Among connoisseurs of quality recreation, Simeiz is considered one of the most charming resorts on the Southern coast of Crimea. It is quite compact, so almost all its attractions are perfectly visible from the strategic for any resort objects — from the beach and the park with Cypress Alley, which is the cultural center of the wonderful town.
The symbol, almost like Mount Titano for San Marino, and the most prominent landmark of Simeiz «works» Mount Koshka. With its height of 254 meters it easily dominates the surrounding landscape. In profile from the side of the village Mount Koshka really resembles a cute predator of the named family. But if the stone Simeiz animal came to life, all the tigers and lions at its feet would seem like pathetic midgets. By the way, from the side of Katsiveli village, the mountain loses its gentle feline features and acquires the profile of a fortress built by giants.
Cat Mountain is a fragment of the Main Ridge of the Crimean Mountains. In the Neogene it separated from the mother massif and slowly and slowly «crawled» to the Black Sea. The approaches to the mountain and small flat areas of the Koshki Rock are covered with flora characteristic of the Crimean south coastal sub-Mediterranean area. These are thickets of juniper, Pontic needleberry, Poyarkova hawthorn, small-fruited strawberry and Crimean frankincense. The sloping areas of the rock rejected by the Crimean mountains are covered with the so-called stone chaos, «spoiled» by weathering and covered with miniature sinkholes. The original appearance of the rock allowed it to receive the status of a landscape natural monument.
Besides the remarkable features of the relief and endemic-relict flora, Mount Koshka has become a repository of historical monuments. On the plateau — a stoloid-shaped peak of the Crimean Mountains, material remains of the Taurus culture have been preserved. This is a people who inhabited the mountainous regions of Crimea before our era. The greatest impression in his time the Taurians made on Herodotus. It was he who described their «nice» habit of taking captive all Hellenes who carelessly docked on the Crimean coast. The Taurians usually sacrificed their captives to the goddess Maiden. According to the same Herodotus, the main trade of the founders of the Crimean ethnos was robbery and internecine wars.
Therefore, under Mount Koshka, on its northeastern slope, there is a Taurian burial ground. Otherwise it is called Taurian dolmen or Simeiz Stonehenge. On the territory of this necropolis there are about 95 tombs. The best preserved examples of Crimean dolmens are four vertical slabs, which are covered by a fifth. On the plateau itself are the ruins of the Taurus fortress. In history textbooks it is called Limen-Isar. Climbing up to Koshka, guests of Simeiz will be able to see fragments of fortification walls and the remains of the houses of the first Taurians.
Mountain climbers give a special flavor to the highest sightseeing of Simeiz. They, like bunches of grapes, hang on the Swan Wing — a wonderful steep wall on the south-western continuation of Mount Koshka — during the whole resort season.
Many of those who prefer regular vacation in Simeiz to other famous Crimean resorts, know well that climbing up to the observation deck of Koshka Mountain, they will get a magnificent panorama. They will see the Panea Rock and skala Diva, which has already «slid» into the Black Sea. They will discover the changing beauty of the Blue Bay and the playful charm of Simeiz itself. Not many attractions in Ukraine can boast such a «bouquet» of views, legends and flavors that surround and hover over Mount Koshka.