Yew-boxwood grove

Yew and boxwood grove is a unique natural monument near Sochi, which is home to rare Colchian boxwood and berry yew. The forest area is more than 300 hectares and has been protected since 1931.

The yew and boxwood grove has preserved ancient plants that grew as early as 30 million years ago. One of the main attractions of the grove is the berry yew, which is a coniferous tree, but it bears fruit with berries, not cones. Yew can reach a height of 30 meters, and some specimens are up to 2,000 years old. Another rare tree is the Colchian boxwood, a very strong tree in its 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, boxwood was cut down in huge quantities for export, putting the plants on the verge of destruction.

In total, 200 varieties of plants and trees can be found in the protected forest, among which you can see oaks, maples, hazel, hornbeams, rhododendrons, chubushnik, Colchian buckwheat. Many tourists come to see all this beauty. Two routes have been developed for them: the "Small Ring" with a length of 2 kilometers and the "Big Ring" with a length of 5 kilometers. Untrained tourists, as a rule, choose a short route, along the entire length of which they have made a convenient path. For a large ring, you should take comfortable shoes, as the route passes through narrow mountain paths in some places. When going camping, you should take supplies with you, as well as money, since the entrance ticket for adults costs 300 rubles for a large ring and 150 for a small one. Children's tickets from 7-11 years old cost 100 and 50 rubles, respectively. The yew and boxwood grove is part of the Sochi National Park.

The ruins of the ancient Khosta fortress, which towers over the Khosta River 6 km from the Black Sea, are also located in an inaccessible area of the yew and boxwood grove. It is still not known for certain who and for what reason built the impregnable fortress, which is surrounded by cliffs and cliffs on 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 rockfalls and cliffs, so the park administration forbids walking here and has put up warning signs.