Reserve "Big Utrish" in Anapa

About 2-5 thousand years ago due to a landslide-collapse. Now here, 15 km from Anapa. in the foothills of the Caucasus is the Utrish Reserve with unique forests (archevniki), which have remained since the Tertiary period. Big Utrish is a section of the territory within which not the entire natural complex, as in the reserve, is under special protection, but only its individual elements: vegetation, some species of animals, etc. Therefore, Big Utrish is famous for its relict forests, facing directly to the sea shore. Flora of Big Utrisha On Big Utrisha grow such relics as juniper and wild pistachios, tuya and karagach, because of which a reserve was created here. The value of junipers is not exactly that they are relict plants, but also that juniper has soil-protective, water-regulating, anti-salt and phytoncidal properties. One hectare of juniper emits about 30 kg of volatile substances that kill Staphylococcus bacillus. Thus, these forests participate in the formation of a healthy climate of the resort of Anapa, which has such a beneficial effect on people. It is impossible to cut down the juniper, since the recovery is very slow. For example, a forty-year-old tree reaches a height of only two meters. In the forests of Great Utrish, trees up to 500 years old were found. There are also endemics (growing only in this place), for example, evergreen Pontic or cermec, which is used in bouquets of live flowers. People coming to the reserve to the sea, forget that the coastal zone and its inhabitants are protected. We need to explain to children that you can’t catch crabs here. Turning stones, they disrupt the lives of these sea creatures, both the smallest and females with caviar. They are often left to die in the sun. On the territory of Great Utrish, it is also impossible to clean and make fires. In recent years, there have often been fires in the summer heat due to the fault of vacationers. Rest and entertainment in Bolshoy Utrish is small, only 150 families live on its territory. Basically, the violence of Bolshoi Utrish lives at the expense of renting housing to vacationers. The cost of living is from 200 rubles per person per day. The only inconvenience is the imported drinking water, and the amenities are mainly in the yard. But here is a cozy pebble beach with a gentle setting and clean sea water. In summer, there are several cafes and a seasonal market in the village, a restaurant with wonderful cuisine is open right on the beach. From the arzeliki on Big Utrish you can use the rental of catamarans, scooters, scuba dives. To the south-east of Big Utrish by the sea, a kilometer through eight more reserved place - Small Utrish. Small Utrish attracts lovers of "wild" rest. But if you want to come here by car, it is better to go through Novorossiysk and Abrau-Durso. The mountain road through Sukko is in very poor condition, though shorter. The legend of the formation of the bay Utrish Peninsula Big Utrish was formed as a result of an earthquake. According to legend, it was in this place that Zeus struck a rock with lightning to chain the guilty Prometheus on the formed sheer ledge. To see this rock, take a piece of it as a reminder, as Prometheus did, who made a ring of stone for himself, as well as to swim on the beautiful pebble beaches in Anapa, walk through juniper forests, see a performance in the dolphinarium - all this you can, visiting Big Utrish. There are several cafes and a restaurant functioning directly on the sea shore. On the territory of the Great Utrish reserve in the resort of Anapa, there are very few private buildings and the offer of housing is small. Therefore, people come here from Anapa by shuttle taxi, their own cars or get there by sea, by boat. There is also the Utrish Dolphinarium, where dolphins and seals perform regularly. You can get to the Dolphinarium on pleasure boats that make several flights daily between the reserve and Anapa. In the city, boats depart not only from the sea terminal, but also from the piers on the city beaches. You can get to Utrish by bus or personal car, but entry to the territory of the reserve itself is prohibited, and you will have to walk. On the way to Bolshaya Utrish near the village of Sukko, you can see the monument to Dmitry Kalinin, the captain of Soviet paratroopers who died in battle with the Nazis. Left alone, wounded and surrounded by enemies, the captain surrendered, and when the Nazis came closer, blew himself up with them. In memory of this, the commandant of the occupied Anapa ordered to put an iron cross on the site of the death of a Soviet officer with the inscription: “To the Unknown Hero”. Unfortunately, the cross was not preserved, after the war it was dismantled and replaced by an obelisk. If to the north from Anapa to Vityazev almost the entire coast is covered with boarding houses and recreation centers, then to the south, on the way to Utrish, bases are much rarer, mainly in the Sukko valley, and the beaches here are not sandy, but rocky, attracting lovers of scuba diving. Here you can often find “savages” who have become tents on the slopes of the mountains under the shade of trees. But due to the small number of descents to the sea, such parking lots are physically cramped and often crowded with people.