Yew-boxwood grove
The yew-samshite grove is a unique natural monument near Sochi, in which a rare Colchis samishite and a berry yew grow. The forest area is more than 300 hectares and since 1931 it has been a conservation.
Ancient plants that grew 30 million years ago have survived in the yew-samshite grove to this day. One of the main attractions of the grove is a berry yew, which is a coniferous tree, but it bears berries, not cones. A tick can reach 30 meters in the tower, and the age of some specimens reaches 2 thousand years. Another rare tree is the Colchis samishite - a tree very strong in structure, which is sometimes even called the "iron tree". This tree grows very slowly and it takes a lot of time to revive the forest. At the beginning of the 20th century, the samishite was cut down in huge quantities for export, putting the plants on the brink of destruction.
In total, in the protected forest you can find 200 species of plants and trees, among which you can see oaks, maples, hazelnuts, coffins, mothboschnuts, chubushnik, corks of colchids. Many tourists come to look at all this beauty. For them, 2 routes were developed: "Small Ring" 2 kilometers long and "Big Ring" 5 kilometers long. Untrained tourists, as a rule, choose a short route, along the entire length of which they made a convenient path. For a large ring, comfortable shoes should be taken, since the route passes in some places along the narrow mountain paths. Going camping, you should take supplies with you, as well as money, since an adult entrance ticket costs 300 rubles for a large ring and 150 for small. Children's tickets from 7-11 years old cost 100 and 50 rubles, respectively. The yew-samshite grove is part of the Sochi National Park.
On the inaccessible section of the yew-samshite grove there are also the ruins of the ancient Khostinsky fortress, which rises above the Khosta River 6 km from the Black Sea. It is still reliably unknown who and for what reason built an impregnable fortress, which is surrounded by rocks and cliffs from 3 sides, and the river is the only place from where you can get to the fortress. The road to this area is very dangerous due to stonefalls and cliffs, so the park administration forbids walking here and put warning signs.
