Mount Paragilmen and Mountain Lake
Mount Paragilmen
Crimea, Alushta
Landscape and botanical reserve. This mountain - the highest outlier of the Main Ridge (855 m) - is clearly visible from the trolleybus route against the backdrop of Babugan-yayla near the village of Maly Mayak. Like a lost traveler who cannot find his way to his native home, this stone giant soared up lonely between the shore and the cliffs of the mountain range. From the sea it looks like a big trapezoid.
On a patch of the upper plateau, a grove of old, with half a meter thick trunks, pear trees is well preserved. Its pubescent silvery leaves on a hot summer day resemble a flowering crown. The most interesting attraction of Paragilmen is two large yews nestled in a deep crevice at the top. The thickness of the trunk of one of them is about 70 cm, and the mighty branches spread out to the sides by 7-8 meters. This giant yew is not inferior in age to its thousand-year-old counterpart on Ai-Petri.
In 1979, on Mount Paragilmen and the adjacent area of beech forest, a reserve of medicinal plants was organized, ten species of which are listed in the Red Books.
An ancient pack trail leads through Mount Paragilmen, along which one of the popular climbing routes to Roman-kosh (1525 m), the highest point of Crimea, now runs. The dirt road from the trolleybus route starts at the village of Vinogradnoe. From here, tourists go on foot, horseback, mountain bikes or jeeps. But most of them, especially the locals, prefer to relax by the picturesque Mountain Lake, the mirror of which reflects the light cliffs of Yayla and the dark green of majestic pines. There are many species of trees, shrubs, including fruit, medicinal herbs and mushrooms. Huge rounded boulders resemble the impact of glaciers in northern Europe, however, the ancient glaciation of the Crimean mountains has not been proven, and the pebbles of Mount Paragilmen are also a mystery.
Tourists of Big Alushta hold their traditional meetings and competitions here, and filmmakers filmed romantic scenes for adventure films here, for example, “Hearts of Three”.