«Chelter-Marmara stands in impassive stillness,
«gazing out at the world through the blind eyes of white caves.
Here you feel the earthly longing and meaninglessness of the city’s idle crowd.
Here one should fall on one’s knees and pray to the sunbeam,
bringing light, warmth and divine truth.»
В. Avinda
Like a huge stone ship sails over the Shul and Kara-Koba valleys one of the oldest monasteries of Crimean Christianity — Chelter-Marmara Cave Monastery. This monastery belongs to the number of 14 cave cities, sheltered in natural fortresses — the slopes of the inner ridge of the Crimean mountains.
Chelter-Marmara Cave Monastery got its name in honor of the mountain in the precipice of which it is located — Chelter-Kaya, which translates as «lattice rock», and the name of once located at the foot of the mountain medieval village of Marmara, translated as «marble».
It is still not known when people first moved into the rooms of the «stone castle» of Chelter Kai. It is believed that the monastery existed here in the XIII-XV centuries, but archaeologists have found fragments of ceramics and traces of frescoes XI-XIII centuries, so it is believed that the natural dwellings-caves, dispose to a secluded and quiet life, attracted the first settlers — hermit monks — in time immemorial.
The Chelter-Marmara Cave Monastery attracts people for various reasons. On the one hand, it is a historical place that keeps the memory of the ancient Crimea, on the other hand — one of the medieval strongholds of Crimean Christianity, on the third hand — a unique natural place, mesmerizing with its beauty and unique atmosphere. Visiting Chelter-Marmar is an unforgettable experience for everyone, pleasant memories of which will remain for a lifetime.
Looking at the bowels of the cave monastery, pierced here and there with windows and passages, columns and rooms, 
it is easy to imagine how the hermit monks who had renounced the worldly life once offered their prayers here. The monastery has preserved about 50 rooms — 4 churches, refectory, cells, auxiliary and household rooms, 30 more have been destroyed. The largest hall — the hallmark of the monastery — is a long 32-meter hall, the stone vaults of which are supported by five powerful columns.
The rooms-caves are located in the rock in five tiers, especially visible from the western side of the mountain, the top of which is crowned with a wooden Orthodox cross. In some places there are also images of crosses carved in the rock from unknown times. In ancient times all the rooms of the monastery were connected by balconies, staircases and galleries, so that externally the monastery resembled an openwork lattice. The whole ensemble of caves has survived to this day, uniting 2-5 tiers and having a common passage-calice on the eastern side of the second tier.
Keeping the memory of hermits who lived here many centuries ago, prayers offered by them, silently looking at the Crimean expanses spreading below, the walls of the Chelter-Marmara Monastery charge everyone with inexpressible energy and grace. This is a quiet, cozy, peaceful and incredibly beautiful and mysterious place. A place created by nature itself for a person seeking solitude.
Today, the monastic life in Chelter Marmara is being revived again. At the beginning of the new millennium, the Monastery of St. Sava the Sanctified was founded here, and several times real miracles have taken place here.
In 2009, before the arrival of His Holiness Partriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, the icon of St. Sava of Serbia, kept in the monastery, began to thrive — it was covered with drops of peace and began to emit a sweet aroma, after the departure of the Patriarch, the fragrance and emission of peace weakened, and then stopped. Because of the miracle, a special commission was convened, which included scientists and representatives of the Crimean diocese, which confirmed the miraculous phenomenon.
There are many places in Crimea, where a person can give himself the contemplation of real beauty, the feeling of joining the history, something immense and wise, and Chelter-Marmara is certainly one of such places. A visit to this attraction of Bakhchisarai charges with incredible energy, and the magnificent view of the natural attractions of Crimea will leave a warm trace in your soul for many years.