Kachi Kalyon Cave Monastery - Пещерный монастырь Качи-Кальон
Skit Svyatoy Anastasii - Скит Святой Анастасии
Kachi Kalyon is a medieval cave monastery, located in the picturesque Kachinskaya Valley in Bakhchysarai area. It stands on the slope of the gigantic 140-meter-high ivy-covered rock mass, whose bizarre shape resembles a giant ship's nose, rushing down the Kacha River. It is often referred to as the Crusade Ship, because of the huge cross, 'drawn' on the face of the rock by nature.
Natural caves in the massive limestone massif served as a perfect hideaway and therefore attracted people who established their settlements from early times. One of those settlements transformed into a fortified hiding place over time and historians called it Kachi Kalyon settlement. The residents engaged in agriculture and wine making. More than a hundred leftover wine can still be pressed there.
Later - in about 7th century - the small Orthodox monastery of St. Anastasia originated in a cave on the right slope of the huge rock. It is said to have been founded there by Byzantines, who fled the Crimean peninsula during the iconoclasm, built monasteries and brought along their native culture. Over time, the monastery grew and developed: several churches and chapels were opened on its territory.
The cave monastery existed until the year 1778. Then, Russian Empire government announced mass resettlement of the Crimean Christians, especially Greeks, the (Azov Sea region) Pryazovia. In the late 19th century, the monastery was revived, but it was closed in 1921. Today, monks live in Kachi Kalyon again. They have built a new modern monastery near the cave, where a medieval, secluded monastery once stood.
Now, the massif stretching over more than 500 meters resembles bee's cells: the surface is literally peppered with multi-tier handmade caves built by Kachi Kalyon's former residents. Most of them served household use, others were cells of the monastery and churches.
Kachi Kalyon's five natural caves are of great value. The first is almost completely filled with stones. It is interesting for the neighboring ruins of the medieval defensive wall built of large limestone blocks, the cave church of St. Sophia and the winemaking complex with wine press. In addition, the remains of an old cemetery and stone gravestones survived there.
The second cave formerly occupied by the so-called monastic dormitory and the third housed church mortuary complex. The most striking and grandiose cave is the fourth. The 70-meter-high walls resemble a dome of the Gothic cathedral. It is there that the monastery of St. Anastasia and its spring giver, whose water is considered to be healing, were located. The monastery also occupied part of the fifth cave, which is now dilapidated.
To get there: Take a route bus from Bakhchysarai towards the village of Sinapnoye. Get off the bus in the village of Predushchelnoye or Bashtanovka and follow a path to the Kachi Kalyon.
