all the individual sights of Eski-Kermen are marked. But it is better to download maps to your smartphone in advance, because the connection and Internet are not very good here. However, if you do not do this, then you can navigate by local signs, however, in our experience, these signs are not installed to all attractions. You can also take a picture of the map of the complex at the entrance near the ticket offices, on which the paths and sights are marked.
The ticket office and the main entrance are located on the south side. Since the rock mountain has an elongated shape, you need to move in one direction. The paths for walking are simple, but in some places you will have to walk along the rocks along the cliffs, so be careful and watch the children carefully. In general, the route is easily overcome by both children and the elderly, but it will be very difficult for people with disabilities.
When you have examined everything, you will find yourself on the other (southern) side of the cliff at the Sudilishche Temple, from where you will exit the complex through the southern gate and the Three Horsemen Temple, and return along the dirt road along the cliff back to the entrance and ticket office. The whole route usually takes 1-2 hours, and you will have to walk about 3 kilometers.
We strongly advise you to take water with you for a walk, and in summer a hat is required to protect from the sun. In general, in summer we advise you to inspect the complex in the morning, because after lunch the sun burns unbearably, it will be very difficult to walk.
Some tourists take trekking poles with them for a walk along the Eski-Kermen. But in our opinion, this is unnecessary, and rather even harm your safety. The fact is that trekking poles are more suitable for overcoming uncomplicated long routes, here you will have to go quite a bit, and in some places it is safer to go using your hands. So the sticks will rather interfere, or they will have to be put away in a backpack every time.
🕐 Working hours
from 09:00 to 18:00, seven days a week, the ticket office closes at 17:00.
💵Entrance fee / ticket price
adults – 100 rubles, children aged 16-18 and students – 50 rubles, pensioners - 50 rubles. Preschoolers are free. A tour guide of 100 rubles / person is also offered.
🚶 How to get there
Eski-Kermen is located in Bakhchisarai district about 25 kilometers from the center of Bakhchisarai (Cave town of Eski-Kermen on the map). Unfortunately, there is no way to get to it by public transport, and therefore you will have to get there by taxi, private transport or with excursions.
To travel by private transport, we recommend using yandex.navigator. Here is the point for building a route at the ticket offices - (entrance to Eski-Kerman on the map). You need to go through the village of Kholmovka, where you will have to move from a normal asphalt road to an old "broken" and partially unpaved road. You can drive any car, but be very careful and watch out for potholes, otherwise you can leave the whole suspension here. The road will end at the south side of the complex near the ticket office, there is a large free Parking. Next, inspect the complex as written above.
Inexpensive group excursions from Bakhchisarai and other resorts are not offered here yet, so if you do not have your own transport, you will have to take a taxi (but not everyone agrees), or hire an SUV for an individual trip. Drivers of such excursion SUVs are on duty in the old (tourist) district of Bakhchisarai, and offer a trip at a contract price of 2t.p. depending on the route. The price is flexible, and will depend on the number of people (up to 6 people per car), as well as on the inclusion of additional other places in the route. For example, you can visit chufut-Kale and Tepe-Kermen, and Eski-Kermen, but the price will already be about 4t.p. per car. You can also book an individual tour to Eski Kermen on Sputnik8.ru.
💥 We remind you that it is much more interesting to get acquainted with the sights of Balaclava with the help of excursions, and therefore we advise you to look at online booking options on these proven search and price comparison sites:
- 📷 Search for excursions in Bakhchisarai on Sputnik8.com
- 📷 Search for excursions in Bakhchisarai on Tripster.ru