Alushta is a fairly large city on the Black Sea coast in Crimea. People mostly come here for a budget holiday, although in recent years high-class hotels have appeared here. The main attraction of Alushta is its huge embankment and beaches. The most interesting natural attractions are located outside of Alushta.
Alushta became a popular beach resort back in Soviet times. The Embankment of Alushta was built at the beginning of the 20th century, but during the war the city was severely destroyed. After the WWII in 1952, the authorities restored the damaged embankment and built a rotunda, which became a symbol of the city.
The most interesting part of the Embankment of Alushta is located on the Eastern Embankment, where Lenin Street runs. It starts near the Demerdzhi River. A small mountain and the buildings of the Blue Wave hotel rise above the opposite bank of the river. In this place, next to the embankment, there is a summer cottage of merchant Stakhevich and a Seaside park. Huge pine trees rise above the pedestrian zone of the embankment. This part of the embankment ends near the square with the sculpture of a Seahorse.
In different parts of the embankment there are several historical museums and houses that can be visited with an excursion: Stakheev dacha of the 19th century, the Museum of Local Lore, the Shmelev Museum.
On the high bank above the embankment rise the ruins of the towers of the ancient fortress of Aluston. This fortress was built in the 6th century by the Byzantines, and in the 14th century it was fortified by the Genoese. However, the fortress of Aluston does not look as large as the Genoese fortress in Sudak or the Genoese fortress in Feodosia. Only the Ashaga-Kule tower has survived from it. In 2020, the Aluston Fortress Museum was opened next to it, where you can get acquainted with the history of Alushta.
Attractions outside of Alushta
The most interesting sights of Alushta are located outside. Demerdzhi Mountain with its famous Valley of Ghosts is 10 kilometers away. In Chatyr-Dag mountain you can visit the most beautiful caves of the Crimea: Marble Cave and Mammoth Cave. Many interesting places are located on the coast to the north and south of Alushta.
There are several interesting places on Demerdzhi Mountain. Most excursions are limited to visiting the Valley of Ghosts, which is located at the foot of the mountain near the village of Luchistoe. However, for the visit of Demerdzhi, it is better to plan the whole day and prepare for long hiking trips. In this case, you can see the most interesting places on the top of the mountain. Not far from the Valley of Ghosts is the mountain Southern Demerdzhi, as well as the weathering figures near Mount Alenga. 4 kilometers from Southern Demerdzhi is the top of the Northern Demerdzhi Mount.
On the seashore, north of Alushta, there is one of the most famous churches of the Crimea: the lighthouse-church of St. Nicholas the Myra. It is built on the high shore of the Black Sea, and its own height reaches 65 meters. There is a lighthouse under the dome, and at the foot of the Church of St. Nicholas, you can visit the Museum of Shipwrecks.
In 40 kilometers from Alushta, in the direction of Simferopol in Chatyr-dag mountain, there are Marble cave and Mammoth cave. These are two of the most beautiful and famous caves in Crimea. The distance between them is 1.2 km, so they need to be visited during one excursion. In the Marble Cave you can see very beautiful stalactites and stalagmites, and in the Mammoth Cave you can still see the skeletons of prehistoric animals, including the skeleton of a mammoth.
