Practically every man, approaching the sea, tries to see a mermaid in its waters. The fact is that the image of a woman-fish is very deeply, almost at the genetic level, embedded in the human soul. Many sculptors are trying to make their own green-haired diva, thus materializing the fantasies of most representatives of the stronger sex.
Therefore, not a coincidence, but a regularity, is considered the appearance of a pleiad of statues of Mermaid. The most famous — Copenhagen. By the way, it was ordered to Edward Erickson by Carl Jacobsen himself, the founder of the brewery «Carlsberg». The Danish «Little Mermaid» with the torso of Elin Erickson and the head of ballerina Price was so good that its copies quickly appeared on the quays of Tokyo, Amsterdam, Sydney and in absolutely non-nautical cities — Rome and Paris.
Warsaw deserves a separate paragraph, which has become famous for a couple of its own stunning Mermaid sculptures. One is on the banks of the Vistula River, the other on the Rynok Square. In addition, the same Siren is depicted on the coat of arms and all the symbols of the Polish capital.
The Ukrainian interpretation of the eternal theme occupies a special place in the «professional list» of female fish. Art experts consider Mermaid of Miskhor the most attractive of all existing variants of this sculpture. For example, Copenhagen beauty too subtile and miniature, and both Warsaw sirens too powerful and a little reminiscent of manatees. And only Miskhora Mermaid can safely be called a standard of beauty. It is a harmoniously built woman who holds a child in one hand and rests on a rounded stone with the other. The sculpture is installed in the water, opposite the embankment of Miskhor.
Why is the Mermaid with a child? Who is the author of the sculpture and where is Miskhor? — there is a swarm of questions in the heads of tourists who saw the image of this beauty. Miskhor is an area belonging to the village of Koreizu. It is located on the southern coast of Crimea and is protected from possible northern winds Ai-Petrinskaya yaila. Therefore, the climate here is velvet like the fur of a mole, and the sea is as warm as tears.
The sculpture appeared in South Coast thanks to Amandus Adamson, the most famous Estonian sculptor, who was treated in Miskhora at the beginning of the last century and was shocked to the core by the local legend about Mermaid. On luxurious Crimean evenings, relaxing on the terrace of his rented house, the maestro heard this story.
The girl Arzy was a Tatar from a poor family. Her father’s house was built in the place where the Miskhora embankment stretches today. Arzy was stolen on her wedding day by a trader of live goods, Ali-Baba. He stole her and took her to Istanbul, where he sold her to the harem of one of the Ottoman sultans. Arzy gave birth to a son to the sultan, but exactly one year after the kidnapping she jumped out of the window into the Bosphorus, taking the child with her. On the same day, Rusalka was spotted in the waters off the coast of her native Miskhor. Once a year, Arzy and her son emerge from the waters of the Pontus of Aksin, as the Black Sea used to be called, and gaze at the shore where she was supposed to live happily with her beloved taken from her.
Amandus Adamson created and installed the «Mermaid on a Stone» and the sculptural composition «Arzy and the Bandit Ali Baba» at his own expense. Both works of the Estonian maestro are recognized as the most beautiful and expressive attractions of Miskhor, and every guest of the South Coast has a chance to wait and see the very bearer of the image — the beautiful Arzy, once a year appearing in the coastal waters.