When approaching Alushta on the Simferopol highway, a beautiful panorama of one of the most beautiful and mysterious mountains of the Southern coast — Demerdzhi, which means «blacksmith» in Crimean Tatar. It consists of two mountains separated by a saddle — Northern (1356 meters) and Southern (1240 meters). Demerdzhi consists of a conglomerate of shale and limestone, which, according to geologists, about 1 billion years old.
During the daylight hours one can observe an amazing picture here: almost every hour Demerdzhi changes its color and shades.
As a result of the strongest collapse in 1894 on the South Demerdzhi formed a kind of stone chaos, the total volume of which exceeds 4 million cubic meters. This is where the Demerdzhi trail begins. At the foot are the remains of the fortress Funa — an outpost of the principality of Theodoro, which means «smoking» in Greek. Along the entire southern and eastern edge of the mountain rise bizarre stone sculptures formed under the influence of wind, sun and water. This is where the famous and mysterious Ghost Valley is located. From the highway Simferopol — Alushta one of the rocks looks like a bust of a woman, which is also called «Catherine’s head», although from a closer distance it resembles the head of a sphinx. If you fantasize a little, you can find the figure of a Dwarf and a Giant, a Frog, and many other bizarre sculptures.
Through The Valley of Ghosts is the way to the top of Southern Demerdzhi, where from a bird’s-eye view opens a unique beauty panorama of the Alushta valley, the mountain massifs of Babugan and Chatyr-dag.
From the west side you can see Ayu-Dag, in good clear weather you can even see the teeth of Ay-Petri. To the east you can see Mount Sokol and Mys Meganom.
You can book an excursion to Demerdzhi in Alushta, or you can go on your own. You can also take exciting horseback rides here.