Ahshtyrskaya cave: how to get there? Photos and reviews of tourists

The city of Sochi has been and remains a "tourist Mecca" for several centuries. The proximity of the sea, the healing air of the mountains and the beauty of the local nature made it the pearl of the Caucasus. But a unique ecosystem is not the only attraction. From the point of view of archeology of Sochi - a storehouse of priceless knowledge, an inexhaustible source of information about the history of the birth of civilization ...

In the vicinity of the city scientists found more than four dozen places, the so-called parking of the primitive man. Ahshtyrskaya cave is the most famous of them. It was there, in the depths of the rock, the clues of many secrets of the past were found ...

Geographical Details

In the mountain areas of Sochi, according to a report of the latest archeological and speleological expedition, there are at least 400 caves of natural origin. However, only a small part of them, about 10%, is of historical significance. And, interestingly, the conditional concentration center of the "cultural heritage" is the former city-type settlement, and now - part of the famous resort - Adler. Ahshtyrskaya cave is located very close, in some 15 kilometers from it (upstream Mzymta river).

The fact that this site was once chosen by the Cro-Magnon people is evidenced by the primitive tools found during excavations almost 80 years ago. From the geographical point of view, the cave is the extreme northern point of the entire southeastern region of Europe, "officially fixed" for the primitive people of that era.

The secret of the uniqueness of the Ahshtyr cave

Why does everyone have this cave on their lips, and not some other one? Yes, because only here you can see a clearly expressed cultural layering of ancient times. To get here is like visiting the museum of the history of the European race. As scientists believe, the first settlers began to settle here 70 thousand years ago. However, after about 20 thousand years, due to natural cataclysm, the Neanderthals left their native penates. But a sharp drop in temperature was almost not noticed by bears, who became full owners of the cave for the next fifteen thousand years.

The return of the upright primates was in the early Bronze Age. Their intellectual level has grown, and this has been reflected in the quality of life. About all the details of life Cro-Magnon told a five-meter "cultural layer", mastered by archaeologists in the last century.

Today, the Ahshtyr cave, Sochi and mountain tourism are synonyms. The monument has not lost its historical value, its status has simply changed - now it is a full-scale excursion object of a recreational nature.

Structure of the cave

Ahshtyrskaya cave parking is at an altitude of 185 meters above sea level. The distance to the mirror of the boiling mountain Mzymta is 120 meters (the river is clamped by the walls of the gorge, which enhances the echo effect).

To the entrance leads a narrow path. It, like a cornice, stands on an almost vertical rock. This track, which, by the way, is equipped with special guardrails - the only way to the first viewing platform. Another short transition - and here they are, "doors" ...

The Ahshtyr cave has a pronounced eastern exposure.

Its starting segment is a twenty-meter corridor, gradually transforming into spacious halls with a height of 8 and 10 meters; Finish - a clay rise under a fairly large slope, ending in two dead-end branches. The total length is about 270 meters. For the convenience and safety of tourists, lighting is provided to the cave, where necessary - stairs are installed and steps are mounted.

Important nuances of the walking route

Task number 1 is to get to the Trout farm - any transport going to Adler - Krasnaya Polyana, is ideal (in particular, you can "ride" the bus 131 or 135 route). Next, you should find the main entrance to this very "fish institution" - it is right there, at the track, so there should not be any problems. Approaching the entrance gate, you must turn left, after which continue the movement. If the road meets the construction with the inscription "Show of glass blowers" - it means that everything is in order: the tourist has already overcome a third of the way to the place, which is called the Ahshtyr cave.

How to get to the intermediate destination - "glaziers" - is now known. It remains to find out where to go next. And here, fortunately, there is nothing complicated: near the "Glass-blowers show" the asphalt road smoothly leaves to the right, to two four-story apartment houses of old construction. After passing exactly between them, it is necessary to turn right again. Approximately one hundred meters the pavement "rests" in the suspension bridge. However, it is not necessary to go to the other side: on the left you can clearly see the trail that traverses - it will take the wanderer straight to the cave (there is no more than half an hour from the suspension bridge).

Ahshtyrskaya cave: how to get by car the shortest way?

Sochi is a city of modest size. But when the holiday season comes, kilometer traffic jams greatly spoil the life of motorists. And that the movement on the "steel horse" does not turn into torture, we must plan the route correctly.

So, the goal is Ahshtyrskaya cave. How to get from Adler to the world famous parking lot of primitive man?

In order not to loop the mountain serpentines, which near Sochi are many, should immediately, at the exit of the city, take a course on Krasnaya Polyana. After reaching the sign "Cossack Brod" - turn towards the village and drive it "through" (the houses are located along the road, so get lost, with all desire, nowhere).

Passing the settlement, do not put pressure on the gas - somewhere in 200-300 meters there will appear one more pointer, this time with the inscription "Ahshtyrskaya cave". It only remains to perform the maneuver - turn to the right and go from half a kilometer on the primer. That, in fact, is all, because the cave itself can not be seen ...

A Few Facts from the History of Discovery

The date of the discovery of the cave is considered to be September 28, 1903. The glory of the "pioneer" is reserved for the subject of the French Republic Eduard Martel, and the resident of the Cossack Brod Gabriel Rivenko accompanied the scientist in his next campaign on the mountain gorges of the Sochi region. However, the foreign specialist probably was not a great hunter to the archaeological sciences, so he saw only what "lay on the surface."

In 1936, the site of the find was visited by the Soviet "digger of antiquity" Sergei Nikolayevich Zamyatin, who managed to detect signs of the presence of anthropoid apes. Later it turned out that under the rock fragments there was a well-preserved parking lot of primitive people - that's when the Ahshtyr cave thundered all over the world.

The history of Sochi, as well as the history of the entire surrounding area following the opening, was fundamentally revised. Cro-Magnon people of the Caucasus became a sensation in the scientific world, so for many decades only "bright minds" and museum workers had access to the monument of ancient architecture. In 1999, the situation changed - the cave was adapted for excursions.

Myths and legends: versions of guides

Almost all tourist sites have a "heritage": guides are "able to register in the home book" medieval castles of terrible ghosts, fill the sacrament with museum halls, talk about "reliable facts" from the lives of outstanding people of past eras ...

From this point of view, the cave discovered by Martel does not differ from the Louvre in Paris or the Tower of London - it also has a "history of its own." A story that amiable guides will gladly tell every visiting tourist.

Ahshtyrskaya cave - in the presentation of guides - it's nothing like the legendary meeting place of Homeric Odyssey and Cyclops Polyphemus. Their "arguments" are so convincing that some people really believe that the famous Greek docked on the Sochi coast. Although, perhaps, these words have more truth than fiction ...

Picturesque beauties of Ahshtyr Gorge: reviews of tourists

What does the Ahshtyr gorge and Ahshtyr cave symbolize for ordinary residents of the resort city? Strangely enough, but for most of them it's "just a house". People who grew up among the beauties of the Caucasus, are accustomed to the fact that "it has always been so." And only the visitors, getting to this heavenly corner of the Earth, see the full picture of what is happening - the local nature literally bewitches them ...

It is enough to go to any forum devoted to the topic of tourism - Adler and Sochi are certainly in the spotlight. Nearby mountains captivate the hearts of not only Russians - about "rising to the sky" it is in these parts that Kazakhs and Byelorussians, Moldavians and Ukrainians dream. Yes, there is the CIS! To visit the Ahshtyrsky (Dzykhryn) gorge is the desire of many foreigners! Two and a half kilometers in length, two hundred meters in depth - formed by the river Mzymta, it, like a sharp blade, cuts the eponymous mountain range. To convey the kinds of views that open from the panoramic points of its terraces, it is simply impossible ...

Adler: places of tourist glory

The glory of the Ahshtyr cave often overshadows the information about other, no less interesting places, which are so rich in Adler and the surrounding areas. And meanwhile, if it is right to make an excursion program, you can easily combine in one "tour" visits to all major attractions (especially since the road map of Sochi is arranged in such a way that the lion's share of tourist raisins is located in the vicinity of the same eminent parking lot of primitive man) .

In particular, the Trout farm, which has already been mentioned as a reference point for making a pedestrian route to the cave, is a great object for rotozoism: in the huge pools rare fish are bred here, tourists are offered to go to it or taste already prepared dishes in a cozy cafe. Noteworthy and the farm "Three Sophia" - living ostriches, surely, not every curious traveler saw. And also - Adlersky lighthouse, the canyon of the river Psaho, the ridge of Achishkho ...