The beauty of the Crimea. Shuldan

And again about the beautiful Crimea. And again about a special place for me.

You will never guess in your life how this tower appeared on the edge of a cliff ...

I will tell you.

For the first time I learned about this place in the very first month after I arrived in Crimea. Then, in April 2009, we were traveling with friends for a picnic, and suddenly I saw a tower with a dome far off on the edge of the cliff, which shone brightly in the midday sun. Then there was a lake at the foot of Mangup, stories about cave cities, abandoned fortresses, and even monks living in these places today.

Well, that day I didn’t even imagine that in 5 years I would be talking about all these incredible places on the pages of my magazine for a huge number of people who passionately love Crimea or have never been here before.

I didn’t imagine that this tower on the very edge of the cliff would become for me one of several places in Crimea, to which I have special feelings ...

The tower that you saw in the first photo is the chapel of the rock monastery Shuldan. It can be seen from afar - from the road going through Ternovka to Bakhchisarai (it was there that I saw her for the first time in 2009). You can climb to the monastery itself and the tower either through the Shul valley, or go on foot from Eski-Kermen through the Fifth beam.

I always go to Shuldan in one way - from the Shul valley along a forest path that leads directly to the entrance to the monastery.

The chapel stands on the very edge of a sheer cliff. And below, under the rock, there is a man’s monastery, in which monks live in our time, restoring the monastery on its own, leading its history from the XIV century.

The entrance to the monastery complex, which consists of a cave temple and about 20 rooms located in two tiers.

The chapel tower is located on a cliff that hangs over the entrance to the monastery. A staircase made of logs leads to it, which the monks built on their own.

I want to return to the phrase about how this tower appeared here.

You can often hear the opinion that this tower is several hundred years old and only the dome appeared on it in our time.

In fact, this is not at all the case.

It was built about 10 years ago by former drug addicts and alcoholics. Some time ago, the monk hermits living in Shuldan’s cells were engaged in the rehabilitation of those people who lived and worked here far from the world and destructive temptations. However, bureaucratic barriers forced hermits to stop this activity. According to the abbot of the monastery, government agencies in those years put them before the need to obtain a license in the Ministry of Health and Social Protection.

Balcony. No unnecessary comments.

This is where real life is.

At the foot of the tower is the overgrown juniper of the Red Book. You can’t imagine the aroma here in the summer!

Here you should definitely wait for the sunset. An incredible panorama opens up from the rocks of Shuldan to the valleys, Balaklava foothills, Sevastopol, and in clear weather you can even see the Black Sea, to which there are about 25 kilometers in a straight line.