Ai Petri

Ai-Petri is one of the most famous Crimean mountains, which is part of the Ai-Petrinskaya yayla. Its picturesque battlements attract thousands of tourists every year, making it a symbol of the southern Crimea.

The name of the mountain means "Saint Peter" in Greek. When talking about a mountain, they often mean the entire mountain plateau, but in fact Ai-Petri is one mountain with 3 obvious teeth.: The Eastern, Western and the highest Main (1231 meters). The teeth appeared under the influence of strong winds, rains and fogs. After all, the largest number of foggy days in Crimea is registered here every year. 180 km/h is exactly the maximum recorded wind speed on the mountain. Even a wind farm was installed to benefit from the wind, but strong winds tore its blades and now it is scattered.

The Ai-Petrinskaya yayla was once inhabited by Cro-Magnons, and their household items are still found all over the plateau. Then the plateau was abandoned, and it became a transit point for Scythians, Taurians, Romans, Genoese. Everyone needed a road from the steppes through the mountains to the sea. Valuable goods, slaves, and provisions were shipped along this road. In the Middle Ages, pastures and settlements appeared on the slopes, but with the arrival of the Turkish conquerors, the villages were abandoned. The Russian scientist Pallas Peter Simon (1741-1811) found the remains of a Christian temple on the slopes during his travels, perhaps hence the name of the mountain.

For the convenience of visitors, the Mishor - Sosnovy Bor - Ai-Petri cable car has been installed on the mountain. It took 20 years and a lot of money to build it, and it was commissioned in 1987. Each trailer can accommodate up to 40 people, the length of the cable car is about 3 kilometers, and the journey from the starting point to the end point takes up to 15 minutes. The end point is located at an altitude of 1180 meters. At the height of the season, huge queues of people who want to climb the mountain gather at the cable car, and not by chance. The mountain offers a stunning view of tens of kilometers of the Black Sea.

If desired, Ai-Petri can be climbed on foot, for this climbing routes of varying degrees of difficulty are laid out to the top. You can also admire the mountain from below by cycling along the bike trails.