The article tells about one of the mysterious and interesting places of the Bakhchisarai region of Crimea - the cave city of Kachi-Kalon.
Instructions
Step 1
The cave city of Kachi-Kalion is located in the valley of the Kacha River, a few kilometers from Bakhchisarai, on a hill under a high cliff.
The name Kachi-Kalion means "Cross ship". The rock mass in which this ancient settlement was located really resembles a ship, and on the "stern" of this stone ship, deep cracks form the image of a huge cross.
Step 2
It is better to start a walk along Kachi-Kalion from the northwest side. After a short and easy ascent, the trail goes along the rocky massif. Numerous grottoes and man-made caves of Kachi-Kalion, carved into the rock wall, open to the eye. These are monastic cells, and former temples, and caves for economic purposes.
Step 3
Separate caves were cut not only in the massif itself, but also in giant blocks that broke away from it, often lying right next to the road through the Kachinskaya valley. This is what you can see below, under the rock mass.
Step 4
One of the shrines of the Kachi-Kalion settlement is the rock church of St. Sophia, erected in the Byzantine era, in the 8th-9th centuries, most likely by icon-worshipers.
The church is very small in size, its oval-shaped room is carved into a freestanding boulder. The temple existed until 1778, until the exodus of the Crimean Greeks, and then in the 19th century it was restored.
Step 5
The most impressive place of Kachi-Kalion and its visiting card is the so-called Fourth Grotto. It is a giant natural arch about 70 meters high. There was once a monastery in the grotto itself. On the platform in front of him, traces of the monastery cemetery are clearly visible - the remains of gravestones.
The base of the grotto is narrow - part of it has collapsed from time to time, and the steepness of the cliff further enhances the feeling of dizzying height.
Step 6
In the Fourth grotto there is the main attraction of Kachi-Kalion - the source of St. Anastasia, which is considered curative. Seeing through a crack in the rock, water accumulates in a round font. In ancient times, there was a powerful stream that supplied water to the entire city. The icons of the Mother of God, the holy Martyr Anastasia and the holy Evangelist Matthew were installed over the source. There is a cross above the icons in a rectangular niche.
Step 7
Remains of medieval settlements and monasteries in Crimea leave us many unsolved mysteries.
The Kachi-Kalion settlement is no exception. It is quiet, mysterious and beautiful here. And if you listen to the silence, you can hear the "rustle of the past centuries."
