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Pictures of Mangup-Kale, Crimea, and Surrounding Cave Towns

The "cave towns" of Crimea are a fascinating phenomenon. These ancient settlements were actually built on the tops of plateaus of 300-550 m elevation in the Bakhchisaray region — not in caves as the name would suggest. However, these plateaus are made of soft rocks that form caves easily, and settlers expanded these caves and used them for storage, tombs, prisons, and housing military units. Today — nearly 200 years since the last cave towns were abandoned — the buildings have mostly crumbled and disintegrated, and the caves are all that remain.

Mangup-Kale is a very popular destination because of its large area and complex geography ("four fingers") with a couple springs. Some people come up here to live for weeks at a time in the caves to medidate, smoke pot, or practice yoga. Naturally, camping on the plateau is prohibited, but universally practiced. There is a monastery next to the plateau that is being restored as well. Many people claim that the plateau has an eery or mystical feel. I've even met people who come here from distant St. Petersburg every year.

Other well-preserved cave towns are Eski-Kermen (see pictures at bottom) and Chufut-Kale. Mangup is accessible by bus (Ternovka route) from Bakhchisaray and Simferopol.

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Mangup-Kale

Chaykhana tourist lodge and Tatar restaurant is at the base of the trail to Mangup-Kale and right off the road.	You can eat your food lying down Arab-style on rugs. It's perfectly okay to take a nap after your meal.	Next to the lodge is a lake perfect for swimming. You may need to pay forest rangers a small fee for use of the area.	Map of the plateau upon which Mangup-Kale is situated, showing fortifications, trails, and ancient buildings.
Fortification wall	Tombstone at the lower cemetary. The inscriptions are in Hebrew.	There was a significant Tatar-speaking Jewish community in Crimea in general until the Holocaust and in Mangup in particular in the centuries preceeding it.	There was a fountain or washing basin of some kind at the entrance to the town.
Another very high wall	On top of the plateau, archeological digs are underway.		This involves a lot of rock sorting.
Looking to the north from the plateau's edge	More views	The fog adds an eery quality that matches the mood of the cave town.
	Tombs carved into the rock	One of innumerable caves on the plateau edge	A mountain biker peeking out of a cave
Remains of an Orthodox (?) church
A road across the plateau passed through this arch	Church ruins the next morning		More man-made caves
The Hare Krishnas were here...	A series of caves	"Primitive" art	Looking out from the plateau
	More caves...	Many caves seem to have held tombs of some kind	On the north side of the plateau high walls made the settlement inaccessible.
More fortifications. Opium users often hang out in the caves on this side of the plateau.

Around Mangup-Kale

The single bikeable route down Mangup takes you to this wide valley.	On the way to Eski-Kermen cave town	Eski-Kermen was built on a lower plateau and was more accessible than Mangup-Kale. You can take your bike up easily.	"Main Street"
This cave housed a church	View from the plateau	Field near Eski-Kermen	View towards the Crimean Mountains

All photos are the original work of Rick DeLong. To learn about purchasing originals, go here. Please contact me at before using my pictures for any purpose.